Saturday 20 January 2024

The Welfare Package 2023: The Roundup

Oh what, you think I would forget about this? I was just waiting for the *final* package for the year before I do this. Besides, how would I ever forget this? It's that time of the year where I list the mistakes I made... again... *sob*

People say that one needs to save money to invest, to keep for emergencies, and to buy necessities or prepare for marriage and kids, but WHO F**KING CARES about ALL of those things, daddy needs his voice actress idolism quick fix. *giggles* And as such,  I do up this (basically) meaningless post every year because nowadays if I want to reflect on this I just randomly read one or read the ones I like so this doesn't really matter. *laughs*

So yeah, we have a long enough intro, let's get to it! Spicing up the presentation this time around if you don't mind, I had all day to do this lol




WHAT THEY ARE
  • Inori Machi New Year Greeting Card 2023 (1 card)
  • Inori Machi Diary No.20 (1 book)
  • Asakura Momo Radio Event Socks (1 pair of socks)
  • MusicRay'n 3rd Generation Event Goods (1 tea mug, 4 badges)
  • Inori Machi Fanclub Event 2023 (1 event ticket, 1 condiment dispenser, 1 tea mug)        
  • Sugihara Anri Photobook "Sorekara" (1 photobook)
  • Nagae Rika 1st Photobook "Re:color" (1 photobook)
  • Inori Machi Birthday Card 2023 (1 card)
  • Tomita Miyu Live Tour Bromides + Ueda Reina Capsule (4 bromides, 1 keychain)
  • Amamiys Sora Aoibito Pants (1 pants)
  • MusicRay'n 3rd Generation Bromide Set (11 bromides)
  • MusicRay'n Mall Valentine's Day Postcards (3 postcards)
  • Dead or Alive Extreme: Venus Vacation Character Acrylic Stands (Set of 27 acrylic stands)
  • Destination Club Membership Goods (1 card, 1 book)
  • Ookubo Rumi no Event na Ken 2023 Goods (16 bromides, 1 postcard)
  • Suruga-ya Run 2023 April (5 bromides)
  • Oozora Naomi no Mangaka e no Michi Photo & Art Book (1 book)
  • Aizawa Saya no Ending wa Joukigen de Goods (3 badges, 10 bromides, 1 clear folder)
  • Dead or Alive Extreme: Venus Vacation Character Acrylic Stands (Set of 3 acrylic stands)
  • Aizawa Saya's Ending wa Joukigen de in Nagano 10 Photo Set (10 bromides)
  • Tomita Miyu 2nd LIVE Commemorative Raffle (2 acrylic keychains, 4 polaroid photos, 3 badges, 1 postcard, 1 tapestry)
  • Inori Machi Diary No.21 (1 book)
  • Kitou Akari Fanclub Event Goods (6 bromides, 2 badges)
  • Kido Ibuki LIVERTINE AGE T-Shirt (1 shirt)
  • BLEACH Karuta Card Set (1 set of karuta cards)
  • Ganbare Douki-chan Vol.9 (1 book)
  • From Buyee (30 bromides, 1 clear file, 1 card)
  • Inori Machi Diary No.22 (1 book)
  • Kohara no Heya Spring 2023 Event Goods (1 book, 1 keychain)
  • Ayana Koukoku 3rd Anniversary Event Goods (12 bromides, 4 badges)
  • Destination Club SUMMER GREETING CARD 2023 (1 card)
  • Kitou Akari Zepp Tour 2023 Goods (9 bromides, 2 badges)
  • Kanno Mai Birthday Event Goods* (1 ticket, 6 bromides, 2 badges, 1 sticker)
  • DEAD OR ALIVE Xtreme Venus Vacation Venus Acrylic Diorama Sets (2 sets of stands)
  • Ganbare Douki-chan Vol.10 (1 book)
(11 books)
  • Melonbook Girls Collection: Uruwashii
  • Chigusa Minori "Shino to Ren"
  • 92M "Gashuu Kinshi no Ane"
  • Hiten "With You"
  • Miwano Ragu "eyes on me"
  • Fuumi "SUMMER HOLIDAYS"
  • Rangu "Nichijou Sekai"
  • Sano Hiyori "LOVE IT"
  • Komizuki "Spatial"
  • Omulettomato "Devilgelic"
  • KUREHA "TSUBASA Illustrations C102"
  • Inori Minase LIVE TOUR 2023 Goods (6 bromides, 2 clear folders, 3 cards)
  • TakaMina to Oonishi no Takanishiya Goods (6 bromides, 2 clear folders, 1 sticker set, 1 tea mug)
  • Isobe Karin 1st Photobook "Watashi Meku" (1 photobook)
  • Ayana Koukoku 5th Anniversary Event Goods (8 bromides)
  • Inori Machi Diary No.23 (1 book)
  • Suruga-ya Run 2023 October (6 bromides)
  • Alternative Girls 7th Anniversary Goods* (4 bromides, 21 badges)
  • km5 Bluetooth CD Player Instant Disk Audio-CP1 (1 CD player)
  • marupi 1st Photo Book "Marugoto" (1 photobook)
  • Moeshi Tours Event 2023 Goods (12 bromides, 2 badges)
  • Seiyuu Grand Prix Halloween Party 2023 Bromides (Yukimura Eri) (4 bromides)
  • Earphones 8th Anniversary Official Goods (9 bromides, 1 calendar)
  • Karin no HP Christmas 2023 Event Goods (1 tapestry, 4 bromides, 3 stickers)
  • Tonari no Marinka Christmas Card 2023 (1 card)
  • Inori Machi Diary No.24 + New Year Greeting Card 2024 (1 book 1 card)
  • Destination Club NEW YEAR GREETING CARD 2024 (1 card)
  • Earphones 8th Anniversary Gacha* (3 acrylic prints, 8 bromides)
  • My Romantic vol.2 feat. Lynn (1 book, 4 bromides)
  • Isobe Karin Photobook Print Bromides (10 bromides)
  • Suruga-ya Run 2023 December (8 bromides)
  • Ganbare Douki-chan Vol.11 (1 book, 1 clear file)
*Gacha element, duplicates not included in tally
(Well, I do have a sitemap now if you are in GitHub so that'll be easier than reading this list... after I cleaned the older ones out lol)


