Gothic Lolita Haruhi Suzumiya

I woke up today fully expecting to sit around and do nothing but sit around until I head to work at 4:00. I looked out the window and found that today would be the perfect day to take my Haruhi statue outside for a photoshoot. For those who don't know, this figure is a 1/7 scale statue by Griffon Enterprises. I picked it up at Anime Evolution this year for $105. It's sold out in many places and if I were to have bought it on eBay (and risked a fake) it would have cost the same after shipping. Remember, Goth Punk Mikuru comes out this October and is a second in the series; Haruhi here being the first. Pantsu shots are included, yes:

.:Additional Photos:.
1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6
7 // 8 // 9 // 10 // 11 // 12

In other figure news. Hatsune Miku figma has been successfully ordered from Hobby Search! I ordered it Thursday morning and by Friday afternoon the reservations were closed already. The figure didn't even have time to make the front page of the site before they all sold. The release date is rumored to be Sept 10. I have her set to ship with the Kagami figma releasing in September as well. I plan to order a second Miku from Hobby Link Japan when the reservations open (to keep mint).

(Read more...)

Post-con Syndrome & Swag

This week is the week of post-convention syndrome. What that essentially means is that I'm going through cosplay withdrawals, and I find myself on the AE forums (as do many) reading and posting like mad about our experiences. I think the biggest topic this week is the complaining and moaning about next year's AE being in June (which I agree does suck for grade 12s). I'm looking forward to cosplaying again next AE (and Sakuracon) but I also have the privilege of cosplaying in 2 weeks for SFU clubs day. I'll be doing Kaito of course!

Convention Swag:

Here's a picture of the stuff I picked up from Artist Alley this year (and above in the enlarged version are the Red XIII, Gothic Loli Haruhi, and Moyashimon plush I obtained for the dealer's room):



Click here for an additional shot of the Fate/Stay Night wallscroll I picked up. Next on the list is the Gothic Loli Haruhi statue by Griffon Enterprises. When I have time I'll do a full outdoor photoshoot (like I usually do) to show off how gorgeous this one is. I only bought it because it's first in the series (Mikuru being the second) but I love it to death already. I will take EXTRA special care of this one:



Figures:



There are 2 figures due out this month (Tsukasa and Tohsaka Rin), click to enlarge the above image for dates and prices. It's the end of the month and only Tohsaka Rin is in stock so I might just get Tsukasa to ship with her sister in September. What I do with Hobby Search is combine all the figures to ship by month so I won't get one if the other isn't in yet (unless 30 days pass and one is delayed). It's a good system to save on shipping costs but it can be hard to wait! October as you can see is going to be a big package. 2 VOCALOID Nendoroid, Goth Punk Mikuru (judging by Haruhi's box it will be BIG), and figma Tsuruya. Only worry there is that it might take 20 days or so for all of them to be in stock before it ships.

Games:



The biggest news in otaku gaming this week has been the announcement of a Hatsune Miku game for PSP. By the looks of it there is a rhythm aspect to the gameplay and you can also "raise" Miku in a way by customizing her room. Looks a little like Idolm@ster in my opinion ^_^. You can see additional shots here and here respectively. I know this game will be available to me on day 1 but my only fear is that it will be too complicated to play as I don't know Japanese. In any case, I can't wait for this!

Personal:

So that's my update. This week I'm working a lot and getting together photos of AE to get developed. I should start catching up on my anime watching as I now have 5 days until school starts and I get busy with 6 courses. I've also been downloading some of the hot VOCALOID songs. My method is: Watch ranking -> Obtain SM# -> Plug address into NicoSound -> Download MP3.

See you all!

(Read more...)

AE08: Convention Report

Anime Evolution 2008 now comes to a close! This year was the first year for the con to be located at UBC instead of SFU and the staff only had a month to plan everything at a new venue. Despite this, I think overall the convention was a great success. Friday was a great day to be mellow and get to hang out with and meet new people. Saturday the dealers were open and it was quite an impressive selection in my opinion. It had a little something for everyone. I'll get started talking about different aspects now before showing you guys some pictures!

Experience:

My favourite "single" moment was on Saturday when I was dressed as the VOCALOID Kaito, hanging out in the courtyard with some of the other VOCALOIDS. A buddy of mine whispers "Caramelldansen" in my ear and that was enough to get just our group to start doing it. Not 20 seconds later did someone come by with a stereo and start playing the actual song, inviting everyone who heard it to come do it. I estimate between 20-30 people were doing it!

