savaster

Series 0 Shinkansen

Japan National Railways, 1964Do you feel yourself being drawn to the unique, egg-like curves of this train, particularly due to their resemblence to human anatomy? If so, you’re not alone. (Photo by AsterKawasaki Good Times World museum, Kobe)

Poster Girl Aya

Eri: "Hey, will you pose for our next store banner? You know, both Chihaya and Saki aren't here now.”Aya: "You mean you'd rather have them but I'm the only one around? No, I-"Eri: "I'll pay you."Aya: "Deal!!"

Tower of the Sun

Taro Okamoto, 1970Many people remember this as the icon of Osaka World Exposition of 1970. Its motto being "People's Progress and Harmony," and only one year after the Appollo 11 landing on the moon, it belonged to the era when all believed in the powers of science and industry, and that...

Inside Mother Ship

With 30% of her body tissues now replaced, Corporal 7-21 is ready for another offensive with the mammoth exoskeletal invasive species.

What Is Your Profession?

OK…so Uncle Tube is done with recommending me clips of deeds of a Christian King and is now on to King Leonidas and the bare chested gym lovers of Sparta.Seriously I still can’t catch, what the heck are their professions? And this time I will not take “Awoof, awoof, awoof” for an answer. Tha...

Where’s Octy?

(Hmmmm…where did he go??)(オクヒロ、どこ??)Please help Saki find her marine friend!!

Kingdom of....?

As with many others on the planet I have been following the news of recent developments in the Middle East, particularly the northwestern corner of what has been called the Fertile Crescent. However, what is odd is that YouTube has been recommending me contents on King Baldwin IV of the Kingdom of J...

Deep Water Check In

(Hi! Is everyone still doing ok? Hang in there!)Also - it seems like Patreon rolled out this new App that has a chat function for all paying members. It may get to be a new way to build camaraderie so please check it out!https://www.patreon.com/mobile

Towa Mihashi

Iwakuni City (Yamaguchi Prefecture)’s iconic Kintaikyo quintuple arch bridge seems to have a new mascot girl. She will be promoting her bridge to be on the list of UNESCO World Heritage - quite a feat, if accomplished! (Photo by Aster)https://kintaikyo-bridge.jp/

7. No Going Back

Xu: “Jane of Atoll, Tiki of Atoll, may the mercy of Irai Leima be upon you! Now…ready!?” Jane/Tiki: “Breatheeeeeeeeeeeeeee……..”

Riko’s Dragon [End]

Kanna: “Thank you, Saikawa. Now…”カンナ　「ありがとう、かえろ、才川」By Jim Liesman…And a shout out to Didrik for guessing the last scene correctly! :-)

The End

Understanding that a Duel of Fathoms was about to take place, Llulu immediately called off the game and order the arrests of Generals of the Guard Tiki and Jane. With the imminent loss of the Princess' two ablest vassals, it has become evident that Llulu's dream of seeing a world free from f...

KanColle TCG!

(Hmm, I wonder who left these here??)

In Retrospect

Looking back, I noted that I had named the habitat of Llulu's clan "Citadel." However, as you can see we've recently called it "Atoll." Oh well.("Atoll" has a long vowel so sounds better than “Citadel”…probably?)

6. The Bench

Thao (center): "Captain Xu, shall we go tell Princess Llulu?"Xu (left): "That won't do. Any duel of fathoms is punishable by death if revealed, says her Code.”Thao: "But then, one of them will die."Xu: “Yes. Then one dead general instead of two.”Iga (right): ".........

The Escape

Riko: (You're drowning! I'll save you, Kanna san!)Kanna: (You're kind, Saikawa.)才川（カンナさん、溺れてる！わたし、助けるわ！）カンナ（才川、やさしい)By Jim Liesman

5. The Name of the Game

"One. The game will be the Orb of the Fathoms, to be found in the Depth of Restriction.""Two. The one who successfully locates and retrieves the Orb will be the winner of the game.""Three. The one who aborts the game midway, or shows any act of cowardice will be forever expelled ...

Out of Favor?

Throughout past decades, I admit I've had a moderate-to-favorable view of actor Steven Seagal. Yes I've only seen a few of his movies, but I'd say the reception to his occassional apperance in the Japanese media (like this old energy drink commercial) has been always overly positive here...

Water Zombie

‘I...I'm scary, right?'

Night Sky Train

Have people had a chance to spot Starlink satellites? There are apps out there that help you locate thrm, but I haven’t had luck yet. I’m sure I’m looking at the right places, but probably too much fog or clouds in the air.

The Captain's Daughter 8 [End]

(Did I see someone below...?　No, that wouldn't be possible!!)Now...stay tuned for Jun's formal appearance in the new installment of FMS Tiger Lily!

Vietnamese Cuties

I wrote earlier about my observation that China may be already ahead of the game than Japan in coming up with "moe" characters. In contrast, it seems like the socialist republic of Vietnam is still in its infancy in this. My guess is, they are still hung up with the mainstream products like ...

Their First Dive

(Teaser) An early quasi-yuri moment....XD

FMS Episode One (An Illustrated Story!)

This was on our to-do list for a long time...the original tale of Chihaya and Aya's first underwater adventures that would continue on to the twin stories of Apnea Girl Meets Girl and Apnea Girl Versus Girl. This will be in English text with manga-style pics.Original text hereThanks and stay tun...

Fire and Water

After hastily signing up with Disney Plus and trying a couple of different VPNs, I finally got to view Disney/Pixar's Elemental which is not yet available on the Japanese platform. After viewing - overall I thought it stuck to an "elementa-ry" (hehe) plot development and made an exceptio...

Kanna and Riko

Riko: (Kanna-san....you're giving me water???)Kanna: (Oops, I forgot to breathe before the dive.)Kanna as a young dragon can withstand long time without air in lungs...才川（カンナさん、なんで、水を…苦しいわ！！）カンナ（あ、もぐる前に息すうのわすれた�...

Tiger Lily 40

What is Ken's "leverage"? :-)

HCM City Thrills

I’m just back from a trip to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and this pic is from a book/toy store in Vincom Center, a relatively high-end department store in the downtown district. Based on what I have seen in this and other stores and per one of my local hosts who happened to be very keen on this subj...

Tiger Lily 39

Where Are We?

I understand these large font signs are a trend for every place that is even remotely touristy, but it may be getting out of hand now. Meaning, no one knows where in the world is Ninohe, Aomori Prefecture is (Population; 24,000).