Back before I started this blog, there was nothing I wanted more than a dakimakura cover. I was elated when I got my first one, and while I got a second one in short order, I figured that I wouldn’t get many more; after all, dakimakura are some of the most impractical things to buy in this hobby. The pillow is too big to keep on my bed, I can’t actually hold it since I don’t want to get it all funky, they’re too expensive to hang on the wall, and owning even one outs you as a hardcore anime freak. Nonetheless, they keep coming out and I keep buying them, and here I have dakimakura number five.
Mafuyu Orifushi is one of the stars of the h-game and anime OVA Kanojo x Kanojo x Kanojo. The character designs were done by well-known artist Happoubi Jin, whose artwork also provided the inspiration for Orchid Seed’s Hustler figure. Mafuyu is the youngest of the three sisters and while she is a blonde, her sisters are a redhead and purplehead. There is something obviously very strange going on with their family’s genetics.
When it comes to romantic relationships, flatchested twintail girls seem to often assume one of two roles: the whiny tsundere type or the dominating, predatory feline type. Katja from Seikon no Qwaser – the greatest anime of all time – is a recent example of the latter, and Mafuyu seems to belong in that category as well. In the anime, Mafuyu is depicted as being rather conniving and mischievous, opening the first episode with a practical joke played for her own amusement at the expense of her sister Akina’s modesty. She also rapidly asserts control over the male lead in her one sex scene. Unfortunately, she doesn’t get a lot of screen time due to the anime’s need to squeeze in scenes with all three girls in the show’s half-hour duration. Perhaps there will be a followup that gives her a bit more time in the limelight.
I haven’t played the h-game but looking at the CGs, she seems to get as good as she dishes out there.
She seems to be something of a bookworm, as she’s often drawn carrying a little book around with her. She also seems to be fond of dressing up in maid outfits.
Regarding the pillowcase, everything I’ve ever written about my other dakimakura applies here. It’s soft and rather stretchy and it fits snugly on my pillow, which is the same cheap Bed Bath & Beyond body pillow that I’ve always used. It’s a bit too long for that pillow so about six inches of the cover drapes off at the end, but that doesn’t bother me too much since there’s some blank space at the bottom of the pillowcase anyway.
Omega Star is the company that developed the h-game and they’re also credited with producing this dakimakura, which is a bit odd since it seems that specialist hobby companies like Cospa or Matching World often handle the production of licensed pillowcases. I guess Omega Star wanted to handle this in-house.
One nice thing about this dakimakura is that it wasn’t all creased like my other pillowcases. It looks great right out of the plastic bag.
And here’s the side everyone wants to see. Oh the shame.
She looks kind of like, hmm, like she’s enjoying something. Or that she wants something.
I’m sort of assuming that if Funimation can release an uncensored copy of Strike Witches – along with sticking a picture of a topless Yoshika on the back of the box beside this charming picture, that I’m going to be okay here. Just in case, though, I’m backing up this site right after I finish this post.
A lot of the artwork shows Mafuyu in striped stockings but she’s gone with nice, simple white socks here.
Here’s how Mafuyu looks stuffed with a pillow.
And the other side. Anyway, I suppose there’s not really a lot to say about the pillowcase; it looks great, the colors are bright, it’s soft and stretchy, and the images are really nice. The two other sisters have also received pillowcases and they’re out now, so if you’re interested in picking up one or all three, you can check out Amiami’s dakimakura selection. Also, for Happoubi Jin fans, Orchid Seed is doing another figure derived from his Sweet Body artbook. It’s looking great and I can’t wait to see the painted version.
I haven’t gotten any dakimakura, due to the whole where am I putting it dilemma. I imagine I’d most likely use them as wall hanings, since I’d iron out all the wrinkles and then hate to get them wrinkled by not hanging them. Mayufu is easily my favorite of the kanojo x kanojo x kanojo girls.
The more I see these Dakimakuras in action, the more I understand their appeal and their hefty pricetags. The promotional preview pictures seldom do justice to the sheer immensity in size and presence of these things. While looking at the last few photos in the review, I find myself thinking: “Wow, they’re REALLY big, aren’t they?” I think it’s safe for me to assume they are even more impressive when seen in person.
I love this particular cover as well. The HCGs and the anime caught my eyes a while back, and Mafuyu was easily my favourite out of the trio. Can’t get enough or that mischievous look of hers, or Happoubi Jin’s art in general, for that matter.
>> super rats
Yeah, I didn’t quite think through the space problem; I leave my dakimakura on my bed when I’m awake and I move it to my chair when I go to sleep. I’ve seen a lot of people hang them up, although I wonder if buying a couple of wall scrolls would be a more economical way to spruce up one’s walls.
I waffled a bit on whether I wanted to buy Mafuyu or Akina’s dakimakura. Normally I’d go with the character with the nicer rack but I liked Mafuyu’s personality in the anime much more.
>> Chag
They are! They’re a lot larger than I first expected, particularly when fitted to a pillow. I sized the pictures a lot larger than I normally do since I figure the pictures are more instructive as to the product’s quality; the pillowcase really is nicely detailed.
I think her expression was what caught my attention and swung the purchasing decision in her favor; I love the peeved expression she has on one side and the naughty face she has on the other. And I’m hoping that Happoubi Jin’s artwork gets more prominence in hobby goods; I had hoped that Zettai Shougeki Platonic Heart would be a bigger deal than it was, but it wound up being completely unmemorable (probably because the anime OVAs weren’t all that great. It also had one of the strangest plot twists I’ve seen in anime and nobody ever talks about it because I don’t think many people bothered watching to the end.)
On the subject of Dakimakura being hung on the wall, I do have an opinion on that matter. I have about 5 of them hang on the wall, 3 of them being Feena which has no wallscroll, and the Dakimakura poses aren’t something you would naturally find in a wallscroll. So yeah, I hang them on the wall XD
Man you’re making it hard not to buy things like this. I’ve so far avoided them due to price, but I like this one, and I wanted a Horo one recently…
Are they worth the price? I’ve often figured they were $10 worth of material and $5 worth of print, sold for a profit of $85. It’s felt like a rip off… but I do like this one.
Wooow!! i like it!… the girl is cool, personally i prefer girls with big bubs (not exaggerated) but biger jajajajajajajak
Saludos!!
