Salma from Soul of the Ultimate Nation


E2046 ORI Salma Review

Yet another figure from E2046’s ORI lineup, Salma’s character design hails from a Korean MMORPG called Soul of the Ultimate Nation. It seems that SUN has achieved some traction in Asia but it’s virtually unknown in the United States, and given the dominating position of World of Warcraft in the American market, I doubt that a localization will achieve much success.

But here, we’re more concerned with the game’s character designs. As is typical with E2046’s figures, Salma is sculpted in a solid 1/6 scale and comes with a plain oval black base.
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Rei Ayanami from Neon Genesis Evangelion (Creator’s Labo Version)


Yamato Rei Ayanami Review

Back to the backlog! This week has been filled with Kanu reviews and here we have another popular subject for figure manufacturers, Rei Ayanami, perhaps the superstar of the figure world. Rei’s legacy is as enduring and persisent as Brett Favre, and with at least two more figures up for preorder on Hobby Search as of the time of this writing, she is not going to go away anytime soon. This particular figure, set in 1/7 scale from Yamato, is inspired from a Shunya Yamashita drawing, and it’s been out for a while. I think I got this particular figure around a year ago, and a resin kit version has been around for even longer than that.
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Kanu Uncho from Ikki Tousen (Daiki Kougyo Black Miko Version)


Daiki Kougyo Miko Kanu Uncho Review

And the final entry in this week’s Kanu Uncho love affair is here, and nobody can claim that the best wasn’t saved for last. I hesitated to buy this figure simply because of the astronomical price but hey, money is replaceable but sold out is sold out, right? Rather than endure the inevitable mental flagellation that I’d inflict upon my cheapskate self if I let this opportunity slide by, I threw common sense to the wind and picked her up, and now that she’s here all I can really say is daaaayum.
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Kanu Uncho from Ikki Tousen (Griffon Blue Dragon Sword Version)


Griffon Kanu Uncho Review

The Kanu Uncho love parade continues on. This was one of Griffon’s first figures I think, and I believe it was the first of their many Kanu offerings. Again, Griffon claims that she is in 1/6 scale and again they’re wrong, as she’s smaller than that. I forget exactly when I acquired this particular Kanu, but I’ve had her for several years now.
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Kanu Uncho from Ikki Tousen (Yamato SIF EX Version)


Yamato Kanu Uncho Review

The first computer I ever used was an Apple II+ clone. By today’s standards, it is prehistoric in performance, with a 1 MHz clock speed and 48 KB of system memory. The particular computer I had featured two full-height 5.25″ disk drives which emitted a particularly loud series of clicks when in operation (I found the noise peculiarly soothing). Its built-in BASIC interpreter was amusing, and I spent many hours playing games like The Bard’s Tale and Wasteland, but otherwise it wasn’t a very useful computer. Certainly it gave me no idea of what computers would allow people to do twenty years later. However, I loved that ancient machine. You remember first things fondly, and sentimentality always cloaks their limitations, deficiencies, and flaws.

Like my old computer, I think this Kanu Uncho figure is great, not because it’s a beautiful figure (it’s definitely not), but because it’s the first one I owned.
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diskvision EVE (NSFW)


Diskvision Eve Review

This post is unsafe for work. For school. For the library. If you get terminated, suspended, disciplined, or defenestrated as a result of viewing this post, I forswear any responsibility for what has happened, but I will point and laugh at you should I learn of your misfortune.
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Random Thoughts II

Strike Witches

Today is Memorial Day in the United States, a day of remembrance for the men and women who have served in the military. Spurred on by Alter’s recent unveling of a Yoshika Miyafuji figure, I’ve decided to pay homage to the combat veterans of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing by watching the first episode of Strike Witches.

The opening story reminds me a lot of the beginning of Robotech (or Macross, if you prefer); you’ve got enigmatic, technologically-advanced alien invaders, a young, innocent civilian who shares a tenuous yet deeply personal bond with a high-ranking member of the military, and a wacky, wildly-impractical aviation system. One difference is that Yoshika does decline a chance to take a spin in the Striker Unit, and another departure is that the 501st’s pilots are loli girls. Who wear no pants. In fact, none of the girls in the episode wear pants, it seems. This prohibition on wearing pants is definitely a policy initiative that I can get behind.

One reason that I hadn’t watched Strike Witches when it was first aired are the animal ears and tails. I really don’t like them, and I’m sort of hoping that Alter’s figures have the option of removing them without me having to resort to a Dremel. It’s kind of like when I cook gumbo, I usually add whatever I’ve got. Celery? Sure. Seafood? I never have it around, but if I do, it’s great. Garlic? Absolutely. Baker’s chocolate? Hell no. You can have a great gumbo cooking with a variety of flavors but if you add one wrong ingredient, you’ve screwed it up. That’s how I feel when it comes to shows like this which try to pander to a multiplicity of fetishes; if you don’t like one aspect of the show, it makes it difficult to watch the whole thing. It’s a bit of a shame, as I like a lot of things in this show, such as how they placed the Akagi’s island on the port side and how they based the characters on combat aces, but man, I wish they didn’t have the ears and tails.

On a completely unrelated subject, I’m slowly going through and re-doing some old photos. I’ve got Cammy re-shot, and I’m probably going to re-do Sasara’s gallery next. I’m concerned the whites in my photos are excessively blown out, so I might have to revise my processing techniques.

Sasara Kusugawa

Strike Witches

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Playing With a Lightbox Part 2 (now with more Photoshop!)

I started this blog in February to motivate myself to learn more about photography. I had picked up a new camera shortly before that to replace my seven year old, two-megapixel Canon A40, which sadly wasn’t up to the task of taking pictures at the size and quality I desire. As I quickly found out, my photographic knowledge and abilities weren’t up to the task either, and after looking back at my earliest sets of pictures, I think I’m going to re-shoot them. I’ve already taken some pictures of the Dark Magician. Here’s an old picture of her:


Dark Magician Comparison

Yucky. The cloth background just doesn’t work. New picture:

Dark Magician Comparison

I’ve been playing with the lightbox a bit more, having added another lamp, and while the results aren’t entirely what I’m looking for, I think they’re an improvement from what I had. I also came across a useful article on lightening the background using adjustment layers in Photoshop. I’m not sure if this is the best way to do it – my guess is that it’s not – but since it’s an improvement over what I had before, I suppose I’ll keep using it.

New Kokoro Picture

I was going to shoot Kokoro’s set and then I realized that one of the string ties on her bikini had fallen out. That’s the problem with cast-off figures, I wind up losing the parts that come off and I can never find them when I need them.

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Yoko Ritona Dakimakura from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann


Cospa Yoko Ritona Dakimakura Review

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Kanu Uncho from Ikki Tousen (Griffon Damaged Version)


Griffon Kanu Uncho from Ikki Tousen Review Image

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