It’s been a while since I did one of these, so here’s a few wallpapers for anyone who likes to decorate his or her computer with pictures of cute plastic anime girls.
Kureha Touka
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It’s been a while since I’ve written up a list of figures I’m interested in, so I figured I’d go ahead and take a look at some of the stuff I’m looking at. Pictures are shamelessly borrowed from Hobby Search which, despite their annoying removal of porno goods from their English website, is still a great place to buy things from.
Read the rest of this entry »Tags: Figures, preorder outlook, Random Thoughts
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Retrospective lists at the end of the year are de rigeur for magazines and newspapers and blogs, so I figured I’d provide a list of my five favoritest figures of 2009. This list includes only mass-marketed PVC figures released last year; otherwise, Kenshin would occupy slots one through five.
5.
Narika from Beat Blades Haruka (Alter)Despite being neither a big fan of twintails or the flat chest, I love Alter’s rendition of Narika. She’s got a great pose and her face expresses sauciness and playfulness in equal measure. Her split-front trousers and that huge weapon – whatever it is – are too cool as well.
4.
Seena Kanon from Shining Wind (Orchid Seed)Seena was one of the figures I was most looking forward to, and Orchid Seed did not disappoint me. She’s an elegant mix of sexiness and subtlety, of quiet repose and martial prowess. Tony’s designs usually make for excellent figures, and Seena doesn’t deviate from that expectation.
3.
Kanu Unchou from Ikki Tousen (Daiki Kougyou)Daiki Kougyou is one of the enigmas of the hobby; one has to wonder why they green-lit some of the figures they’ve churned out, but when they are at their best, they stand right up there with the big boys. Many companies – including Daiki – have made figures of Kanu Unchou, but their miko version stands out not just as my favorite Kanu, but one of my favorite figures of all time. They’ve done a great job making Kanu look sexy as hell in a sarashi and low-rise hakama combo, and if her fashion sense isn’t to one’s taste, they can be taken off altogether.
2.
Collet from Tony Taka (Native)I’ve already noted how this figure answered one of my long-held dreams, but even besides that, this is an incredible figure. Ero figures are usually the province of smaller, less skillful manufacturers or niche garage kit makers, but Native shows us how to do them right. The combination of Tony’s art and Max Factory’s craftsmanship is unbeatable, and sculpting the figure in 1/6 scale elevates Collet from excellent to transcendent. Truly one of the best figures of 2009.
1.
Metatron from Demonbane (Alter)I suspect that Metatron was not one of Alter’s more popular releases in 2009, but of all the figures that they’ve made, she stands out as my favorite. I normally don’t like the looking-back-over-the-shoulder pose, but it works perfectly here, allowing the viewer to admire both her face and backside at the same time. She looks hot, capable, and confident, and she’s the 2009 figure that I like the most.
The most annoying trend of 2009
If I wanted to be snarky, I’d nominate the rampant proliferation of nendoroids for this prize. Instead, I’ll say that the increasing proclivity of figure manufacturers to sell their products solely on exclusive websites or at particular events is the most annoying trend of the past year. This sort of marketing strategy was once principally employed by less-mainstream companies like Volks, but now we see Alter jumping on board with several of their Hyakka Ryoran figures being exclusively sold through a magazine and their highly-anticipated Saber Alter maid figure being a Hobby Channel exclusive. MegaHouse retailed their Kagura and Yomi figures only through Digitamin, and Max Factory packed one of their figmas with a Gantz manga. I’m certain that the various deputy services in Japan are loving this, but for the rest of us, it’s quite the hassle.Actually, you know, if I really, really wanted to be snarky, I’d claim that the unceasing torrent of Drossel pictures is the most annoying trend of 2009. But that would be unlike me, no? Me? Snarky? Unthinkable.
One thing I don’t ever want to see in 2010 but I know I will
Anything to do with Rin Kokonoe.Three things I want to see in 2010 but I know I won’t
Two of these three girls have figures but one does not.Beat Blades Haruka has some of the coolest character designs around, an opinion not lost on Alter, who have put out superb figures of Haruka and Narika. Conspicuously missing from their lineup is Subaru, the third ninja heroine. Now admittedly, she’s a bit quirky compared to her compatriots; Haruka is kind-hearted and loyal, Narika is spastic and mercurial, but Subaru is duty-minded, somewhat humorless, and something of a martinet. None of that is unusual, you say? She is also an amputee who gets a set of tentacles to replace her lost arm, she can potentially violently rape Haruka depending on how good you are at the game (or how sick you are in the head), and she seems to have a thing for pigs – don’t ask about that last one. Just join me in transmitting mental thoughts to Alter’s offices to persuade them to complete the Jougenshuu trio.