Hmmm, what sized pillows do you have to use to stuff these things with? LOL
Oooo Tier you Hentai czar that you are thanks for showing me a nice non-loli flat chest character…*runs off to look at the CG set*
Beautiful illustration on this though can see why you caved…Still can’t see myself buying one, but I’ve been dangerously close on occasion… >_>
Dakimakuras are the next best thing. I would like to have one. >_<
ooo mafuyu! 最高ã®GETã ãœï¼ heheh
alas, dakimakura fell out of my budget awhile ago… stupid prices ;_; if it weren’t for that and the whole nekkid thing i’d pick this one up 😛 my room freaks people out enough without bewbs everywhere ^^;
>> Wolfheinrich
That makes sense, I guess I’ve never seen an ecchi wall scroll, but I’ve definitely seen more than a few ecchi dakimakura XD
>> Aka
From an economic point of view … probably not. They’re really expensive for what you get and I figure most of the price is due to the pillowcase’s novelty.
I saw the Horo one on Hobby Search and I thought to myself, “I know a couple of people who’d probably like this.” You should totally buy it; off the top of my head, I don’t know too many English blogs that cover dakimakura. In fact, I was looking at my traffic referral log a couple months ago and notice that a blog that covered a recent episode of 30 Rock linked to my dakimakura review category as a way of explaining what a dakimakura is. I was kinda honored by that.
>> Marcucho
I do too, but Mafuyu was too cool to pass up XD She’s the most interesting character in the show … Akina (the middle-sized girl) is the baseline character and is pretty boring, and Natsumi (the big-sized girl) is sorta clumsy.
>> VF
I use a pillow that is 54 inches long and 20 inches wide. The pillowcase fits snugly width-wide but is around 60 inches long, so the end just hangs loosely.
>> Ashlotte
You are welcome! I am happy to spread hentai happiness. Yeah, my first reaction when I saw this was “OMG :O ” My second reaction was “WTF Hobby Search sell me my adult goods >.<" Then it went up for preorder on Amiami and I was like " (>^.^)> <(^.^<) (>^.^)> ”
Note to self: ban anyone including me who ever abuses emoticons like this in the future.
>> phossil
They definitely are. You should get one! It’s like crossing some big huge barrier.
>> meronpan
Yeah, it’s pretty hard to rationalize getting one of these things … other than wanting to show the world how weird you are, I guess … admittedly, two minutes on Youtube proves that that’s not an uncommon desire at all. I am a big fan of tits so I do not mind at all having Mafuyu’s proudly displayed XD
I’ll be jumping on this wagon soon too. D:
Shame Tony stuff is so hard to come by. I’ve only been able to find one pillow cover by him for sale, can’t see the full design of it, and it’s still ~$180. Oh well, at least there’s plenty of other designs I’m interested in (this one included), but a part of my just feels the need for Tony. The one you a review up for is amazing.
Too bad i think this is a bit too expensive. It looks cute that’s for sure and i like almost all drawing they put on them.
I wonder why i girl like me would be interested in those things and i bet you wonder too. Honestly i don’t know maybe i’m too much of a fan or i just love cute stuffs.
Because for me it’s mainly cute, not perverted 😀
>> Shashin
Hoorays! The world needs more dakimakura; more people would be happier if they had dakimakura (how could they not be happier?)
Now that you mention it, I don’t remember seeing pictures of Tony Taka’s dakimakura that was announced around the time of last winter’s Comiket. I checked Toranoana and they’ve got pillowcases of Shining Wind’s Elwing and Xecty up. They look nice. Strange how I’ve never seen pictures of those elsewhere, either.
>> Katsura-chan
Yeah, the cost is a real downer, particularly since textiles are so cheap to manufacture.
If I were a normal person, I would wonder these things, but I think it is perfectly natural for anyone to want a dakimakura XD I wonder if it’ll show up on that 30 Rock show again … I wonder if NBC has that episode available for viewing anywhere.
Yeah, I’ve seen both of those. They’re nice, but much like you said when you purchased your first dakimakura: If I’m going to spend over $150 on one, I want it to be as raunchy as possible.
I’ve managed to find an image of what the one I’d considered purchasing would look like on both sides here: http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/i/taka_tony/c69-info.jpg
I like it, but as it would most likely work out close to $200 after shipping, I’m going to see if I can’t find one of his designs I like more. The three I have in mind are from C77 (the one you linked),C73, and C75.
Trudat, I can certainly understand that philosophy. I took a look at YJA and there’s a few C75 pillowcases up for sale (here and here, among others). There’s a few C77 ones up for bid, too. The C73 one I don’t like as much because of the bad feet … one of the girls on one side has her big toes on the wrong side of her feet.
Talking about Taka Tony’s pillowcases makes me miss seeing mine … maybe I ought to give it some time on the pillow.
Yeah, found those. Going to try to pick up the C75 and C77 from YJA. I was looking into the various services I could use, but since the auctions end within 12 hours, I’ll probably go M-World. I’ve signed up with Shopping Mall Japan for future purchases, as I’ve heard they’re generally cheaper, and not too bad.
For the C77 one, I’m a bit wary of the the buy it now auction, as a there’s isn’t an actual picture of the item, but the guy has over 1600 feedback (using eBay terms :P) without any rainy clouds. So I’m going to take the risk.
Though after all the charges are made, I have a feeling I’m going to cut down on spending for a bit, but I can’t pass these two up.
Those are the two proxy services I use; I signed up for Tenso, but I couldn’t quite figure out how to use them. I’ve never done a precise cost comparison but I’ve got the feeling SMJ usually runs cheaper, but I don’t have a very high bid limit on YJA since I didn’t want to put down a large deposit.
I hear what you’re saying about cutting down spending. I told myself I was going to do the same and then completely ignored myself. My bank statement for March is going to be crazy.
See, I say I’m going to cut down on spending, but I’m currently maxed on my SMJ limit of $250 (credit card deposit, so it isn’t money out of my pocket yet), with two items won, and another being bid on. But the auction page is down, so I’m not sure if it’s just a temporary error, or the auction was removed.
I’ve put the deposit on the two Tony dakimakura. I’ll probably miss the 31st cut off date, and get it in May. That kind of sucks, especially since my SMJ deposit was approved just an hour or two after I sent the money away to M-World.
