Every year, there’s this this day where everyone makes a fuss about having dates, giving away flowers and chocolates and also raep. I guess this is the day where you can brag about having a girl and later raep her in a motel that smells like stinky used socks. As for me, I keep my day simple as my 2D waifus are here obligated in giving me chocolates for the occasion.

Oh thank you Yui, that nice of you…

Holy Crap! Don’t! You’re doing it wrong!

I like Yui’s better…

I like the one inside your mouth Index, spit it out!

Ah! Thanks Misaka!

Okay… breath.. relax… GLOMP!

I see what yo have there… :3

I liek traps too…

You don’t have to do it this way Hideyoshi!

Mmmm… minty Ice Choco!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Ahhhhnnnnn~  om nom nom

Ah, another one of my Loli fans

Alright, you just keep standing like that for a while…

Well this one’s better than the other one you presented, so I might take a look then…

Anything frm you, Youma-chan!

Ahhhhhhh! Who can resist you Sakuya!? But lose the pads please! :3

Alrighty, I’ll take that :3

Is that for me?

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Chocolates for this day are nice, but I’d rather have monies in my donashuns… Also… Sanae!!! You’re doing it wrong!

Yes! Fall in love Makoto-chan!

Dohohohoho, I like how you do things thar Fate…

OMFG!!!  MINIMALIST STYLE! This is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better Vita!!!

Ah! Chibi-Reimu!!! X3

“ちびミクさん / Chibi Miku-san” a 4koma styled comic receives a quite well made MAD.

Fans of the comic should not miss this.

You can view more of the comic from Sankaku Channel or from Minami’s Homepage or from the Pixiv profile.

RaikenTB of SanCon have translated a yuri-themed IdolM@ster doujinshi for this week. It features Miki and Makoto. It can be read on the Sankaku Channel.

For those of you who want to view his previous doujin releases you can click on his name in the SanCon forums or on his comments for the front page of SanCon and it will provide you with the list shown here.

Japan manga man revives story-telling with modern twist

Rikimaru Toho doesn’t mind being stared at as long as he can hold the gaze of passers-by long enough to entice them to stop and sit down for an unusual show: a comic book reading.

And stay they do, hunched on low plastic stools inches away from Rikimaru, who offers the equivalent of an animated movie for the ears, his vast vocal registry bringing to life any character, from humans to robots.

The roaring overhead train, orange street lamps and the station walls comprise the setting for his performances of “manga” comics in Shimokitazawa, the cradle of Tokyo’s underground culture.

“I find it appealing to do, and to offer something that one doesn’t usually experience,” said the 34-year-old, whose real name is Satoshi Arikawa.

“By making all kinds of voices including female ones, I enjoy watching my audience’s reactions, and I am very grateful to them,” he added, with a slight bow of his head.

With long, black, dishevelled hair held in place with a rudimentary bandana, along with glasses and a black goatee, Rikimaru’s looks invite as much curiosity as his punchy voice which swings between bass and falsetto.

From action hero Kenshiro of the popular “Hokuto no Ken” series to the earless blue cat Doraemon and the lovelorn heroines of “The Rose of Versailles,” Rikimaru has done them all. And that’s not everything.

“Attatatata! Bang-bang-bang! Aaargh!” he shouted, shaking a “Hokuto” comic depicting a battle involving machine guns and blood. His audience, a group of college students, erupted into laughter and applauded.

When the scene changes, Rikimaru snaps his fingers and takes the deep solemn voice of a narrator.

A crowd including children and a few elderly people gathered around him, some snapping photos of the scene with their cellphones.

“This is really entertaining, and especially because it’s so unusual. You don’t normally see these sorts of street performances in Tokyo. It’s so different,” said a university student, 19-year-old Shohei Shindo.

For a reading of less than 10 minutes from one of the dozens of comic books displayed on the ground, listeners slip a few hundred yen — equivalent to a few dollars — into his box. Rikimaru politely bows and hands out chocolates.

When Rikimaru was 19, around the time that Japan’s so-called bubble economy plunged into a decade-long slump, he stayed in his room for an entire year not seeing anyone, one of the country’s so-called “shut-ins”.

After he emerged, he held various temporary jobs. But it was manga reading that became the focus of his life and which has won him a solid fan base, evident in the regular comments on his blog.

He has appeared on television and travelled around Japan for shows, achieving a level of fame that would seem to justify the 14 years of effort he has put into training his voice and practising his reading skills.

While reading manga is one of Japan’s favourite pastimes, shared even by Prime Minister Taro Aso, it is generally a solitary activity. Popular “manga cafes” have cubicles so readers are undisturbed.

Through manga, however, Rikimaru says he is reviving the art of story-telling which goes back to the 11th century but has been replaced in the modern age by television, movies and now cellphones.

Historical and romance stories including the famous “Tale of Genji” were elaborately drawn on scrolls of silk or paper, known as “emakimono,” and shown to the nobility. They are believed to be the origin of modern manga.

Story-telling then took the form of “kamishibai” or picture-story shows, popularised during the recessions of the 1920s and 1950s, offering unemployed men the means of earning a small income.

As Japan grew wealthy, kamishibai became romanticised as a relic of a time when the country enjoyed strong social cohesion despite common hardship.

Now Japan is again mired in recession, with thousands of people losing their jobs. And Rikimaru’s life is a sign of the grim reality many millions are facing.

The manga reader entertains on Saturdays and Sundays for stretches of more than five hours, which earns him around 15,000 yen (170 dollars) a day.

His limits his own spending to the cheapest eateries and shops. He lives in a tiny, mildew-stained apartment, he washes — now and then — at a coin-operated shower. He apologises for his disorderly appearance.

When he arrives at his designated street corner on his bicycle, he has a broom and a dustpan which he uses to sweep himself a patch clear of cigarette butts, fliers and other trash. He salutes his neighbour, an elderly palm reader.

Despite what appears to be a life of hardship, Rikimaru is refreshingly positive, seeing freedom where others might see destitution and despair.

“This is a life that I chose. Although I’m in a miserable situation, I have a place to live and cheap food I can eat,” he said.

“And I’m doing something that allows me to take my time, without being pushed around.”

via Tokyo (AFP), msn and google