Origami A Day 15: Super Orirobo 126A

Today, I folded a Super Orirobo 126A out of a piece of 5 7/8 inch square Aitoh color foil origami paper. I can't speak to the quality of their other products, but this is probably the best origami paper I've worked with so far. I may be addicted to foil from here on out.

There is very little derivation from 126A and 126B, but look how shiny it is. The foil holds its shape really well and it's a bit easier to manipulate this one into standing. It also allowed me to get the folds in the upper legs worked out properly. Best of all, the paper easily held up to the strain that tore through yesterday's attempt.

I'm beginning to suspect this shoulder spike problem is something that's going to come up often.

The arms also came out a bit better than my last attempt.

The secondary color on 126A runs the length of each leg, half the torso, the forearms, and the shoulder spikes.

The tradeoff for the rigidity is that the model is wafer thin. It's nice that I don't have to use any glue to hold it together, but I miss the heft of the other models.

Here's a side-by-side comparison to illustrate the difference in the two models' patterns and size. Again, I miss the bulk of the larger model, but I'd give it up if the tradeoff is accuracy and stability.

Weekend Review: Naoko: A Novel

Naoko is a book by mystery writer Keigo Higahino. Called 秘密 (ひみつ, himitsu, secret) in Japanese, it is the first of his books to appear in English. It received the Mystery Writers of Japan Award in 1999 and was later adapted into both a Japanese film and nine episode television series. The novel was also the basis for the 2007 Film The Secret.

I picked this book up after catching most of the movie on TV during my trip to Tokyo in December of 2010. I'd heard the movie and series had different endings, but hadn't heard which was closer to the book and was curious to see the original work the film was based on.

Taking place in Japan from 1985 to 1994, the story revolves around the three members of the Sugita family: Heisuke, his wife Naoko, and their daughter Monami, who is in the 6th grade at the start of the story. When Naoko and Monami are involved in a disastrous bus accident, Naoko's consciousness is transferred from her battered corpse into the brain dead body of her daughter. What follows is a very intense examination of the ways in which this complicated situation affects Heisuke and Naoko's lives, both privately and publicly.

The back of the book describes Naoko as a "dark-comedy" but I must confess I never found the situation the characters found themselves in as anything other than tragic. Perhaps my viewing of the film tainted my view of the situation. Heisuke struggles with the notion that he has, in a sense, lost both his wife and daughter despite retaining a piece of each. Naoko likewise has to deal with the challenges of living out her daughter's life while reflecting on the choices she made in her previous one. There are a number of side-stories related to factors contributing to the accident, Heisuke's work, and Naoko's relationship with her family. The parts about the causes behind the accident play out nicely and tie into the main story in a big way whereas the others mostly serve as character development. I don't want to spoil too much about the story, as it holds a few plot twists, but it is consistently good throughout and the short chapter lengths make picking it up and putting it down easy.

I can't comment too much on the translation. I haven't read the original nor am I skilled enough to attempt it. This was a problem for the details of the movie as well. Still, I found a few things stood out. First, I'm not clear why the title was changed. I don't find Naoko to be any more or less important to the story than Heisuke or Monami. Furthermore, the story is told from the perspective of Heisuke. If "secret" was nixed for some association with another product (as is often the case with title changes) I would have preferred something that maintains the neutral, inclusive nature of the title rather than one that singles out a certain character. 

There were several times in the book where cultural facts were weaved quite nicely into the story. For instance, Heisuke mentions a shrine where he and Naoko took Monami "for her third, fifth, and seventh birthdays, important childhood milestones in Shinto tradition." It is unclear to me if these kinds of details exist in the original text, as a Japanese reader would likely be as familiar with this notion as we are with the fourth of July, but they are very helpful in explaining some of the more nuanced cultural aspects of the book. 

Despite the dreary subject matter, I found this to be a wonderful book. I like the supernatural twist and the layered storytelling that was able to comment on everything from gender relations, working conditions, and the hierarchal nature of Japanese society in a natural way that never became pedantic. Having a better sense of the characters, I want to see the movie again and see if my initial (negative) impression of it has changed. Maybe I can track it and the series down during my upcoming trip.  Highly recommended.