COLLATION
Bromide Photo 206
Badge 43
Book 23
Card 11
Clear Folder 7
Display Items 5
Postcard 5
Sticker 5
Keychain 4
Photobook 4
Teacup 3
Clothing 2
Calendar 1
Special Sets 4
Other 8


MOST WORTH ITEM BASED ON ITEM VALUE
Need I say more? For actually allowing this purchase in the first place, my first attempt at Comiket 102 in August supporting artists I've followed online for nearly a year (apart from Yomu-sensei they are an exception to this) really expanded my horizons to the world of doujin art and illustrations. I tell you, even now, I still desire to get more even as I type this specifically for Comiket 103 which was held end of last year (and was planned to be with Douki-chan's final volume, but I abstained from that), somehow got me more into some of the illustrators, like, wanting more Hitei-sensei art and simping on Sano Hiyori and her their works is too real I use my Surface Pro in portrait now. Expect another round of this but with different people next year, I tell ya. As much as it's also not that cheap, these value for money artwork books are a great way to support Japan's indie art industry before AI settles in and ruins all the fun for us. *silence*
Runner up though, I think can be the Kido Ibuki collaboration T-shirt as I set new standards for what idolism trash T-shirt requirements should set me up for future purchases (or not, who will put themselves on the shirt *wink*), I'm actually wearing this very often (and even outdoors) no one will ever know where this treasure unless, and I have not met them in person, they are a super fan of Ibuki-chan for some reason. No, right? I'm the only fan here? Haha I'm so proud of it for some reason.

