Kura Sushi, Abiko, Chiba (Throughout Tokyo)

Went to visit the family the week before last and was able to enjoy kaiten (conveyer belt) sushi at Kura Sushi in Abiko.  This Kura Sushi is located in the parking lot of the Seven Holdings shopping center which was formerly called Espa.  There is likely one close to you if you are in the Tokyo area.

To start, about 90 percent of the dishes are 100 yen.  This is a bargain, especially compared to the States where a plate of salmon sushi can easily set you back 4 dollars.    The selection here is great, everything from sushi staples such as ika (squid), shrimp and tuna maki to creative ones such as cheese kalbi (beef) and snow crab leg.  What I like about it is the fact that each plate has a clear plastic guard to keep the germs out.

Don't see what you like?  Just look at the automated menu, find your selection, press the button and voila, it is delivered right to your table (if you can't read Japanese, I believe the selections can be changed to English; however, have no fear because each item has a picture)!

After you are finished, you take your plate and put it here (at each table).

For every five plates you place in the return area, you get to play a game on the menu screen.  If you win the plate game, a gacha gacha capsule rolls down from the top of the capsule dispenser at each table.  Each capsule contains a Kura Sushi themed toy or key chain.  

We got a total of 35 plates, and if you do the math, that equates to 7 tries at the plate game.  We won a total of zero times.  Lots of disappointed people at my table.  What made it worse was the fact that plates 32-35 were quite difficult to go down as we were already stuffed from plates 1-31.  Rats!

Well as to my review, I give Kura Sushi stellar marks.  The sushi is fresh, the selection is good and price is quite reasonable.  Other than the absolute failure at the capsule game, it was a great experience.  I give Kura Sushi 5 maki out of 5 maki.  If you can find a Kura Sushi near you, by all means get at least 5 plates!

Battle Beasts 2012

"Fire! Fire burns wood!  Water! Water puts out fire!  Wood! Wood beats water!  Collect all of these incredible creatures who battle for fun!

If you grew up in the 80's and you are a boy, you have to remember the Battle Beasts, released by Hasbro in the U.S. and Takara in Japan.  Over 80 of them were released and they came in packs of 2 or 8.  Personally, I had about 60 of them, being an animal fan.  If you don't remember them well, go look at www.toyarchive.com for some of our furry, scaly or feathery friends.

Each of the Battle Beasts had one of those heat activated rub signs on their chests which revealed one of a fire, water and wood symbol.  Unfortunately, I brought mine in the bathtub with me and the hot water ruined the rub signs.

The game was simple, like rock, paper and scissors.  Fire beats wood because fire burns wood, wood beats water because water floats on wood and water beats fire because water puts fire out.  

Well, welcome to the 2010's.  Takara Tomy has just released a new set of Battle Beasts to commemorate the 25th anniversary of their original release.  Boy have things changed.  First, they are a bit bigger.  Next they are articulated in the legs and arms.  They also come with two weapons now, a sword/spear/trident and a shield.  They also come with a trading card too.  Finally, they have a completely different game where a mechanism in their chest fires a die and the higher roller wins the battle.  More on this after I read the instructions (in Japanese).

I am totally excited about these guys because they look great and were my all-time favorite toys.  They also rekindle some awesome memories from a simpler, happy time.  Yes... the 80's were great.  Hopefully you in the U.S. will get these new Battle Beasts in the near future (without having to import them from Japanese sellers).

Nice Pose, Another Busty Anime Chick, Jimbocho, Tokyo

Sorry for the lack of updates this month as work has picked up.  I needed to go to Jimbocho to pick up the latest White Dwarf magazine (I know I am a dork) on Saturday and came across this gem of a pic in one of the game stores while picking up the December issue.   Gotta love the anime girls, almost started laughing out loud when I saw this one.  Since I was flanked by two other guys in this part of the magazine aisle (busy shopping for their anime girl goods (which I guess is less dorky than my Warhammer fix)), I kept quiet.   I did snap this pic though which made me seem more perverted than I already am.  According to the pic's Engrish wording, she is Nasty and Justy.  Yep, that's right.  She's Justy!!!  At least they put the yellow sting around the magazine so the kiddies won't be checking out her assets.  But from the cover though, it's like a free peep show.