And I’ve constantly been looking at dakimakura and figures on HobbySearch and AmiAmi, and my preorders for the next few months on HobbySearch alone are enough to make me cry. Half the stuff preordered isn’t for series I’m even intimately familiar with. It’s mainly me going “boobies” or “nice ass”. And one of the figures I genuinely want is sold out on both, and crazily priced everywhere else.
Going off on a bit of a tangent, but unless all other options are exhausted, I don’t think I’d ever buy a figure from J-List. Prices are equal (or higher) than what I’d expect to pay from an American store -and- you have to pay for shipping from Japan. That’s the worst of both worlds right there. :S
And to top it all off, I finally found two dakimakura covers I absolutely must have, but I can’t find them anywhere. As soon as I get my deposit limit back on SMJ, I’m going to request they look for them through their Akihabara service.
In short, I have no self control and will weep many many tears as I attempt to pay all this off.
droooooollllllssss. D:
lucky. im sure you have fun with her…XD
>> Shashin
That’s one of the big drawbacks with M-World Service … I notice a lot of things ship late in the month and I always worry that I might order something and he might not get it until the first week of the next month. It hasn’t actually happened to me yet, though. I probably should switch over to paying by credit card so that I can get my deposit back.
I don’t watch a great deal of anime or play that many video games these days, so my rationale for buying a figure is most often based on looks. I usually have to do a great deal of research before reviewing a figure if I plan to write anything about the character’s background or personality. I’ve got another dakimakura preordered (the Natsuru from Kampfer one) and I really don’t know what I’m going to do with all of these.
Yeah, I don’t buy figures from J-List unless I’ve got no other choice; I bought this little tentacle monster figurine from them but otherwise, their prices are wacko. I did recently get a heads-up that they stock a decent selection of h-manga, which I’ve found to be very difficult to procure in the US, and I need to preorder Lightning Warrior Raidy II soon, too.
I also have no self control but I’ve come to amiable terms with that and my bank account balance.
>> Fabrice
Indeed I do!
<.< >.>
Yeah, maybe I’ll get lucky, and he’ll get his hands on everything within the next few hours, but as it’s already about 4pm in Japan, I doubt it.
I’ve also preordered that dakimakura, though I wanted the Shizuku one much more. Luckily, I was notified this morning that it was back in stock on Hobby Search. Yay for another hit to the pocket book.
On that note, I had another one happen today when I found out I could access the Adult section of YHJ. I followed an outdated 3 step guide to get access, but I had read you had to pay a premium fee and when I was signing up it was now a five step process. While attempting to get access, I gave up after about an hour of not being able to get through, but sure enough I check today and am able.
I’m requesting a limit increase with SMJ right now so I can pick up a very appealing dakimakura that I thought I’d never get my hands on.
The figure I was considering from J-List was Sousou, as preorders have stopped everywhere else, but it was $120 + expensive shipping, and I couldn’t justify that for a ~7000 yen figure. Hopefully I’ll be able to snag one once it’s released, but while it’s a figure I’d like to have, I can live with out it.
A
I like the Shizuku pillowcase; if she were wearing slightly less clothing, I probably would’ve bought it instead (since Shizuku is way too cool in the anime).
It’s always a great feeling when you find something that you’ve wanted for a long time and never thought you would get. Some of my favorite figures that I’ve reviewed on this site fall in that category.
Sousou is from Koihime Musou? Off the top of my head, I think the only Sousou figure I can recall is one from Gigapulse. $120 would be expensive indeed for a Gigapulse figure. (Actually, after some googling I find that there’s a figure being released by Penguin Parade through GSC. RACS still has it up for preorder, although it’s not much cheaper there.)
Shizuku was indeed awesome. I wish a bit more was exposed myself, but in the end it was her wonderful ass that sold me on it. Same reason I’ll pick up the C.C. dakimakura from Code Geass if I ever see it reasonably priced.
YHJ is both the most glorious and evil thing I have ever come across at the same time. The two dakimakura I found last night were ones I wanted, but not the one I wanted most. I decided I could probably slide with it, and order both, even though they were in the upper end range. This morning changed that a bit.
I scoured the site first thing this morning, searching the circle that did the one I want most. Sure enough, it was up for bid, with all the goodies to go with it. So I’ll probably only be picking up one of the other two, while I try to snag this one.
Unfortunately there is no buyout price, or I would have picked it up instantly. I placed a rather generous bid that I don’t think will be surpassed, but you never know. And if I am surpassed, unless SMJ is quick or I can get a hold of M-World, then I lose.
Yeah from Koihime Musou, and the Penguin Parade figure is the one in mind. I had forgotten about RACS, and as I’m assuming they are US based, it would still be quite a bit cheaper than J-List ($20 off the figure + less for shipping), but I just wish I had preordered it with someone else when I had the chance.
I’ve got a YJA search bookmarked for Volks’s A/X/upside-down A brand figures and every time I load it, I have to resist the temptation to impulse-buy their prepainted, preassembled figures. I’ve been fortunate enough not to get into a huge bid war on there, since I usually bid way more than I think I’ll need to win (knowing that if no one else bids, I can just allocate the excess money to commission and shipping fees). I still stick to buyout auctions when possible, though.
Yeah, I’ve had that feeling before … I’ve waffled on a few figures and then missed out. Like the Rider Figma, she sold out with the quickness. I guess I can’t say I’m too perturbed though since I’m not really much of a Figma collector, anyway.
Was a bit bummed. I had decided I was going to try and snag both the dakimakura I wanted, despite it putting me further into the hole than I would have liked. I went through the adult section, and saw that it was very rare to have anyone bid past 10000 on a dakimakura, so I was quite comfortable with my bid on the one I wanted. My limit was already pretty low, so I couldn’t raise that bid, and flat out buy the other one.
The other wasn’t in the adult section, so I attempted to buy it, and was informed that the seller doesn’t approve of deputy services. Now, there was still plenty of time, so I could have gone with M-World, but it was already rather expensive, so I just took it as a sign that I should wait another day (and pay off some of my debt.) Best part was that it’s one of the sellers I bought a dakimakura from through M-World.
But I won the dakimakura I really wanted, without the bid increasing one bit.
Ah, that’s unfortunate. I wonder why that seller would disapprove of deputy services? (Liability concerns? A very peculiar form of xenophobia?) It’s cool that that you got the one you wanted, though … winning something rare always feels great, although the extra time it takes to get something when you use a proxy service sucks.