Digital purchases-wise, definitely the most worth for money was when they discounted Amamiya Sora's two photobooks for the price of one even though they are only released about 5 months at the time of pruchase. Sure, they aren't originals they are based on serializations on the popular Seigura magazine, but heck, I don't have enough social media photos to admire this perfection and this was very vital in making sure she is burnt into my memory. Same year, dude, same year. *giggles* 


LEAST WORTH ITEM BASED ON ITEM VALUE
I totally regretted visiting MusicRay'n Mall for two months straight and the latter was for some Valentine's Day postcards and in turn I bought some pants *ugh* haha and this isn't even of the girl, but literally nothing, NOTHING can make me angrier than that F**KING EARPHONES 8TH ANNIVERSRY GACHA IS SUCH A WASTE OF MONEY I CAN'T EVEN. As I would put it in a sentence, "all I needed to do was to wait 3 weeks and I could have saved a hundred bucks". YUP, those are MORE expensive than marupi-chan's gacha runs and I did that thrice which is half of the above purchase already *pukes*, still is more than a copy of the actual on sale items afterwards which I actually was waiting for. If not for my lack of patience (which I will explain why not later I promise you) (the fate of timing, dude) and wanting to get something from them (not Nagaku Yuki, f**k you) and not fearing of the high price of the gacha itself... yeah whatever that printed sign was worth it lol I don't even know what to do with the arcylic displays. Hang them somewhere? Ugh, don't mention this to me again, thanks. 

And I guess runner up can be going to the auction site for bromide photos again haha this pales in comparison but it was for a CD single I could not buy off hand. I'm never doing this again too tell me to eat a thousand needles next time before I do it. *giggles*


BOLDEST ATTEMPT
Gravure idol photobook without images of boobs??
Yes, keeping it clean here haha
It was a time earlier this year when DMM still hasn't region locked (again) their services to domestic sales, and boy did I at least take that ride when there was a sale back then, and could not help but ask myself what can I pay tribute to from my childhood this year. *giggles* I know there's Sugihara Anri's photobook at the start of this year and that's rather bold of me, but little did I know that long time idol(?) Shinozaki Ai is still releasing photobooks so I, uh, did not buy the latest one mind you haha, and bought one a couple of years ago? Yeah, it's still good, it's still gravure it's not as bad as last year *dabs*, but yeah Shinozaki, this one is for you. That's all. *laughs* Oh, she does not have that much history compared to the former; Sugihara has been around for quite a while haha ah


NEAR MISSES
This one, I feel like I have a lot to mention about this year, if you haven't been following my adventures already, so here we go. Specifically two periods of time I missed purchasing (of course) more bromide photos which would have made me a happy man this year. Firstly, it was some Kana-chan event bromide photos and boy my reason for not buying it right off the bat was because I was waiting for Akarin? Yeah, I thought she will make it in so I can bundle it with this (and maybe slap in some Ayachi ones hehe) but DAMN did the Kana-chan ones just sell out within 2 days I can't even. Randomized too, likely leftover from the event too, though I assumed that compared to the previous time we did this, it wasn't that on demand. *sigh* Should've given PONY CANYON more shipping money, which I eventually did actually even without Kana-chan, you can find out more in the posts I did respectively. *laughs*

The second time and boy I hate to mention this again let's get this done and over with lol, it was when that Aizawa Saya bromide photo set was sold for her yearly birthday event back in September. And no, we are not talking about the time I had to use CDJapan's Proxy Shopping service to buy the ones from last year's birthday event. (Almost missed counting that in tbh) This one, and now I think social media promotions are actually important, is that I totally skimmed over the promotions of the sale of these items (because they looked the same pre and post-event), and by the time I realized it was up (which I have been waiting for weeks) and I went to the store... it was sold out. My heart just dropped into the bottom of the seas when I saw that because, and I dare not hype you too much lest you find out about my fetishes, she was dressed up as a Pien Girl (this article is as much info as I can show to non-Japanese audience) essentially dressed up as some gothic gyaru with extreme makeup? I guess is the best description, and she is ADORABLE in that my heart sank even further into the abyss. I did not physically recover from that, I tell ya, much worse than when Saya-chan had too announce her hiatus. *silence* I hope she's well though.