Origami A Day 14: Cosmic Shuriken Guard and Super Orirobo 126B

Today, I folded a shield for my Orirobo 117 out of a green sheet of 4 1/2 inch Fold'ems paper. Called a Cosmic Shuriken Guard in the book, it is a slightly modified shuriken model and is listed as one of the signature weapons of 117. It took about twenty minutes to fold.

The folds in the back allow for any of the robots in the book to attach it to their arms.

Cosmic Shuriken Shield...

locked!

Oh yeah! Check out all his majesty.

The balance of the model changes when he holds the shield. Fortunately, it provides a third point of contact with the ground if you angle it right.

All the accessories in the book are supposed to be crafted from a piece of paper a forth the size of whatever you used to make the robot. Consequently, the guard I made today is a bit on the big side. It's a shield though so it just means it protects even more.

Feeling an accessory for one of the robots wasn't enough to necessitate its own blog post, I also made Super Orirobo 126B. He took several hours to complete and was not without a few problems. Chief among them being the new paper I was using, a duel colored piece of Tuttle origami paper, is too thick and weak for the heavy folds in the model. At 8 1/4 inches, it's also a bit bigger than 117, but not noticeably so.

As you can see, quite a bit of color was worn off the oldest and deepest folds. Still, the overall model is very cool and I feel the dual colors help it stand out a bit more than 117 did.

Here's a view from behind. My folds were quite a bit more accurate this time and the layers folded quite nicely.

I'm slightly irked that one of the shoulder spikes failed to fold as sharply as it should have. It causes the whole thing to feel a bit unbalanced despite the precise folding of the body.

The legs were also a bit of a problem due to some thick folds required around the torso. Still, it stands easier than the other two robot models, so I can't complain.

The biggest problem I had was with the folds that are hidden by the upper torso. I'm not sure if it was planned this way, but it's a really good thing you can't see the point where all those hidden layers meet because there is a gigantic hole it the paper that was worn through from all the stress put on it. Again, I feel this is a shortcoming of the paper and not the design.

Super Orirobo 126B is the third and last generation of this line of robots. His stats are all very high and given that his signature moves are punches and kicks, it would seem he mostly relies on bute strength to win his battles. He also utilizes the shoulder spikes for combat. A holdover from the arm cutters of the last generation perhaps.

Height comparison. They all have a certain flair despite their construction processes being quite similar. Of the three, I think I like 126B the most in theory. In practice, 117 wins by virtue of being the most stable and best looking wear and tear wise. Maybe I'll try folding another Super Orirobo with some of my other paper.

Suit up.

Weapons training.

Max armaments!

Hooray for 100 posts!

Origami A Day 13: Shred Beetle K-Type

Today, I folded an antagonist for yesterday's Orirobo 117. The villains of this book are known as Shreds, and they come in three different varieties: dinosaur, robot, and bug. I used a slightly lighter shade of orange 6 7/8 inch Fold'Ems paper to make it. Folding time was around two hours.

I have a bit of a history with this model, as it is the only one from this book that I have given up on folding before. Maybe that's why I chose to try it again, in the hopes that my recent foldings had given me enough experience to get it done. Though I did ultimately finish the model, I nevertheless had difficulty with te exact same steps as last time, namely the folds that form the middle pair of legs. The book tries to illustrate what needs to be done here, but I'm at a total loss about exactly what it expects. Oh well...

Overall, the model came out alright. There are some balance issues with the pincers, but it nevertheless looks like an evil genetically engineered beetle, right?

I substituted simple valley folds for the upper pair of legs. I believe they are meant to be outside reverse folds, but it doesn't make much of a difference.

Here's a closeup of the better of the two middle legs. I think the thickness and strange pseudo-rabbit ear are what give me so much trouble with these.

It certainly looks menacing from this angle. Shred Beetle's signature move is the "Stag Crush". Also, he is apparently capable of flight.

Here he is alongside Shred Dino T-Type, which remains one of my favorite dinosaurian models. Shred Dino cannot fly.