Who knows, though I wonder if it would have gone through if I had placed a manual bid. I’m assuming since bids are placed immediately with the automatic system that there isn’t a person involved; maybe it raises some flags with certain sellers, though not being strictly against YHJ’s policies. Maybe a bid that required a real person to place it would have worked. I might try it eventually, as the auction is now back up for another few days. Or if I find that I really must have it, and don’t see one put up by another seller, I may go through M-World again.
Both the one that I won and the one that I missed out on are from circle No Real: http://noreal.dojin.com/ (NSFW content, obviously – though I’m unsure of the exact posting rules of this site)
I won 黒猫様抱ãæž• パンツã‚ã‚Šver and missed out on 澪抱ãæž•.
Though I’m bummed about M-World only shipping once a month, I’ve fairly impressed with SMJ. Two auctions I won have already had their status updated to “Batch to US office” and it has only been 5 days since the auction closed out. Granted it’s not where near as fast as placing a direct order with a site, but it’s still not all that bad.
I won
I guess I never set comment guidelines for this site, but I’m going to institute two right now: no links to pictures of nendoroids, and an inlined image involving a nendoroid receives an instant ban (uhh, if WordPress allows me to ban users from posting, anyway; I don’t actually know if it’ll let me do that or if I’d have to do it manually). Links to hentai are absolutely always appreciated, though. Unless it involves a nendoroid, I guess. I’m not sure if they’d cancel each other out or something.
It took, hmm, 17 days for my last SMJ order to arrive from the time I won the auction to when the mailman dropped it off, which isn’t bad at all.
Hmm, Google Translate renders 黒猫様抱ãæž• パンツã‚ã‚Š as “Pillow-like pants with a black cat.” That’s the pillowcase with the Little Busters character? At least, I think that character looks like she comes from Little Busters … I’m not too familiar with that series myself.
I have two items currently in storage, but I’m going to wait for a few more items to get in before I request a shipment.
As far as I know, that’s where the character is from, but I don’t know much about the series either. I just really like the design, more so than others I’ve seen.
Dakimakura covers are very good as wall decoration. They can be used as a useful and attractive ecchi “wallscroll”. I personally wouldn’t want to use them as pillows as I feel that crosses the line into creepy territory.
I used to collect dakimakura covers (stopped about 6 months ago) and have a total of 42, most of which I purchased from Yahoo Japan via the shopping Mall Japan deputy service (as some previous posters seem to have done as well).
Some of the ones I own (mostly NSFW):
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r269/Ilpalazzo8/IMG_9253-1.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r269/Ilpalazzo8/IMG_0111.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r269/Ilpalazzo8/IMG_0082.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r269/Ilpalazzo8/IMG_8666.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r269/Ilpalazzo8/IMG_8075.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r269/Ilpalazzo8/IMG_8110.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r269/Ilpalazzo8/IMG_8222.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r269/Ilpalazzo8/IMG_8237.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r269/Ilpalazzo8/IMG_8278.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r269/Ilpalazzo8/IMG_8282.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r269/Ilpalazzo8/IMG_8296.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r269/Ilpalazzo8/IMG_8376.jpg
>> Shashin
That’s pretty much all the reason I need to buy something too XD I don’t know very much at all about most of the characters I buy stuff of.
>> Macron One
I think it’s way too late for me to worry about crossing the line into creepiness XD That’s, uhh, quite a few pillowcases! Thank you for sharing them, too, I always enjoy looking at dakimakura pictures. I especially like the Fate one … I like dakimakura that have a backside shot, I wish more did so.
Yeah, the Fate case is pretty hot. Backside shots, especially if a nice ass is present, really can’t be beat. I’d take two scantily dressed/nude shots of a front/back over the more standard clothed/nude front shot any day.
Finally had them ship me the 9 items they were holding in the US, with both of dakimakura that I mentioned earlier included. And wow, I’m in no ways disappointed. I received Shizuku a few weeks back, and it was certainly nice, but overall just a tad disappointing.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Shizuku, but she didn’t take up as much of the cover as she should have. She’s rather small on the print, with a lot of the space being saved for the background. Still nice, but certainly underwhelming for my first dakimakura.
I had a few more that I couldn’t resist in my order, but I couldn’t be happier with these two. They take up the majority of the print, and thus are a better scale. And the sample designs just don’t do them justice (due in part by the SAMPLE bar usually streaming across the goods.) Really, I just need to go pick up a few pillows and I’ll be set.
You should take pictures and put them up somewhere. I got the Natsuru Seno dakimakura a few days back … I haven’t taken it out of the packaging yet but it looks pretty cool from what I can tell.
Yeah, the censoring is always annoying on dakimakura photos. I should look around on YJA and Mandarake for more adult dakimakura, I usually get my pillowcases from Hobby Search or Amiami and I’ve got the feeling that I’m missing out on the best ones.
SMJ seems to be having an issue with bidding on adult auctions at the moment. Tried placing a manual bid and get an invalid auction message, for all attempted bids. Really sucks, as I missed out on a very nice Fate dakimakura; not the one posted above, but a very nice backside was included. Luckily enough, people still get away with posting adult items in the non-adult section.
You most certainly are missing out. I didn’t think I’d find a dakimakura that I’d want more than the NoReal Sasegawa (that I luckily won for 13000. Yeah, I say luckily…), but I did. And it speaks to me in all the right ways; my maximum bid (partly hindered by my current bidding limit – I’d hate to see what I’d go up to if I had more free) makes me happy I got Sasegawa as cheap as I did. Then there’s also this little number, which doesn’t appear to be as hard to acquire (multiple listed, with a few buyouts): http://illustguerrilla.web.infoseek.co.jp/ig-hp/makura/nagomi-sono/top.html
Amiami might be willing to sell a few with a bit of nudity (though even they restrict some of their material), but you won’t find it on Hobby Search, for sure.
