Hi there,
This is the first blog post about the detail of Japanese otaku cyber culture. Are you ready?
First let us talk about GK.
Many people are just deeply into collecting different kinds of GK, what it is?
Terry J. Webb wrote an introduction to GK, he said that
Garage Kits originated in Japan around 1979, when restless Japanese modelers grew bored with the selection (or lack thereof) of movie-related figure kits. After creating sculptures in clay, they eventually learned to produce silicone rubber molds from their pieces and then started making castings of their handiwork in resin. Resin is a hard form of plastic that starts out as a two-part liquid that--when properly mixed--creates a chemical reaction, which causes the mixture to solidify or "cure."
And also, he talks a bit about how they are made and their amazing prize.
Garage Kits can be made up of different materials: they range anywhere from home-brew resin and white metal parts all the way up to advanced vinyl castings. Box art and instructions run the gamut from nonexistent to sophisticated, full-color art and photography. Also, if you've never been exposed to Garage Kits before, you're probably shocked by the prices. These models are individually cast, short-run editions…and you pay for it! You know you've been bitten by the "garage bug" when $30 sounds "really cheap" for a model.
©高橋留美子／小学館
And as we can open the website of one of the biggest GK companies named Kotobukiya(壽屋), a large amount of different kind of GK comes out.
The prize of the one above is 9000 Japanese Yen, nearly about 100 Australian dollars. It is not cheap, but it do worthy that much.
Except this kind of Japanese mode GK, let’s look at HotToys, which is a company origin in Hong Kong manufacturing highly detailed collectible merchandise to worldwide. Their works are also very popular in Japan. Most of their works are the characters in some films, but it still has properties about anime and manga. At the same time, their prize is really high.
Then let's talk something about History Otaku.
In fact, this kind of otaku is most females. They have a name – Reki-jo(歴女), which means history-loving girls. They're interested in pre-industrial Japanese history. They view this period as an ideal age of innocence and adventure.
Most of them are interested in the history of Azuchi-Momoyama period, like Date Masamune.
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The picture above is one of the Date Masamune in game Sengoku Basara.
Also, these fan girls even have their own organization and their own tv program, it’s so amazing.
Here is the link to their website, free to have a look.
Refereces,
http://web.archive.org/web/20111119172613/http://wonderfest.com/gk-what.htm
http://main.kotobukiya.co.jp/figure/pvc/uruseiyatsura/lum.html
http://www.hottoys.com.hk/