NOW WE FIGHT!

"Stag Crush"

"Mach Boot"

"C'mon Shred Beetle, it's safe..."

"Arm Cutter Attack"

X-treme closeup!

Victory!

A new challenger...

Shred Dino approaches with caution.

In the face!

Double Kill!!

Guilon joins the fray.

Shred Beetle's hide is too thick.

Godzilla: KING OF MONSTERS!

Robots and monsters bring out my inner child.

Photo Friday: Love Hotel

For those who don't know, love hotels are relatively cheap hotels explicitly made for couples. Since overnight rates generally fall well below those of the average hotel and since they frequently have vacancies, they were pretty popular choices for traveling JETs in my area. My fiancee and I stayed several nights in a local love hotel just before returning to America. So if you've ever wondered what a Japanese love hotel looks like, here are some pictures:

I've found that the rooms in love hotels tend to be very spacious for such a low cost. This room had two couches, a table, a stocked refrigerator, a microwave, and, naturally, a spacious bed.

It also had a rather lavish shower room with an adjustable shower head and an oversized bath with water jets.

Here is our room's slot machine. These are apparently a draw for some customers, as each room had a different machine and they were listed in the room descriptions.

One facet of love hotels that never changes is the fact that you don't directly interact with the staff. Room rates are posted in the entryway as well as in the room itself. You're charged either by the hour or overnight. In this particular hotel, you entered and selected your room by pressing a button off a menu. The botton would cause a light to flash above the room to indicate where it was located. Whenever you were done with the room, you called the front desk, informed them of any food or drinks you'd consumed from the fridge (honor system!), and you were sent a message tube to place your money in. The charge was displayed over the tube so there wouldn't be any confusion. Any change would be sent back the same way and you'd leave.

I had hesitations about love hotels when I first arrived in Japan, but they really aren't that bad. If you're ever in a pinch to find an inexpensive hotel at the last minute, I'd definitely recommend looking into it.

Origami A Day 12: Return With Robots!

So the past couple of days, I've been rummaging around my boxes from Japan, looking for various odds and ends. I found some gifts I've been holding onto, some more Nyanpire stuff, and my Taiko No Tatsujin drums. One of my other big finds was my Orirobo book, which is hands down my favorite origami book ever.

Today, I folded Orirobo 117 from an orange piece of 6 7/8 inch Fold'ems paper. The book is filled with various robots, their enemies (called Shreds), and equipment like shields, swords, and jetpacks. It also has bios and stats for some of the robots and a timeline of the Orirobo universe. Orirobo 117 is supposed to be a speed type robot from the year 2225. It's a cool extra detail to the book that gives the robots a bit of personality.

The diagrams in this book are how I wish all books were done, with clear illustrations and written instructions for each step as well as the occasional photo for the more difficult manipulations. My only problem is the way earlier steps of the more difficult robots are taken from other pages. Since most of the robots are based around the same bases, this makes a certain kind of sense, but it can occasionally be confusing. It took somewhere between two and two and a half hours to fold.

One thing I like about the Orirobo designs is that they look good even with some serious errors. I had a very difficult time with the folds near the hips of this model, but it still looks awesome. All the extra creases and folds could just be looked at as battle damage.

This model has some sort of protrusion from his elbow. According to his profile, these are "arm cutters". I can imagine this thing whizzing around a battlefield tearing things up with its blades.

Here's a view of the back of the model. Ideally, the folds running along its spine would be uniform and straight. Still, it doesn't affect the overall look too much, though it does displace one of the arms a bit.

Here he is next to my Orirobo 115. He is the precursor to 117. Clearly there are quite a few differences. 117 looks pretty beefy for a speed robot. I should try to find some more duel colored paper for these things.

Here's a fun size comparison. These were folded from completely different paper but seem to scale well. It's a pain to get these things to stand by the way. I finally got 117 stable but had no luck getting 115 to take a pose that didn't collapse at the slightest touch.

I really can't recommend this book enough if you're a moderate to advanced folder. It's got a lot of cool extra details and the models are fun to build and to play with. I'll probably be folding a few more in the coming days.