I’ve been nothing but pleased with Mandarake in the past, and they do have a decent selection of dakimakura available (though it’s such a tease to see the ones you want most are sold out… even if it does provide for a method of finding ones you really want), but I’m a bit miffed that they only have a portion of them available for sale on their English site. I previously thought they offered everything to all of their customers, but it’s sadly not the case. 🙁
As for pictures, I’d be more than happy to provide, though they unfortunately won’t be as nice as your photos always come out. I happen to have a decent camera (D60), but despite my interest and even username here, I’ve never gotten around to figuring them out. I don’t venture much past the auto settings, and I’m sure that’s less than ideal. Anyhow, I’ll see if I have a spot to set them out now and get a few decent shots
Gallery here: http://www.imagefap.com/gallery/2233384
I’m sure there’s bound to be a ton of ads, but not really sure what site is better for hosting adult content.
Thanks for sharing! Man, Shizuku looks like a nun in comparison. The pillowcase with hmm, the character from Angel Beats or Little Busters … I get all those series confused … anyway, the purple-haired girl looks incredible. And I didn’t think I’d ever want another piece of Mio merchandise but dang, she’s looking good there. And, uhh, a lot more racked than usual.
That link you put there, with the twins … damn. I mean, damn. Multiple listings, you say? Damn. And I just bought some new car speakers so I dunno if I really have the discretionary funds available but … damn.
Yeah, I know. I actually got more in the order (including a Tony dakimakura), but those two are easily my favorite, and laying them out and taking pictures is a surprising amount of work. But I will do it within the next few days, hopefully. Yeah, the second I saw the preview for the Little Busters (pretty sure that’s the one :P), I knew I had to have it; I haven’t made a better decision. And Mio is Mio. I like her considerably, but don’t think I’d buy any of her other dakimakura (excluding the NoReal version of her that I’ve yet to pick up), but the facial expression, assets, and microphone placement just made it all too good to pass up.
For the twins, I plan on picking it up myself when I get a chance. I’m not too worried about it becoming limited that soon (and if it does sell out and I never get a chance at it, oh well) and my Hobby Search preorders for April are starting to come in stock, so I’ll have a massive order right there to deal with. Factor in all the other items I’ve just recently won or am bidding on now, and it’s not a priority.
Also, not to tempt you even further, but the Little Busters dakimakura currently has one listing on YHJ:
http://page11.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/n81694313
Bit more expensive than what I paid, but had I not gotten it when I did, I would have jumped on it myself. It’s the same version as the one I have (there’s also a version with the panties – I definitely prefer the version with.)
Seriously though, while I may regret preordering a Cospa pillow with Amiami (as opposed to picking up a cheap one), I hope it comes in stock soon so I can get the full effect of these covers.
Yeah, I need to re-take my earlier dakimakura pictures, I think they came out pretty badly.
So I saw a listing for the twins on YJA and tried to place a bid and I got a message saying the seller doesn’t like SMJ, and I recall that you mentioned running into a seller like that. That’s all kinds of fucked up. Plus I just bumped up my bid limit the other day so that I could buy more dakimakura and I guess I’m not going to be able to take advantage of SMJ’s commission discount for this month which annoys me even more. I guess my white man money ain’t good enough for him (hilarious since I’m ethnically half-Japanese).
I saw a Touhou dakimakura from the same circle on Mandarake and it looks pretty good. Don’t remember her name … Marisa maybe? I’m not too familiar with the Touhou Project characters. Speaking of Touhou, man there were a ton of dakimakura with Touhou characters for sale there. I like it a lot but I think I like the one with the twins a bit more.
Man, 18k … that pillowcase looks awesome, but I’m thinking I want the twins. Or maybe the one with the Touhou girl. Or hmm, it comes to mind that I think the same circle that made the Mio pillowcase you have might’ve done one of Saber Lily. Might be confusing different circles, though. I know a guy who has it, it looks really good. Maybe I’ll see if I can find that one.
Yeah, fwisy is the seller that blocks deputy services. I was looking at the various twin listings and a bit disappointed when I saw his name.
ç´«æºäº is the circle name; I saw the Touhou dakimakura on YHJ a few weeks ago, and almost picked it up, but I wanted the Little Busters/Mio more. So just spam search it in Adult/General every couple hours (that’s what I do, with about 10 different search terms >_>) and you’ll hopefully find something you want sooner than later. I initially came across the Little Busters dakimakura about a week before I bought it; I searched it every day with no luck, and then next thing you know, it was there.
I’d like to get this one: http://www.muranomina.com/C76/komicha23.jpg
eventually. I saw it up for 18000 bid; don’t think it sold, but I haven’t seen it up again since. I think I reserve the higher prices (anything more than 15000 or so) for the really dirty ones, or products with superior quality. Not quite sure if I like that one enough.
Though if SMJ doesn’t do Adult auctions anymore (I haven’t had any luck with bidding since I mentioned it – I should email them), you’ll have to go somewhere else. Why aren’t you eligible for the discount? I vaguely recall wondering why my commission was $12, and then read that it only applies to the first 3 purchases of the month, but I couldn’t think of any other reason you wouldn’t be eligible.
I regret not having an edit button, as it normally goes against my nature to double post. But there’s just always more I think of that I want to saw after I do post.
Anyhow, thinking back on it, I’ve now bought more dakimakura than I have figures, which is pretty amusing as I don’t even have a pillow to match, yet. Impractical as they are, I just can’t stop myself.
Here’s two others I picked up a few days ago:
http://www.1999.co.jp/image/10101001a/20/3
http://ever-green.on.arena.ne.jp/oder/order_dk_sam.html
I had the feeling that another seller with the twins pillowcase wouldn’t be likely to show up before the end of the month, but as it turns out, a few got put up on YJA today. Guess I was just being pessimistic there. I wound up buying one out, against my better judgment. I guess I’ll just have to hold off on further purchases till payday.
I need to revamp the comments system here one of these days. I don’t mind double posts, particularly since I haven’t figured out a way to enable threaded replies. I need to figure that out one of these days (this site uses an old theme that the author abandoned before WordPress introduced nested comments).
I like them! The second one is by Carnelian? I was browsing eBay the other day and I saw some doujinshi by her that looked pretty good, but the seller was charging an insane price.
Heh, just so happens I’m in a semi-similar boat. The dakimakura I mentioned earlier that I set the high bidding limit on has another listing. Granted it’s in the adult section (which I can’t currently bid on through SMJ) and there’s no guarantee that it won’t reach the price my auction currently is at. Still a bit lame though. The auction is listed at 16000, where the one I’m bidding on is at 22000 currently. I’ll pay it, I guess (not that I have a choice), but I just hope it doesn’t creep up anymore in the next few days, closer to what my max bid is.
