Shop Spotlight: Doujin Binsen Japanese Fan Stationery

Welcome to another Shop Spotlight, where we feature some of the fun collectibles available at www.avaneshop.com. Hopefully you'll find the next piece for your collection or a great gift for a friend.

Today we're going to focus on items which aren't really well known or well collected in the west, Doujin Binsen. Often times the same circles and fan artists who make full doujinshi also make specialty stationery with unique art. This stationery is produced in very small quantities and sold at conventions like Comiket. Since they're made in such small batches, with most designs you're likely to only see them once, making them a unique collectible. Much like pencil boards, while they can be used for their intended purpose (usually one side or section has lines for writing) most people collect them in presentation books, effectively making your own one of a kind art book.

We carry a variety of Binsen based on popular anime, manga and games. Most we have as only a single sheet for collectors but with a few we have multiple sheets available if you want to send your closest friends a note on some unique Sailor Moon stationery.

Here's a few of our favorite designs:

Final Fantasy Sephiroth by Dark Ocean. This is a gorgeous design of one of the most beloved villains in the history of the Final Fantasy Franchise. This is a single sided long sheet and frankly would be terrible for writing a letter. It is however pretty fabulous for looking at if you're Sephiroth fan. We only have this single sheet, and for $4 Sephiroth can be making your collection a little sexier.

Pokemon Binsen by 200l Spring and Esorogoto. This is a double sided sheet with a full color side and a side with a few Pokemon and blank space for writing. This one has a particularly adorable umbreon and pikachu. Amusingly, Onyx at the top looks as though he's photo bombing. Most amusingly though is probably the misspelling of "PocketMonstars" A very unique $4 piece for your Pokemon collection.

 

Howl's Moving Castle Binsen by what seems to be a combination of 4 circles/artists. Really great illustration of several incarnations of  Howl on the display side and on the other side there's a few lines for writing and a super cute Sophie. Unlike most of our binsen we have several sheets of this design, but it's still sold   by sheet $2 each.

Sailor Moon Binsen by Azuma Higashino. We have a couple of different Sailor Moon designs but this one is our favorite. This is double sided, the display side has Uranus and Neptune and back side was a few writing lines and a cute image of Usagi and Rei. This has a nice monochromatic color scheme, green on the Uranus and Neptune, red for the Usagi and Rei  side. We have a couple of sheets $4 each.

Xenosaga Binsen by Dark Ocean. This is a single sheet design so the back is blank. Really pretty full color art on this sheet, some bending on the corners, but otherwise a beautiful unique collectible. Only one sheet available for $3.



We have a wide variety stationery available on the site more doujin sheets in a variety of styles as well as some more conventional sets and a few Furoku sets. Plenty of pretty paper for collecting or writing. There is sure to be something perfect for your collection.

~Stephanie


Don't forget to stop by our shop:

Top Ten Creepiest Video Game Songs

10. The Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy (NES version) - Mine & Graveyard

The Fantastic adventures of dizzy is about an adventuring anthropomorphic egg, which is an insane concept, but not really scary. Most of the music in the game is the sort of thing you'd expect from a 3rd party adventure game on the NES upbeat, bouncy, repetitive and a little annoying. This track however manages to have a distinct creepy feeling, when you go into this area where this track plays, the normally happy-go-lucky and ever-smiling dizzy looks sad and concerned. It does suffer from a really cliched creepy sound, but it's still pretty effective for an 8-bit era game.


9. Doom(PC)- Suspense 

Doom's tracks are mostly a mix of hard rock inspired compositions to get you pumped for killing hordes of  invading hell-spawn. There are a few however that are meant to impart a sense despair, dread and distress. Suspense is one of the creepiest in the purest musical sense. It's a piece that wouldn't sound out of place in a classic  Hollywood  thriller. It starts with anxiety inducing pure strings and slowly layers in low ominous bass and a baleful melody. Suspense fills you with a sense of unease as you explore the dark demon infested halls of the Phobos Lab.


8. Resident Evil Dual Shock Director's Cut(PS1) - Safe Room Music

In the Chaos that is the Mansion in the first Resident Evil the safe rooms are havens. No zombies, a typewriter, all your extra items, which makes this creepy little tune all the more upsetting. It sounds like an old dusty music box that's slowed with age, with an ethereal dark undercurrent.  It's on the surface childlike and innocent but makes you uneasy sort of like the twins in The Shining. It leaves you wondering what might be lurking in your safety. (Please note that the Director's Cut  Dual Shock safe room music is entirely different from the original cut safe room music)

 See the rest after the jump