It's not Awesom-O. But it is Awesome!

Meet Danboard. He's a robot suit costume worn by Miura Hayasaka in a the Japanese manga series "Yotsuba&!". I don't know anything about the manga, but I've seen products for sale and, as you see above, in arcades.

It's simple - just a few cardboard boxes and a black marker. But there is something special in Danboard's design that makes it very appealing, and the character has slowly grown on me! Sometime soon I'll need to add something from this character to my collection of toys from manga and anime I've never read or watched. I could make my own, which if I wanted something "life size" I could do. But there are small clips, licensed boxes (wow) and even figurines. Yes, plastic figurines of a cardboard costume worn in a manga. Someone even created a 365 Days of Danboard flickr, and it's very nicely done.

I even think this costume is better than Cartman's Awesom-O in the episode of South Park of the same name.