And because i can... comparison of my Garmin fēnix 8 Pro – 51 mm, AMOLED and the Kiwame Tokyo Mune Usuki - 38mm

Ah, well, it's here, and its VERY nice. Kiwame Tokyo Asakusa KT201 MUNE USUKI(浅黄） #kiwametokyo

Megatokyo webcomic artwork - Erika's Corset fredrin.artstation.com/projects/0nz... megatokyo.com #webcomics #manga

What does that have to do with Megatokyo? Nothing, really. Just felt like sharing and needed a break from working on the frameout of the next Megatokyo comic. Should be some live streaming this week, so look for the notifications. I'll probably end up draw some of this comic wearing this watch :P.

So.... $690 + $150 is about $840 i spent on this shiny cool thing. I hope it's friendly. monochrome-watches.com/kiwame-tokyo...

They were supposed to ship in May, but mine has ALREADY shipped and now that it's almost here I got to deal with the other thing i knew was coming... Import Duties. I've purchased lots of stuff from Japan over the years, having to pay tariffs on stuff from Japan is... not a fan.

So, literally 3 minutes later, they were all gone. All 260 watches sold. Later they said that there were 600 people trying to access the site to purchase. Somehow, i managed to be one of the lucky ones. It felt great. Sarah and I high fived. The ONLY bad part was... I spent $700 on a watch. ^^;;

So, at April 15, 10:00am JST (which was April 14, 9:00pm here in Michigan, I loaded up the website twice, refreshed with a purchase button, said i was in line for a moment, then let me pay for it. I... had somehow actually managed to secure one. Went back to the website, and... they were sold out.

Now, you know how these kinda things go - lots of interest, they would probably sell out pretty fast, and the chances of getting one was pretty small. I was joking with Sarah about it, and she encouraged me to try anyway. I was like, seriously? it's still like $690. She said go for it.

Until earlier this month it was announced that they were releasing a new watch called the Mune (the ridgeline of roofs in Traditional Japanese architecture). I REALLY liked the white dial Mune Usuki. Was gonna be a drop on April 15th. 130 white dlal, 130 black dial. kiwametokyo.com/en/collectio...

They managed to catch attention with the aesthetic and refined detailing. 2 releases, 130 watches each style, completely sold out. Miyota caliber 9039 movement, 38mm case, $690. Can't even find them on the secondary market, REALL nice, would love to get one but probably not gonna happen.

Ok, so what does all this have to do with me and confessing about something? Well, there is this really interesting microbrand in Asakusa, Japan called Kiwame Tokyo... kiwametokyo.com

First, let me explain Microbrands. Small manufacturers that produce very small runs of watches usually using movements from either Miyota (Citizen) or Sellita (Swiss company).It gets you away from the 'big names' and there is some wonderful variety: teddybaldassarre.com/blogs/watche...

But that's not the confession. Have i suddenly spent too much and bought a watch i really shouldn't have? Am i an idiot? well, not so much, it was $690, not the multiple thousands. And... there is a story behind it.

To be honest, i've got into this mostly because I listen to a lot of stuff on youtube and a variety of audiobooks and i've learned a lot over the last year, it's been kinda fun. I currently have a Seagull ST36 disassembled, cleaned and waiting for me to lubricate and re-assemble.

Oh, and if you are curious about this watch, one of the watch repair youtubers that i enjoy watching actually did a repair on this very watch model: youtu.be/mDAKdzWx4Kk?... (this was Sarah's dad's watch, not off of Ebay for me)

So, i spent a few 100 here and there to get a black dial Seiko and that Seiko 1965 train watch, but no high end horology purchases thank you, just an inherited Jaeger LeCoutre that i'm really nervous about repairing myself (it is a bump automatic from the 50s, and pretty nice but is not running):

Sarah's Dad, John, who was a great guy - while going through his workshop, i discovered a bin full of watches, watch parts, tools and stuff. It was fascinating. This is all his fault i got into this (he also repaired clocks - we actually have a ATOMOS clock that we're looking into getting serviced)

Anyways, i have my little collection of stuff, my dad's watches, my father in law's watches, some of my own old watches, watch i got for christmas from Sarah and Jack, a Seiko i bought... you get the idea. Simple, cleaned up and fixed up by me, kinda fun (and about 10 pocket watches)

And yes, following this line of interest you go from "who the hell would possibly spend $5,000 on a watch" to "Oh, $15,000 isn't bad for that new Jaeger LeCoultre..." there is something kinda warped about the watch world, but it is more than a little interesting.

