Alright, hold onto your butts… this is going to start out epic and then get very silly, very fast.

Old School: This Dope Akira Jacket

So, here’s where the angerfying-ness comes in… I saw Akidearest wearing this f’ing rad jacket on Instagram, then noticed it was a re-stock (only a month ago), slept on the decision to spend $134, then made up my mind to go for it… and the next morning it was gone. Gone. So… yeah a little nerd rage there.

But at least I now get to share this mindblowingly spectacular jacket with you.

So, lemme ‘splain this to you… This bomber jacket is created by very popular, talented DeviantArt artist Lovina Yavari. It’s modeled after the jackets worn by the biker gang, The Capsules, in the classic 1988 anime movie Akira. (I hear they’re planning a remake of this in the U.S. soon… especially interesting since the sci fi movie is set in 2019.) More than that, the jacket is, get this, reversible. Which is sick! The inside of the jacket has scenes from -the actual manga- on the sleeves and back.

I mean, having a The Capsules jacket is one thing, having the ‘Good for Health, Bad for Education’ logo on the back is another… having the jacket as reversible with the lead Shōtarō Kaneda’s face on the damn jacket… that is, frankly the definition of a ‘fucking rad’ jacket. Which is what people on Instagram are already saying. It’s available in some sizes still, but selling out fast.

And anyway, Pink City is one of a few amazing geek-fashion websites I’ve been finding (more on that later). You should take some time and enjoy going through all the amazing items they have on offer. Personally, I’m considering one of those Team Rocket jerseys, for sure…

Rad: The 500 Best Video Games of All Time

Have you ever wanted to know, officially, what the best video games, ever, are? In my opinion, Polygon.com nailed it. I just… salivated over this entire article. Well, you can’t wash that image away, now. Oops…

Warning–to all the PokemonGO haters out there… the original Pokemon game is on this list. Sorry! Haha… guess who also made it into the top: Warcraft. Why do I point these things out… this list, this incredibly bad-ass list, ranks video games based on how powerfully impactful they were on the emergence of video games. So they do more than just list the game reviews after each game, they explain why it made such a big impression and what people loved about it.

Let me guess… Ash is finally at the end of Viridian Forest… he’s out of pokeballs… and he’s about to ragequit.

Borrowed: A Silent Voice

I will apologize now for not quite finishing ‘My top 10 anime’ list from the last time. There’s a lot to write and consider, a lot… but I do have something spectacular to share with you that fills those big boots. A Silent Voice (2016) by Kyoto Animation is a seriously beautiful film. I’ve seen it and I can assure you that you will want to watch and then re-watch this one. You can watch it on Otakustream and read the manga on Crunchyroll.

I cried. I mean… I sobbed. I was so, so, so moved. This is a film that forces you to re-think how you are even looking at your own life and the lives of others. The movie is about a girl, Shoko, who is deaf and mute, and the bully, Shoya, who makes her life so miserable that she never forgets him. However, he himself becomes isolated because of his behavior… then, the two make contact again. And Shoya is devoted to healing the past, if he even can.

But beyond what you can perceive from the trailer, a deeper element that I got swept away in… the artists did such an excellent job of re-creating middle school and how it felt to be so vulnerable, so enamored with your friends in that intense world, and so eager for everything to work out. The children in this movie took me straight back to those days. It wasn’t easy to take another look at how we all used to be, and how we used to treat one another… but there was also an amazing amount of love and understanding, too. Both Shoya and Shoka are such beautiful people.

I’m putting this one in the ‘borrowed’ category because, uh… I got to see the ‘borrowed’ fansub on YouTube before this fan who put it up there finally got in trouble and they took it down.

Bad: Akidearest

Onward and upward! So the ‘bad’ lady of this list, the truly compelling, magnetic and unbelievably fun star of today’s ORBB is none other than… Akidearest! Yaaay! Akidearest is an otaku, self-identifying hentai fangirl, and all around charming person who is responsible for 75 percent of this entire blog post, really. I came across her on YouTube and not a video goes by that doesn’t inspire me, leave me shrieking with laughter, or clicking through a rad website in a panic over some hat or (did you see my #1 Waifu hat on Insta?) t-shirt, meme, or other trend in the otaku universe.

I watch Akidearest for the same reason that some people keep up with Allure magazine, or Harper’s Bazaar (I know, sounds strange, but this is a geek-chic blog, after all). I wanna know what’s going on in the anime industry!

“Aki is the queen we want and the goddess we deserve!” – fan on Instagram (someone actually did say this)

People love Aki, they even write fanfiction about her on Wattpad… I highly recommend following Aki if you want to stay ontop of stuff, especially trendy clothing (especially those discount codes) that geeks, especially anime-lovers secretly crave. I often just click over to Aki’s channel in order to laugh really hard at some clever video editing she’s done or a joke she makes, a funny face she grins through… this girl is all sorts of naturally talented.

I’m not totally sure of what she’s up to these days, since I’m new to her fandom, but I keep seeing snaps of her in Japan of all places! Which is very cool. She’s a New Mexico native.

Actually, if there was a ‘royalty among otakus’, Aki would be up there at the top of the list, living the sweet life. She tours the world doing conventions and is linked to The Anime Man, another very popular anime YouTuber. Could you consider them a royal couple, then?

They’re such adowable!!

Am I actually discussing celebrity gossip on this blog? I’ve never cared about celebrities in my life, seriously… guess it just took the right kind.

Wow. I’ve turned a corner in life…

Hope you all enjoy these links. I’m so excited! I had such a blast on my latest hunt through the wilds of the interwebs!

Anyone out there already an Akidearest fan?