WORTHY MENTIONS


marupi Photobook
"START DASH"

Suguta Hina Photobook
"Okita?"


Kido Ibuki Photobook
"Ibuki to Date"

Tachibana Haru Gravure Photobook
"Futon-san"
Amamiya Sora Photobook
"10 miles to America ~modern~"
Amamiya Sora Photobook
"10 miles to America ~classic~"

Okay two things I will mention here, one as a summary of the digital landscape for me this year, and one as a continuation from where I left off refreshing my music listening setup.

The list above should be a decent summary of what I will credit them for just this year alone, if you would recall those collaboration take-for-each-other TomoSha series which had like Suguta Hina and Kido Ibuki *chef's kiss* haha, marupi-chan was because I couldn't wait 9 months for a photobook review so I got that on my birthday (thanks for the info, Amazon) (also so far supported by Shupure lmao that's technically a gravure idol site) (they also did Moeshi's digital photobook which I didn't buy), I mentioned Ten-chan above which its discount is icing on the sweet cake, but specifically I want to talk about Futon-chan's collaboration digital photobook with photographer Saruyama Hideto, who chose to take photos of the girl in winter... and with glasses? Oh boy, it's still a gravure-level photobook alright, I'm pleased at what I saw. *giggles* These things are a rarity, so I thought I should mention them more.

It's shabby, don't judge, it has a budget.

And then, there's the modernistic CD player I bought to replace my current boombox. *laughs* I've been using that for years, and have only been using those for years because Hi-Fi systems are not cheap anyways, and I could go for a more wireless setup that takes up less space, so my decision back then was to buy this... this portable CD drive from the old days if you kids have ever seen those before, and then wirelessly pair them with a Bluetooth-supported bookshelf speaker set. And eventually, instead of going for the standard (which means expensive) option which my cousin was rich enough to buy (he also bought a condominium so what else is new lol), so I went for the budget option in view of how little I do reviews for Klassic Note nowadays. *sigh* Maybe the next time I upgrade this is when I can put all the CDs up in a single room and I have an actual listening room to put a pair of speakers that will immerse me in. Just don't ask what I'm listening to some cute girl singing. *giggles*


ALRIGHT finally we can talk about who won this year! I love to do such things, huh.


BEST PURCHASED ITEMS BY TYPE
(I'm going to split some of these categories this year just because)