I have a confession to make. Been interested in watches for a while now, learned a lot about repair and building, mostly fixing up the reasonable numbers of watches I owned and inherited. From the depths of dry historical horology to the absolute wtf of influencer youtube space, it's been fun.

Mornin.

Now, if the sketchouts go ok here, I can get back to livestreaming comic work Tuesday :)

I wish there was a way to talk about story development struggles ESPECIALLY when they are big ones without it being huge spoilers. Its literally half the work of making comics sometimes, and this clutch point in this chapter brought me to a full and complete stop which i have now CLEARED.

Megatokyo webcomic artwork - Miho - Something Old and Unopened fredrin.artstation.com/projects/mD3... megatokyo.com #webcomics #manga

Megatokyo webcomic 1531 panel 2 megatokyo.com/strip/1531 #webcomics #manga

Megatokyo webcomic 450 panel 5 megatokyo.com/strip/450 #webcomics #manga

Sitting in a small local bookshop starting a new book on Independent Bookstore Day. *bliss* Fine Print Bookshop in Saline, Michigan. Delightful little bookshop, check it out if you are in the area. Book: Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

"Go through it's clothes and look for loose foxgirls" - you just described the last five or six years of Megatokyo.

Megatokyo webcomic 705 panel 4 megatokyo.com/strip/705 #webcomics #manga

Megatokyo webcomic 355 panel 1 megatokyo.com/strip/355 #webcomics #manga

Megatokyo webcomic 833 panel 2 megatokyo.com/strip/833 #webcomics #manga

Uh.... that's a rather OMINOUS Ping-chan memory to post as i sit here working to bring Megatokyo back from the Mostly Dead. *frets*

and before you ask, i've had numerous requests for this on a mug, and i want one too:

Here's the start of my revamp and re-upload and re-release of designs for Megatokyo shirts, Hoodies and other related stuff. Anything i missed here that you want? Might even do a few new shirts from some recent artwork too...

The things i find when digging through old files... Working on getting Megatokyo shirts going again and i found this:

Megatokyo webcomic artwork - Kimiko - Between Versus (sic) fredrin.artstation.com/projects/L3Z... megatokyo.com #webcomics #manga

Megatokyo webcomic 44 panel 4 megatokyo.com/strip/44 #webcomics #manga

i fucking love installing

Still thinking about this note I found in the children’s section of the public library when I worked there back in 2018. This kid tried to warn us…

Megatokyo webcomic 226 panel 3 megatokyo.com/strip/226 #webcomics #manga

When you research to find a chonky watch a character in one of your stories will wear that has to have built in GPS to fill a "find out where you ended up" narrative need and you end up with it on your own wrist as part of the reseach... *sigh* #garmin

As a random piece of trivia, Megatokyo arguably predates the concept of a Large Language Model approach to AI. It's quite possible that modern AI engineers count the Emotional Doll System among their early inspirations. 😉

Megatokyo webcomic 685 panel 4 megatokyo.com/strip/685 #webcomics #manga

Megatokyo webcomic 822 panel 9 megatokyo.com/strip/822 #webcomics #manga

Which i think is a bit funny because it never occured to me that digital higher resolution versions of MT could be used to train AI crap. Didn't even cross my mind. I represent the innocence of a former ages sometimes (clicks my mechanical pencil a couple of times)

BTW, for the record, i so totally do NOT every use AI... ive never used Chat GPT, any of the image creation crap, etc. The only thing i use is probably what Google does with my searches and you cant help but look at the AI generated response... which i never trust and always look at the sites.

Megatokyo webcomic 1395 panel 7 megatokyo.com/strip/1395 #webcomics #manga

Now, if i were to make a higher res fully digital version of Megatokyo (i have all the original files remember) and wanted to put something together that would be much easier to read than the website, but digital, what would you guys reccomend?

In Turkey, an elderly man who earns his living by shining shoes is visited every morning at the same time by a cat that asks to have its fur brushed. The man never turns down this little friend.😍👍💙