Realized I never linked it, but it can be found here:
http://www.syrup-soft.jp/top/comike/comike77.html
But yeah, future purchases need to be cut back a bit. I don’t plan on buying anymore this month, but my Amiami order just came in (Cospa pillow with a few dakimakura, including this one) and depending on how the Hobby Search releases go, I have a bunch of stuff pre-ordered set to drop in April. I’m guessing not all of it will come this month, as it’s getting close and only three of the items pre-ordered are currently in stock, but I’m prepared for it if it does.
I actually like the layout of this site for the most part, and if you don’t mind the double posts, I won’t worry about them.
Yeah, it’s Carnelian, though I’m not overly familiar with her work myself, I really liked the cover. There are two of the same chick, and I liked this pose more than the other. I believe the other doesn’t have a back-sided view and is just clothed/unclothed. So just on that fact alone I like this one more, and of course I’m all for the facial expressions.
Also, NoReal just released what their next dakimakura will look like, with a few varying options. I like the design, and it’s set to be available for pre-order within a few hours, so I may see if it’s possible to order directly. Probably not, but if I can’t, I’m not sure I like the design enough to pay the extra fees on top of the asking price. Still, it’s a nice cover, and I’m really a fan of the circle.
Wow, that’s really nice. I really like the themes and the character design of that one.
I had a bunch of figures preordered for this month but a couple of them have already gotten kicked to next month and I’m guessing one or two more might follow suit so I figure that frees up some money for other things. That’s probably not a very healthy or responsible way for me to think.
I googled NoReal and I was kinda surprised that they put up uncensored artwork, I think that might actually be the first uncensored dakimakura pictures I’ve seen from a Japanese maker. I think I like characters that are a bit older and developed though, like the one from Syrup’s website (uhh, from Machi Gurumino Wana – Hakudaku Niramireta Shitai, I guess. Hmm, there’s an h-anime adaptation of that game, I didn’t know that).
Yeah, it’s probably going to be the last YHJ auction I buy for awhile. Haven’t some bills to catch up on at this point.
I just did a reorder combination to move back a figure to May; everything else is still listed as April, but I’m assuming some of it won’t drop this month. I’m of a similar mindset, but I’ve already spent so much, so I really can’t afford to add anything else.
It’s nice to see the uncensored work available, but I’m assuming there isn’t as much detail (take the twins for example.) I generally prefer older characters myself; I just really like NoReal’s art design. I had to have the Little Busters cover, and I really like the Mio one. The others I like, but could do without.
It’s funny, I actually have a bid on their most recently released dakimakura. I placed it the same time I placed the bid on the Syrup cover, without really thinking about how much I really wanted. I’ve been hoping to be outbid the last few days now. I just checked right now, and sure enough, someone bid up to my exact bid about, but not over. There’s still 12 hours left, so hopefully someone will bid a few more hundred yen, but I just think it’s funny; it’s not the first time it has happened to me either, so it makes me wonder if someone (either the guy selling or the deputy service), is increasing the bid, but not going over, so that they get a bigger cut. I’m probably just paranoid, but I can’t help but think about it.
I did actually have something like that happen to me recently; I put in a 6000 yen bid and woke up to find that I had won at my maximum bid of 9000 yen. I don’t think there was any peculiarity on the part of the proxy service I used (SMJ), though, since I don’t think the commission fee increased. I don’t think there’s anything stopping the seller from bidding on his own stuff though; at least, I don’t think there is. I wonder if auction services have some harsh penalties for sellers who do this? It seems like a very easy thing to do but it doesn’t seem to be too commonplace.
Man I want to see what the twins look like uncensored. I guess I’ll have to keep an eye on this circle’s stuff, it looks like they’ve made quite a few dakimakura.
Luckily, I was outbid at the last minute and lost the auction. As far as sellers bidding on their own items, I think I’ve seen it on YHJ, but I’m not entirely positive. When checking feedback, there’s occasionally a rainy cloud that mentions (translated) something about being the same. It has been a few weeks since I’ve seen it, so I don’t really recall any of the wording, but I’m positive I remember it being something to that effect. I could be wrong, but the complaint always came from YHJ, so it’s the only thing that makes sense to me.
Yeah, there’s a few others from the circle I like, but the twins take the cake. And while the sample bar is in the way, it’s slightly transparent, so if you want to storain your eyes, you can get a brief idea of what to expect. Granted the real thing should look a million times better, but I know that it’s at least more detailed than the usual dakimakura.
Not much of a surprise, as the price was rather high, but I won the dakimakura I wanted without it going up anymore. That concludes my spending on YHJ for the month, as I only have three more items holding back my April Hobby Search order. I’m definitely going to take advantage of SMJ’s 14 day payment policy when I finally get the bill for all this; I’m not sure I can deal with paying for a massive Hobby Search order and a 400-500 bill at the same time (have another item I won that they haven’t billed me for yet.)
Ah, okay, I usually only look at the score and sometimes the items that people have won from that seller, just to check whether the seller specializes in anime hobby goods; I’m more comfortable shelling out money on those types of listings. (Incidentally, I still find it kinda amazing that I don’t even blink when it comes to dropping $300 or more on an auction whose description I can’t even read.)
Yeah, being able to pay after bidding is one of the really nice things about SMJ. I think my hobby tally is actually a bit lower than I had budgeted for this month since a lot of the figures I ordered got kicked to May, which works out even better for me because I didn’t have many figures preordered that were scheduled to drop in May.
I copied the picture of the twins to an image viewer and resized it to like 3000 pixels high; it definitely meets all the criteria I have when it comes to selecting a dakimakura (and then some).
It’s funny that it was just a month ago that I was just dipping my toes into the water with all of this and I’ve already seem to have plunged all the way into the pool. Seems somewhat relevant to say it here, instead of switching to the specific post, as it’s how I came across this site, but I received the notice that my Collet figure has shipped today. Not going into my dissatisfaction with the retailer, I was more than a little hesitant myself about spending over $200 on a figure, and within the last month or so, I know I’ve probably spent at least ten times that. Impulse can be a real bitch sometimes.