Bromides (Excludes purchase of used and free gifts)
  • Tomita Miyu Live Tour
  • MusicRay'n 3rd Generation Bromide Set (Best deal in town excluding Tachibana Mirai lol)
  • Ookubo Rumi no Event na Ken 2023
  • Aizawa Saya no Ending wa Joukigen de (If this was 2 years ago this would win)
  • Kitou Akari Fanclub Event
  • Toyota Moe 27th Birthday 2022 Bromide Set C
  • Ayana Koukoku 3rd Anniversary Event
  • Kitou Akari Zepp Tour 2023
  • Kanno Mai Birthday Event (These were the best odds but how can you beat not gacha)
  • Inori Minase LIVE TOUR 2023
  • Ayana Koukoku 5th Anniversary Event (Notalgic to say the least)
  • Alternative Girls 7th Anniversary
  • Moeshi Tours Event
  • Seiyuu Grand Prix Halloween Party 2023
  • Earphones 8th Anniversary Official Goods (There's Gakyu-san lol)
  • Karin no HP Christmas 2023 Event
  • Earphones 8th Anniversary Gacha
  • My Romantic vol.2 feat. Lynn (Alien theme though?)
  • Isobe Karin Photobook Print Bromides
Cards/Memberships
  • Inori Machi New Year Greeting Card 2023
  • Inori Machi Birthday Card 2023
  • Destination Club Membership Card
  • MusicRay'n Mall Valentine's Day Postcards
  • Ookubo Rumi no Event na Ken 2023
  • Tomita Miyu 2nd LIVE Commemorative Raffle
  • Destination Club SUMMER GREETING CARD 2023
  • Inori Minase LIVE TOUR 2023
  • Tonari no Marinka Christmas Card
  • Inori Machi New Year Greeting Card 2024 (This is cute ngl)
  • Destination Club NEW YEAR GREETING CARD 2024
Books
  • Inori Machi Diary No.20
  • Destination Club Official Magazine 2022-2023 (This is actually a lot but this is it for the year)
  • Oozora Naomi no Mangaka e no Michi Photo & Art Book
  • Inori Machi Diary No.21
  • Inori Machi Diary No.22
  • Kohara no Heya Spring 2023 Event Goods (This one is thin af)
  • Inori Machi Diary No.23
  • Inori Machi Diary No.24
  • My Romantic vol.2 feat. Lynn (This one too)
Doujinshi
  • Ganbare Douki-chan Vol.9
  • Ganbare Douki-chan Vol.10
  • Melonbook Girls Collection: Uruwashii
  • Chigusa Minori "Shino to Ren"
  • 92M "Gashuu Kinshi no Ane"
  • Hiten "With You" (Ragu-sensei's is very vivid though I still like this art style)
  • Miwano Ragu "eyes on me"
  • Fuumi "SUMMER HOLIDAYS"
  • Rangu "Nichijou Sekai"
  • Sano Hiyori "LOVE IT" (This is their best so far but they are new)
  • Komizuki "Spatial"
  • Omulettomato "Devilgelic"
  • KUREHA "TSUBASA Illustrations C102"
  • Ganbare Douki-chan Vol.11
Badges
  • MusicRay'n 3rd Generation Event
  • Aizawa Saya no Ending wa Joukigen de
  • Tomita Miyu 2nd LIVE Commemorative Raffle
  • Kanno Mai Birthday Event
  • Moeshi Tours Event
  • Alternative Girls 7th Anniversary Goods
Photobooks
  • Sugihara Anri Photobook (Not for old times' sake)
  • Nagae Rika 1st Photobook
  • Isobe Karin 1st Photobook (Because tbh I like Rikachimalu more *dabs*)
  • marupi 1st Photobook (Don't ask why)
Event Tickets
  • Inori Machi Fanclub Event (There are guests and I have phobia, also started because of a joke)
  • Kanno Mai Birthday Event




And I'm finally done! I spend all afternoon on this I don't have to do anything else now. *thumbs up* Happy birthday Futon-chan! I hope some gifted subs is enough for your Twitch channel to host a bath stream someday. *giggles* I can't buy your photobook from your online store anyways they don't like international cards so *shrugs* but hey, I mentioned you in this, how about that! Yes, I covered my digital footprint last year too, there have been many things happening. Hopefully we can do more of that this year, but damn, this might be hard as Japan likes to make sure we physically buy stuff (which is still inevitably taking up space even if it's photos) and boy does it make the stockpile here grow faster than I expect. Still, don't think I'll stop doing this as long as I keep the first photobook rule down *giggles* no really Kido Ibuki sounds great paired with the word "swimsuit" but maybe it's time to branch out. *laughs* See you then haha

P.S. I did some research ie. I just searched in Japanese lol, the difference between the two terms of photobooks used in Japan which are in Kanji "shashinshuu" and in Katakana "fotobukku". The gist is that the latter is for expressing something so it typically comes with comments and more focused on its art, and the former is more of just purely showing off photos. Which will explain why Koko-chan's books are so far called the latter term just because- You saw that cover on the 2nd photobook though? That's expression, I'll give you that.

P.P.S. In case you wonder my fetish to "Pien Girls" and the thing... don't read the depression part in the article but let's just say you can get picked up by an adult video producer to have s*x with some dude. You know, to let off steam. HAHA okay I'm done keep this a secret here would ya
Reported by Kaineng on
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