Moving on …
One of these three girls has a figure but two do not.So I was watching Sora Kake Girl, and I notice this thing on the right side of the screen:
See that? Now either Good Smile Company paid money to get their logo up there, or GSC’s chairman has some photographs that Sunrise’s chairman would much prefer to keep secret. Given their sponsorship and also the fact that the cast of the show is composed almost entirely of female teenagers, one would think that GSC would be chucking out Sora Kake Girl figures left and right, no? Or at least, one would think that after they made Akiha, that Itsuki would be next, yes? I mean, they even let her cosplay as this character, whom I’m certain does not need an introduction:
This is not actually who she appears to be.Heck, I’ll even settle for a cosplaying Itsuki figure. Maybe. Wait, no I won’t. GSC, I demand that you give us Itsuki in her Q-tector suit.
MegaHouse, you are the key that can set Irma free.I took a look at the Queen’s Blade roster, and of the nineteen characters in the main line, I think only two haven’t gotten figures: Melpha and Irma. Melpha I can understand, she’s one of the more recent characters and she’s fat. Irma’s situation, however, confuses me. She’s not a new kid on the block – she was Queen’s Blade character number three. Her hair and eyes evoke Rei Ayanami, and like most of the lineup, she doesn’t wear many clothes. She received a bit more love (and even more pain) in the recent anime series, so hopefully that raises her profile enough that MegaHouse or Griffon sees fit to give her the PVC treatment.
Tags: collet, Figures, irma, itsuki kannagi, kanu uncho, metatron, narika shihoudou, seena kanon, subaru, year-end review
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I spent some time this evening shooting pictures of Tsukino Azusagawa, and I wasn’t really feeling the way they turned out. Guess it’s back to the drawing board there. Since I have no pictures to post, and since it’s been a while since my last preorder outlook post, I figure why not do one of those? As usual all images are shamelessly taken from Hobby Search (a great place to buy figures from) and AmiAmi (I’m sure they would be a great place to buy figures from if they shipped internationally).
Read the rest of this entry »Tags: Figures, preorder outlook, Random Thoughts
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I got a new computer monitor a few days ago (a Dell 2408WFP, if anybody is curious) to replace my old, tired, dimming 4:3 display (a Dell 2001FP, if anyone is also curious about that). I need new widescreen wallpaper for my monitor and the easiest source to acquire them from is my own pictures, so I made some more wallpapers.
Senhime
Dark Elf
Marie
Human Mage
Nadie
I also changed the site layout a bit. When I started this blog, I figured that I’d get bored and quit after a couple months and so I didn’t spend much time on the theme. Later, when I figured that I ought to establish a more pleasing appearance for my site, I looked for an existing, turnkey solution that I could easily customize to my taste. To my disappointment I couldn’t find one that I liked more than the one I already had, so I just modified the hell out of my old theme. I hope I didn’t break anything in the process, as I’m not a particularly good web designer.
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The re-shooting project continues apace, with my first three reviews ever getting do-overs. Looking back at my older pictures, I cringe at how bad they are. I haven’t been taking pictures for very long but I think I’ve made some improvement. I’m not saying that I’m any good now, mind you, only that I’ve begun doing things differently as of late.
Here’s a few comparison pictures of Haruka:
And a couple from my Nanjyou Ran photo sets:
And finally a couple before-and-after sets of Senhime:
I like how the flowers turned out, particularly on Nanjyou Ran’s shoot; they’re kinda psychadelic. I usually use plain black or white backgrounds but I think I might try to change things up a little bit with props every now and then.
Part of me says that I should keep the old pictures the way they are as a sort of historical record that shows how bad my pictures were. On the other hand, a much more strident and overpowering part of me says that this is my blog and I should do what I feel like and that newbie pictures aren’t something that I want to show off to the world.
Next up for reshoots are probably Lala and Canal. I’d like to re-shoot Alter’s Senhime too; I have some ideas for what sort of setting I’d like to use but it’s going to take some time to put it together.
Tags: Figures, photography
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Sometimes I like to use figure pictures as wallpaper. Here are a few that I thought turned out okay:
Rei:
Caroline
Gwendolyn
Senhime
Metatron
Sasara
Villetta