I’m glad the dakimakura met your criteria. I hope to join you in owning it sooner than later, but first I have some bills to pay, I’m thinking. I believe I mentioned that my pillow finally shipped from Amiami, however, I’m a bit wary right now. Doesn’t feel like the right word, and I’m sure I’m overreacting, however, along with the pillow was also this dakimakura cover as well as the Maaryan cover from ToHeart2. I also had another package ship at the same time, that was placed on the same container. The second container was listed as entering customs two days ago, while this one is still listed as just having shipped.
Hopefully nothing will come of it. I’d imagine it’s because the package is valued at over $300, so I may have to pay some duties, but that’s to be expected eventually, I guess. I’m still a bit worried that if someone does inspect the package, they may feel the items are inappropriate, but we shall see.
Tell me about it, I’ve impulse-bought a huge doll, a really expensive pillowcase, and a couple of Ikki Tousen figures just in the last month.
It’s good to hear that Toyslogic came through, although I imagine it’s probably annoying in that you’d think that a retailer ought to be able to come through on a sale with much less hassle. I think Collet is definitely worth the expense, though.
Hmm, yeah, I guess that could happen … I’ve never actually gotten charged by Customs though and some of the figures I’ve bought cost north of $300. I’m hoping they’ve got bigger fish to fry >.>
I’ve read the Toyslogic forums a bit, and it looks like it’s a very small operation, so I’m willing to accept a few delays here and there. But for it to take a month when the item was apparently in stock, never receive a single email reply (I sent about 5 in total), never have anyone pick up their phone, and to top it all off, have them charge my credit card a full two weeks before the item even ships. All of that just makes the entire experience leave a bad taste in my mouth, and I doubt I’ll order from them again.
I really can’t wait for Collet, though. Should be here tomorrow.
I got my first package from Amiami today, which was one lone dakimakura. One area that Hobby Search is certainly better than Amiami in is the package listing. I don’t really care what anyone I don’t know thinks, as long as it doesn’t get my package stuck up in customs, but I’m on very good terms with my mailman, and should he read the description, I’d rather it read “plastic kit” over “Xrated pillow cover”. But oh well, I guess it can’t really be helped.
Yeah, regardless of how leanly-staffed a business is, there’s a few things I expect from a store and it sounds like they fell way short in the important areas. That’s a pretty dumb thing to do when there are so many alternative stores.
I’d find it absolutely hilarious if my mailman asked me, “So what’s an X-rated pillow cover?” That kinda reminds me of this news story I read a while back … I wonder what possessed them to write the item description like that.
Pretty much. Got her today without any hassle though. I’m rather happy other than not having any space whatsoever (my room is literally stacked with boxes of doujinshi and figures at the moment – I have no other place to put them) and the horrific smell when first opening the box; that’s some strong paint or whatever.
Yeah, I guess it would be kinda funny, but a bit embarrassing nonetheless. And the guy is a 40 something ultraconservative type, and I’ve enjoyed talking him for an hour or two here and there while he’s stuffing the mail into the boxes, I’m not too sure if that would continue should he know some of the stuff he’s delivered to my house.
Yeah, that smell of paint or petroleum chemicals or whatever it is takes some getting used to. My new camera had that same sort of smell, which was kinda unpleasant when I had the viewfinder up to my eye. I’m having space problems too; I’m thinking I’m going to box up some of my figures that I don’t like as much and stash them in the closet or something to free up space for my newer stuff.
Haha, that’d be even better. If my mailman were like that and he asked me about some of the descriptions on my parcels, I’d greet him and then I’d put my Obama doll on my shoulder and talk to it as if it were a real person.
Hopefully I’m correct in assuming that it will eventually pass, but I guess it doesn’t really matter too much once they’re on display. Just a bit of a bummer, really. Hindered an otherwise great experience. I plan on moving within the next few months myself, so I can’t really see displaying everything now, even if I did have the room for it. But I have almost not space whatsoever, so it’s a decided matter. When I do move, I should have plenty more room and I plan on picking up a pair (or more depending) of storage cabinets with plenty of shelves. Be able to put in all figures (at least the more risque ones) and doujinshi, so that they’re out of the way should small easily corruptible children be about, yet easily displayable when that isn’t the case. Infinitely better than having everything booked up as I currently do.
I got the package today without too much trouble. Luckily they decided to remove the X-Rated part of the item description from the packaging slips, though I’m not sure if it was discretionary or due to a lack of space; either way I’m grateful. Though your way of going about things would be pretty amusing to see, I have to say.
As for the dakimakura themselves, there’s a very noticeable difference in the material used for them. The ToHeart2 cover is infinitely smoother than the Mafuyu cover; it feels much better on the skin. Not that I had an option to choose the material for either, but for any future dakimakura purchase, I’m sold on the nicer material. The dakimakura I got a few days ago featured an even plainer material, that felt absolutely awful.
As for how either of them display on my new pillow, I haven’t the slightest idea. As soon as I opened it up, and gave it a nice hug, my Mio immediately came out of the bag and onto the pillow. And holy hell does it look amazing. I really should try a few more on, but I don’t know. Only problem I’m facing is whether I want to keep it on the pillow, or attempt to keep it in as pristine condition as possible.
I guess they’ve got an interest in not explicitly disclosing the explicit nature of their goods, since I’m sure a part of their clientele is buying adult stuff. Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever actually looked at the box to see how the contents were described.
The material for the Taka Tony pillowcase I have is much nicer than the Cospa ones I have, but since I don’t really handle the pillows much, I don’t mind going for the coarser material since it’s usually cheaper.
I just keep the last one that I photographed on my pillowcase, so Natsuru should be going on my one pillow pretty soon. I’ve got a similar problem, in that I think the Taka Tony C75 pillowcase is my favorite one but I’m leery of keeping it on the body full-time for fear that it might get funky. I’m sure I’m being silly since washing textiles isn’t really difficult but I overthink and overreact like that.
I wanted a dakimakura for years before I got my first one, and it’s still surprises me how nice they look even after I have, uhh, six I guess. They’re one of those things where it’s hard to judge how cool they are unless you see one in person.
Yeah, it makes sense. I honestly never thought about it, as when I was doing all my ordering through Mandarake, they just put “used books” and undervalued things like crazy. Which in hindsight would have screwed me if the package were lost, but I was just happy to have my stuff.
