KAAAAAAAAAA

MEEEE

HAAAAAA

MEEEEEEE

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

NOOOOO! I SHALL RETURN

*blargh*

just to make sure

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080524p2a00m0na032000c.html

Slacks are slowly becoming part of schoolgirl uniforms throughout the country, with a Sapporo junior high school’s decision earlier this year to make them compulsory threatening to end the hegemony of the hem.

FIRST THEY TAKE AWAY THE BLOOMERS, NOW THEY TAKE AWAY THE SKIRTS.

WHAT NEXT JAPAN? WHAT PERVERSIONS ARE LEFT? щ(ﾟДﾟщ)

｡･ﾟ･(ﾉД`)11･ﾟ･｡

No idea how this would affect 2D girls though, but they’ll probably still use skirts like they do with the swimsuits that are supposed to be out of date.

“Special edition” Volume 4 of the Unicorn Gundam novel, that came with the add-on double laser minigun parts for the MG Unicorn kit. The novel was supposed to sell for 1200 yen (about USD$11.5), with the normal versions going for 400 yen, but this was released some months ago (early April, I believe), and it’s hard to find any online stores still having it. Bought it for almost twice the original pricing, from a guy at lowyat ｡･ﾟ･(ﾉД`)11･ﾟ･｡

one-piece assembly instruction

Yes, it’s a novel, full of words, and maybe one or two monochrome artwork from time to time. Will get around to read it once I have some time. But anyway, that’s not the interesting part.

eh, what’s this?

There were two sheets of tiny folded leaflets in the novel, one advertising Gainax’s Evangelion franchise (Gainax, milking the fuck out of the cow since 10 years ago), another one advertising some weekly anthology manga compilation, and anime DVDs.

And here’s the leaflet for the blatant Evangelion whoring:

Notice the last page:

yes, you can now cosplay as Rei or Asuka, at a low low price of only USD$5270! Isn’t that wonderful?

Flipping through the book when I first received it, I was really surprised to find this (not safe for work, seriously):

lol naked child events are approved in Unicorn universe!

It’s amusing how I bought the add-on part, when I don’t even have the MG Unicorn. I really love the design of the Unicorn, mainly for the sexy, long, blocky legs it has, just like Banpreios (from Super Robot Wars Alpha 3 for the PS2). Now if only local shops don’t charge $65 for a product that originally retails for only $50…

happy-sanae.jpg

So, what now? There’s so many things that I desire to do during the 1 month’s break, I don’t even know where to start. I’d like to finish up with either To Heart 2 Another Days, or Little Busters ) both visual novel, I also need to catch up with the anime episodes, some movies (haven’t even seen Transformers, for one), and marathon the remaining JoJo’s Bizzare Adventures manga (seen series 1~3, currently skipped to the Stone Ocean arc).

yes, JoJo, you know, the series that gave us Joetaro and his ORAORAORAORA?

Anyway, Reitaisai 2008 is on this Sunday, I can’t wait for it, mainly just for these two works.

Left is new album by Innocent Key, whose promo flash have been so viral since the last week, they even had to make a mirror of their site due to running out of bandwidth on their main site. Here’s a Youtube upload of the said promo. Hell, even their mirror got flooded till death, I’m getting error 404′s on it. While the one on the right is a new doujin by the guy who brought us the “nyoro~n” Churuya 4koma, you know, these?

Oh god, can’t wait. On an unrelated news, Macross Frontier is now officially AWESOME. Words and image macros can’t describe how I feel after watching episode 7.

a mothership that transforms, using the launchpads as its shields? AWESOME!

where’s the Revoltech action figures of it? TAKE MY MONEY, KAIYODO! TAKE IT NOW!

