Anizo 100% Reality Mind

Anizo “Anizo 100% Reality Mind.” What this means, I have no idea. A friend found it living in a vending machine on the street in China and brought it back to Boston for me. The one-inch tall yellow plastic guy (I think it’s a he) has a smile, a blue tear, a pair of hand holes, a growth atop his head pierced clean through, and, on his backside, a man getting squeezed between two lines that I hope do not represent butt cheeks.

The warning printed on the paper insert commands, “Do not use as lifeguard equipment.”

Anizo and I, we’re inseparable.

Anizo 100% Reality Mind!

Comments

Anonymous said…
That is seriously cool!

Maybe you could get a Anizo franchise. :D
P.L. Frederick said…
Yes, wouldn't finding vending machines full of these be so fun? Anizo people, walk your tiny plastic kneeless legs to North America! We'll be waiting.
Ty_Sylicus said…
I love these things! Been collecting them almost obsessively on YesAsia.com. lol.
RandySeah said…
Maybe you ppl would like to visit this forum?
Forum thread on anizo
Anonymous said…
I got one of those today in one of those machines, and googled of it to see what the heck did I buy.
I got the one that says "Swot". (it has megane written with hiragana on it) Unlike the others, it doesn't have a picture on its back, but its face differs from the others a bit. It's the same lovely smile, but with glasses with spirals on it, making uh.. Him(? not sure) look kinda funny. :D

The text on it kinda fits my personality, I'm carrying it everywhere with me now x)
Ty_Sylicus said…
@ dicita numik- Sweet man! So you actually used a real Anizo machine? :o Wow! Are you in Japan or somewhere else?
P.L. Frederick said…
One of my friend's visited China and got an Anizo from a machine there. Wish they were found in the U.S. Especially Boston!
Ty_Sylicus said…
^ haha yeah, I wonder how kids would react to this kawaii little things? :D
Anonymous said…
I don't think it's a total real one, because I didn't got it from Japan, but a machine with text saying gashapon on it. So it's gashapon machine saying Anizo I got it from.
I found the gashapon thingy in a movie theather (I live in Finland so I dunno if those can be found in US :/) with anizos, hello kitty gashapons and others. The gashapon costed 2€
So it was some sort of machine, but I think they look a bit different in the original country they came form. Dunno, never been in Japan yet, because 1) I must learn more Japanese! 2) The city is so big, and there's so many people.. Hard to navigate!
P.L. Frederick said…
Dicita Numik - Does yours appear on the Anizo web site? It's at http://www.bandai.co.jp/gashapon/anizo? I'm very curious!

I Googled my little yellow guy and discovered that he is all about Sadness or Depression or something. Perhaps the illustration on his backside means "feeling squeezed"?
Anonymous said…
P.L. Frederick - Yes, it does. It's one of the first "season" anizos, which are found in here: http://www.bandai.co.jp/gashapon/anizo/anizo01/index.html
The gray one is what mine looks like. The page doesn't tell much about the anizo itself, so the only thing I know about it is that it says swot or teacher's pet.
There are actually two saying the same text, but the other one looks a bit different. Both have glasses. I've found no further explanations for them so I dunno much about neither mine or your anizo.

Hmm.. Some of these are just funny! "Chicken" with a exit mark on its back, "hopeless" with red X on its head.. The list goes on..
Ty_Sylicus said…
haha, I can't read anything on that page (nor do I have Asian fonts installed here at the library).

As for series 1, I have the grey swirly glasses guy and the thermometer dude. :D

In total, I only have 5 left b/c I gave one to my mom and another to my girlfriend.
Anonymous said…
wow...i also bought an anizo.
i googled it, but i don't know what mine says. it says, tomodachi domari but i don't really know what that's mean. haha. i got the pink one, and it had a woman symbol. i think i got the female one. haha
i bought it in a bookstore in indonesia. mine cost about $1.5.
but i really want to know what it says about me. i'll gonna buy some more!
P.L. Frederick said…
Hi, Filiachan. Yours does sound like it's a woman. I tried putting "tomodachi domari" into online language translators but didn't come up with anything in Google or Babel Fish. Anyone know what it means? Anizos are cute little mysteries!
Anonymous said…
Well, I know "tomodachi" means "friend". Tried to find "domari" using Google...
This website (http://www.jp41.com/kanji/domari.html) suggest that "domari" could me "stop" or "halt".
So... To stop or end a friendship? That may be assuming too much.
Ben said…
Think that "tomodachi domari" one means this awkward state when a couple are more than friends but not quite lovers yet. The back of that anizo shows a progress bar stuck between tomodachi and renjin, while the face looks like its sad/crying.
Ben said…
Frederick, the anizo in your original post should be tabasami. Think its a state of being caught between two things, and you can't really go either way. Sort of like if you were asked if you'd save your drowning partner or your drowning parent. The little blue droplet on the face should be denoting awkwardness.
P.L. Frederick said…
Awesome! Thanks, Ben. That is most interesting and helpful to know.
Anonymous said…
^ Good one Ben. That sounds logical. :) It's all in the details.
Anonymous said…
The warning about it not being used for lifeguard equipment seems suggestive that maybe it's a whistle. Has anyone tried blowing into it?
Anonymous said…
^ haha, that would be pretty cool but, sadly, there is no such place to blow into an Anizo... at least not with any I have. :(

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