Speaking of Tony Take, my two cases should hopefully be here Monday or Tuesday. I ended up picking the C73 case as well on YHJ, and the material is nice, but Mio and NoReal feels better even. I swear, I must have cases with at least five different materials; they all feel close to the same (well within two categories – either silky-ish or not), but there are minor differences to note.
I have way more cases than I’ll ever be able to use (I’m past 10, but I don’t have an exact number :S), but I still really like them. As for the pillow, I know everyone recommends saving the money and getting a $10 BB&B pillow, but I have to say that the Cospa pillow I got is the most comfortable pillow I’ve ever used. Not sure if it would be as comfortable without the Mio cover, as the material is just so wonderful, but I really like the support it provides.
It was your reviews that made me decide to get one. My view changed rather quickly on them. At first I didn’t see the point, then I slowly warmed up to them, thinking that they’d be cool to display, even if I never used it. And I’ll admit to laughing to the people who’ve married their dakimakura or have carried it around in public, but I can see how they’ve become attached, even if I don’t understand how it became to that degree. So I don’t think I’ll be prancing around in public with mine anytime soon, but they’re definitely a lot easier to hug than any normal pillow.
I’d like to get a longer pillow so that the bottom end of the dakimakura doesn’t hang limply; maybe I’ll do that when I’ve got a bit more space to spare. Or I guess I could just stuff a smaller cushion or some rolled-up laundry or something in there.
I wanted one for a long time mainly because they seemed such a peculiar thing to buy, and not to many people seemed to have one. Even now I don’t see too many English-language blogs that cover dakimakura, although admittedly I’m somewhat detached from the community.
I don’t really advertise my hobbies in public – this blog notwithstanding – but while I can’t really say I understand why people marry their pillowcases, some small part of me does have to admire that level of love and dedication, even though there is absolutely no bloody way I’d do the same thing.
Mine fits pretty well on the Mio cover; can’t say for anything else yet. It is a bit loose, but that’s fine with me, it made getting it on really damn easy.
I like the idea behind them. It’s undeniably Japanese, and most people wouldn’t understand the appeal behind them. For those that use them, they offer a bit (or a lot) more comfort than a normal pillow can provide. That and they look really cool when you don’t have your head resting on one.
Nor do I. Only a few of my friends know that I have an interest in hentai, while none of my family does. Gaming and anime related interests are much more socially acceptable, but I don’t think I’d be willing to have my family go through my figure/dakimakura collection. Those who are willing to be completely open with the world, having no problem with what their parents/friends/general populace thinks have my respect. Even if their choice of hobby is misunderstood, or rather because of that, the fact that they’re able to be so open with it is pretty damn ballsy.
So I got the C75/77 Tony dakimakuras in the mail today. And while I’m a tremendous fan of Tony, I must say, I’m a bit disappointed with the dakimakura. The artwork is absolutely fantastic, but I’m not too fond of the material used for the C75 cover (same as the C73.) Luckily, the C77 is very similar in feel to the Mio cover I’ve come to absolutely love. As I said, the artwork is fantastic, but it doesn’t scale too well on the cover; the artwork is just too small on the giant cover, and it’s a bit disappointing. Which is pretty much the same issue I had with Shizuku.
Don’t get me wrong, I still love them, but after the long wait, and extra expenses (as I went through M-World), it’s just a little weak.
That reminds me of a review I read of one of the Witchblade figures. American cartoon characters are on all sorts of things – I had a ton of GI Joe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stuff as a kid – but I’ve never seen an American property on a body pillow. The Japanese, of course, just say, “Why not?” and do it.
Yeah, I don’t know too many people who are into hentai. My friends think it’s funny but I’m the only one I know in real life who enjoys it. Outside of friends, I’m generally a fairly private person, so I don’t really share my hobbies with anyone else (this blog notwithstanding, again).
That’s unfortunate; I guess that’s one of the problems of buying stuff in Japan without being able to see what you’re buying. I bought a Volks figure recently that I had wanted for years, but when I got it, it was far smaller than I anticipated and the paintwork was really shabby. I had looked for pictures beforehand, but the only ones I found were painted versions of the original garage kit, which were much, much nicer than the Volks version I got.
Being a fan of flat chests, I had to click the tag on the Nymph review. I know it’s not your typical preference, but with as many reviews as you’ve done, I was really surprised to see just how few fall under the tag. Still, it was nice because I finally checked out the Sora review that I had seen a picture of on the header but had never actually tracked down.
More on the amusing side, however, was this may have been one of the first reviews I posted a comment on (I’m fairly positive Collet was my first.) You’re the one that got me on the dakimakura bandwagon, and reading through some of our back and forth, you can see me talking about my first dakimakura purchase (as well as crying about a 13000 yen dakimakura purchase when rates were better) all the way up to listing quite a few of my first purchases. It’s even more fitting since I just received the Twins case, and this is the review that I pointed it out to you. It only took me about a year to pick one up myself. I know I would have done it sooner, but there were only 2-3 listings at the time I posted it, and at least one of them was SK, which I knew I didn’t want… then it took forever to see more 2WT/2WR, often at ridiculous prices.
It’s also quite nostalgic seeing that the two Tony cases were technically my first, though I never did end up buying the very first one I linked (I’ve seen it as cheap as 9000 yen) and I ended up getting Shizuku well before them, thanks to M-World’s shipping system. It’s pretty fun looking back and seeing just how new I was to everything and the mistakes I made (such as material types – especially with Tony’s covers that used SK, I think.)
I’ve been feeling really nostalgic and pensive recently as well. I’ve been doing a lot of figure reviews lately, and I’ve been pretty pleased with the results. People who come to this blog also seem to like my work; I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on my photos for Dizzy, Saber Alter, and Rin, which makes me pretty happy, but it also makes me evaluate where I’ve come from and where I’m at. It’s like, yeah, I think my recent pictures are good, but my pictures weren’t always good. In fact, a large number of my pictures – like pretty much everything in my first 50 or so figure reviews – are really damn bad, and I still take bad pictures. I’m really happy to be able to see progress, but I’m not yet as good as I want to be – not even close.
Man, looking back through the comments here … I didn’t post this that long ago but man it feels like I wrote all this a long time ago. I still haven’t even finished watching Kampfer. I switched to using Yokatta as my main proxy service. I junked the old theme to enable threaded comments. It’s hard to believe this post is barely over a year old.