]]> http://desudesublog.wordpress.com/2008/05/24/finals-are-over/feed/ 0 desudesublog http://desudesublog.wordpress.com/2008/05/19/kotobukiyas-neige-blanc-final-prototype/ http://desudesublog.wordpress.com/2008/05/19/kotobukiyas-neige-blanc-final-prototype/#comments Sun, 18 May 2008 17:56:01 +0000 desudesublog http://desudesublog.wordpress.com/?p=118 ]]> I love lurking on 2chan’s /y/ for things like this.

Saw a thread linking to a new Shining Tears/Wind official blog, with a new entry on the upcoming 1/8 Neige Blanc figure by Kotobukiya. According to the entry, this is the final prototype version, that the mass production version will based on. It’s the exact same figure that was displayed in the 47th Shizuoka Hobby Show (coverages of it here, here and here, as linked from Heisei Democracy) .

Apparently, the final version is different from the previous versions shown in the other Shining Tear/Wind official blog, in terms of the shading, as seen here:

Left: previous version, right: final prototype. The shading sure looked brighter and more colorful, though it could be argued that the previous version’s picture was taken in under terrible lighting conditions ┐(´д｀)┌

Given how Kotobukiya has a (bad) reputation of producing figures with “oily”, “yellowy” skin color (mainly due to the materials used for the skin base. I heard that this kind of material is much cheaper, and thus allows Kotobukiya to continue producing figures with a cheaper pricetag. Most of their figures still go for 5000~5500yen pricetag, despite many other companies having a standard 6000~7000yen pricetag for 1/8 scaled figures), this upcoming Neige Blanc’s skin color/texture looks really good, just like their previous 1/7 Sasara Kusugawa figure (excellent gallery of it by Happysoda here). Can’t wait for it to be available on the market.

Very nice packaging, as can be expected from any other Japanese product.

Comes with a tiny instruction leaflet on exchanging the faces, and the arm band.

out of the box

A new series of product by Max Factory, Figma’s line of figurines looked much, much better than Kaiyodo’s Revoltech Fräulein, for almost the same pricing. Kaiyodo’s Fräulein series always have problems with their awkward faces (especially the blank-staring eyes). Speaking of which, I don’t get why Kaiyodo is trying to come out with a Fräulein Haruhi of their own. Riding on the bandwagon, I suppose ┐( ¯3¯)┌

how do I changed face?

I really like this figure. The paints on it were bright and colorful, as seen in the anime, and the posability is great. The elbow joints can bend by 110′, knee joints can almost do a full 180′.

If there’s any downside to it, it’s the fact that she can hardly wield anything. I’ve tired getting her to wield bazookas, shields, guns, but to no avail, mainly due to how the hands were designed. Here’s the only weapon I managed to get her to hold on. Notice how the hands aren’t really grabbing it at all.

pew pew lazors

I also like how each Figma comes with a thick zippo plastic bag of their own. It’s so much more convenient for us collectors, and it barely costed anything for the manufacturers to produce. It makes one’s extra/optional parts’ storage more neat too. Over the years, I’ve been using these plastic cases from Ferrero Rocher to store my model kit/trading figure/gashapon parts:

Time for some flaws that I’ve noticed: there’s a tiny paint chip on the upper right arm, and on the lower right arm, there’s a blue-ish tint. Someone in the factory slacked off and didn’t wait for the paint to dry up completely before assembling, I bet. There’s also a fine misdrawn line on her lower left leg.

The joints connecting to the shoes were very tight too, so tight, that I gave up on trying to change the shoes into the white, casual version. The warning/instructions on the flap of the box wasn’t being helpful either (it just tells one to firmly and slowly hold the shoes and the joints to remove it, and that it will break if one forcefully pull it off)

this instruction is a LIE!

Regardless, it’s a wonderful figure. Can’t wait for them to release more.

Also, my orders from XL-shop arrived today ｷﾀ━━━━━━(ﾟ∀ﾟ)━━━━━━!!!!!

Oh boy, can’t wait for the Finals to be over on next Friday

yay!

