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It has been ten years since I last went to Wonder Festival Winter. The last time I attended, it snowed. This time, it was snowing even harder. For those who don’t know, Wonder Festival, or WonFes, is one of Japan’s biggest events for figures and garage kits. Major companies showcase upcoming releases, and independent artists
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the space between loving anime and working in it. For many people, anime is passion first, the stories, the art, the worlds, the community. For others, it’s a profession, production schedules, pipelines, localization, delivery, and operations. And for a small number of us, it’s both. That in-between space
Tofu Productions began from pure passion, but eventually the reality behind keeping it alive became harder to manage. What started as something fun slowly turned into something I couldn’t sustain. The biggest challenge was the workload after each shoot. I became the entire post-production team. I handled everything: digitizing, editing, creating graphics, designing DVD menus,
Tofu Productions, or Tofu Prod for short, started during a phase of my life when I was deep into video production. Around 2008, I was inspired by the content I was watching at the time: Option Videos and Best Motoring. Those two were the gold standard for drifting, gymkhana, touge battles, and everything related to
Feature Image: Photo from r/animevhs user – lookoutforlunch People often ask me how I started working in tech, media, and creative industries. The truth is, it did not begin with school or any formal training. It started much earlier, in a small and unexpected way. It started with anime. Back in middle school and through
My interest in cars started long before I was old enough to drive or even understand what made a car special. As far back as I can remember, cars were already part of my life because of my dad and my older brother. My dad owned a 1977 Nissan Skyline GTX, which became one of
Feature Image: Google Images. My interest in tech started long before I knew anything about computers or careers. It goes all the way back to sixth grade. At that time, I did not have many friends. What connected me to others was anime. Through my friend Edwin, who shared that interest, I met James. That
I do not remember the exact moment I discovered anime. I do not even remember how old I was. Maybe around five. What I do know is that anime has always been a part of my life, long before I even understood what it was. Back then, everything was just a “cartoon” to me. I
Sometimes the smallest moments hit you the hardest. My wife recently got into cars and modifying them. She started buying parts, researching upgrades, and learning how everything worked. I thought it was cool, but I did not think much of it at first. Then one day she told me she wanted to buy an aftermarket
Feature Image: Photo from my first Anime Expo in 2009. Before everything else, I used to blog under the name TOFUPROD. Back in the early 2000s, that little corner of the internet was where I wrote about anything I felt excited about. Food adventures, late night gaming sessions, trips to Japan, car meets, random thoughts,