I wonder what’s in it this time…?

gee, it sure is pink and fluffy around here

oh my, what’s this?

man, I’m such a whore for To Heart 2

A little back story. Some weeks ago, while randomly browsing other blogs for their figure-related news/entries, I somehow ended up bumping into this US-based company, KidNemo, and upon browsing their stuffs, I noticed that they’re selling some figs for incredibly cheap prices. For example, they’re selling the Ikuno Komaki fig I bought for half the price I paid.

After asking around, I was told that Kotobukiya would occasionally release their products in America, and said version are always much cheaper than the original Japanese retail pricing, despite the products being the exact same thing (Why would they do this? Who knows? ┐( ¯3¯)┌) . So I browsed around, and ended up ordering these two. 1/8 Konomi and 1/8 Silfa, for $23.99 and $34.79 respectively. The Konomi was an awesome deal, given how the original retail was supposed to be 4800yen ($48, roughly).

oh my, it comes with a free CP? щ(ﾟДﾟщ)

In the end, the total was $91.28, with $32.5 for shipping (kinda ridiculous, but hey, it’s all the way from AMERIKKA to Failaysia), so it’s as if I bought both of them for a small discount off their retail pricing, and have both shipped for free, which was AWESOME.

As if that wasn’t enough, it only took 10 days for it to be shipped to me (received their email notification on 18th April), which was totally unexpected (I was thinking it’d take at least 3 weeks).

new figs usually comes with some parts of their wrapped in plastic, to prevent damage on paintjob due to bad handling during the shipping process

I like how we’re supposed to remove Konomi’s torso to remove the shrink wrap on her ass. Also, barely fitting tiny undergarments. Good job there, Kotobukiya sculptors( ‘ __ ‘)b

poor Tieren ;_;

what a slut (*´Д`)ﾊｧﾊｧ

What does the plastic peg on the bottom do anyway? It came with Konomi’s stand, apparently

never give up! Tieren!!

poor guy ;_;

Look at him and his incredible eyebrows and killer sideburns. Doesn’t that look MANLY to you?

Given how the art style doesn’t look clean and sharp and FRUITY, nor does it have an angsty/emo/righteous/goodie two shoes teenager as main character, it is thus my DUTY to inform you about this epic animu that you’ll miss, should you not watch it.

GOLGO 13 is the name of this handsome motherfucker here:

A stone-cold professional hit man of the highest order. The mere mention of his name trembles everyone’s heart. Once he takes on a contract to kill you, you’d better dig up the deepest grave you could ever afford to, prepare your will, say your last words to your loved ones, because no matter what you do, HE WILL GET YOU.

Takao Saito’s Website posted:

A world class hit man, the ultimate Professional fulfills contracts under the alias of “GOLGO13″. Without allegiance to any group, cause, or nation, he follows his own personal code when choosing “jobs”. And once he accepts a contract, it is always honored.

Despite being tagged he is labelled “extremely dangerous” by all world intelligence organizations, his services are regularly hired by the CIA, the KGB or others. Recent targets include political figures, intelligence agents, a syndicate boss, and those who get in the way.

A true professional, GOLGO13 is an expert marksman familiar with most of the world’s military hardware and master of several of the more lethal Oriental matial arts. Fluent in at least thirteen languages, GOLGO13 is able to slip in and out of even hostile nations without detection.
Victims, they never know what hit them.

＊ NATIONALITY ：unknown
＊ RACE ：asian or asian-caucasian mix
＊ WHEREABOUTS ：unconfirmable
＊ PHYSICAL APPEARANCE ：narrow, penetrating eyes; nearly total lack of facial expression; athletic build; back laced with scars; between 30 and 40 years of age.
＊ DISPOSITION ：cold, cunning and methodical.

Authored by Takao Saito, Golgo 13 is among the longest running manga in history. With the original run of the manga published on 1st Jan 1969, it’s still ongoing till today, with volume 148 of the manga being the latest. It was recently announced to be made into a 50 episode anime (yes, 50, this badass motherfucker deserves at least this much), with the first episode already aired last 11th April, 2008.

Golgo 13 is easily the most awesome character in the history of anime and manga, and he doesn’t even need to talk alot, nor appear much in the manga to earn that title. Although his price for a contract is high (minimum of $1 million) , he never takes on a contract that goes against his code of honor, or one that involves senseless killing. He’s just simply THAT MANLY. Oh, and nobody knows about his past, his motives, goals, nor why does he kill.

This is the only kind of facial expression that you’ll ever see from Golgo 13. He’s just THAT awesome.

STILL not a good enough reason for you to watch Golgo 13? How about if I tell you that Golgo 13 is responsible for George W. Bush’s win during the 2000 presidential election by SHOOTING THE BALLOTS THAT WERE FOR GORE, THUS CAUSING THEM TO BE REJECTED? Or how he was hired to save Princess Diana, by assassinating Ahmad Al-Farid (a fictional take on Dodi Al-Fayed) while he is away from England with her? Or that Golgo 13 goes to Tianamen Square in the middle of the massive student protests to assassinate a Tibetan activists? How about his adventures in South Africa, where after the fall of apartheid, newly-elected president Nelson Mandela hires Golgo 13 TO STOP A TERRORIST PLOT TO BRING THE COUNTRY INTO CIVIL WAR!?

JUST FUCKING LOOK AT THIS MANLY MAN AMONGST MEN!

Quoting Man Loner from this SAforums thread:

Golgo 13 is the ultimate male fantasy wank character. He can do anything and every woman he meets wants him to bang them with no rubber and every man he meets mentally establishes their inferiority to him.

So there. Why don’t you do yourself a favor already, and watch this animu PACKED WITH CONCENTRATED MANLINESS!?

Lucky Star, in my Kaiji? SAGE THIS SHIT

Guess who lost 4 of his left fingers? ;_;

Yes, the Chairman actually drew the winning lot on the second draw. BAWWWWW-ing ensues ;_;

¯\(¯3¯)/¯ what?

Right from the start, The Chairman, who later revealed his name as Hyoudou, drew the winning lot, and made everyone in the room shit enough bricks to build a bungalow. Scared shitless, Kaiji never thought it was possible, and was about to beg for mercy, before making up his mind that he will face it like a man, and gets his left fingers cut of by a Black Suit (it gets censored, ofcourse. Screen fades to black the moment the Black Suit cut his off his fingers).

Oh you, Hyoudou. Why are you such a handsome old bastard?

I really like the twist. Hyoudou knew that Kaiji rigged the tissue box right from the start, and planned his own counter attack, which involved going against what they both agreed on in the start (winning lot should not be crumpled/have any folds on it), and bet on that everyone would be too shocked to notice the obvious fold right in the middle. Even if his plan fails, and Kaiji felt the paper towel scrap with a fold and drew the winning lot, he could simply call him out and claim that Kaiji cheated. Not to mention that if Kaiji noticed the fold as Hyoudou is showing it, and accuse him of cheating, Hyoudou could’ve easily reversed the situation by pointing out Kaiji’s planted lot. Kaiji was doomed from the start ;_;

True face of moe

Poor Kaiji. He won 20million yen for a moment, and ended up losing it, along with his left ear and his fingers. Manga spoilers reveals that he’ll eventually get his fingers reattached, and I’m interested to see how he received the monies to do the surgery (I dunno, given how he’s FUCKING BROKE now, like how he was back in ep.1?).

All in all, it’s been wonderful, following Kaiji throughout the whole 26 episodes. Inspiring moments were had, manly tears were shed (ISHIDAAAAAAAAAA!! ;_;), moments of joy were shared as Kaiji gets out of a pinch. Now please tell me they’re working on a season 2 for Kaiji. They simply MUST. Also, I wonder how’s the Kaiji Trading Figure set’s going on. I’d buy it in a heartbeat if the final product looks great.