My favourite experience was between 6:00-7:30 on Saturday when we had all of the VOCALOIDS together for a fantastic photoshoot. WOW. Everything was just so fun. I don't know if it was just me (being the only male hahaha) or if it really was just pure win for everyone. Our pictures are so good I wouldn't be surprised if they spread on image boards and overseas.

Today (Sunday) we had a Nico Nico Douga meetup in which we had a HUGE turnout and afterwards a few friends of mine were recorded singing the kumikyoku (medley) in the dealers room and then performing SM9 outside. Man, that was win too.

The "swag" I picked up from AE this year was mostly artwork but on the last day I gave in and bought 2 more figures (outside of my pre-orders). They can kind of be called impulse-buys but they fit my current collection:
--Artwork, bookmarks, buttons from Artist Alley
--Fate/Stay Night wall scroll
--RedXIII & Cait Sith Play Arts
--Gothic Lolita Haruhi by Griffon (I have Mikuru on pre-order)

Expect a photoshoot for that Haruhi when the weather clears up!

Photos

I'll show a few of my favourites below. I tried to get the list on this page but the tables weren't being very friendly. I also need to say that this VOCALOID photoshoot was the best thing I've done at a con...period. I haven't had this much fun since the Naruto shoot in 05:

View full gallery HERE.

(Read more...)

To Anime Evolution

Tomorrow Anime Evolution officially starts! If you didn't know, it has taken place at Simon Fraser University for the last 6 years but this year will be taking place at UBC (University of British Columbia). I'm hoping the weather will stay true to the report and not be above 20 degrees (C) on Fri-Sun (since I have a tendency to get really hot and start sweating). Bet let's hope it doesn't rain either!

My costumes are all ready, I still didn't remake my Urahara sword or even attempt to make some props for Kaito (just because I can't be bothered to carry these things around all day), but my costumes should still be good enough. At Sakura-con earlier this year I didn't even wear a costume and it was the most comfortable I'd ever been at a convention.

I'm a little worried about registration since I didn't receive confirmation with my badge ID (for me or Vanessa). I e-mailed 2 people and left a message on the forum to hopefully resolve this...but it may be too late as pre-reg officially starts today. I can rest a little easy knowing I have my PayPal receipts...The only thing I'm uncomfortable with is the fact that I have to mess around for Vanessa's sake (remember we're no longer dating as of 3 weeks ago).

I still don't have my computer back (still using my laptop to do things) but will have it back Saturday, not like I'll be here though. It'll take me most of Monday to get everything back up and running and then I'll have the next 2 weeks after con to wait for all of the photos to appear online and me to start saving them. I plan to do a convention report when I get home Sunday or when I get everything up and running on Monday.

Also, I've got a bunch of figure reservations to post up as well...

(Read more...)

Kaito Eyes

Today I finally got to try out my contact lenses for my costume! I'll be showing them off from the neck up. If you're interested in seeing the rest of the costume head back over to this thread.

Personal:

Good news and bad news. The bad news is my Quad Core PC was attacked by some kind of spyware which somehow deactivated my antivirus and hid all of my stuff. It was that fake program "Antivirus XP" which generates unreasonable system warnings every 5 seconds and randomly minimizes your active windows. Oddly enough the only way I can see myself getting it was downloading a torrent for "Spyware Doctor", but that's just speculation. I was able to transfer everything I need to keep to a safe location and I luckily still have my laptop, but for the time being I can't get XP to boot on it at the moment (after formatting C:/ and reinstalling). I won't get it up until Saturday.

Good news is, I tried on my contacts today for my costume.

Otaku:

For those of you who don't know who Kaito is, he's a voice from the synthesizer software VOCALOID. The Vocaloids are popularized by fans who make the songs and make the characters more real. If you want more information, search Wikipedia or something.

I think my contacts look pretty cool but I don't feel very comfortable putting them in and taking them out...I'm just not experienced that way and my eyes hurt a bit now (after just 10 minutes of wear). If they do well at AE I may just leave it at that and not wear them again...it doesn't seem too important to me to use them at SFU clubs day or Halloween. So, here's my awesome Kaito contacts. Also, I should mention, the reason you can't see my mouth isn't because I'm a ninja, but because I haven't shaved, I'm growing the scruffy look out for my Urahara Kisuke cosplay the day before I cosplay Kaito.

I need to get a haircut this week to help the wig fit better and I also need to make 2 leeks props (one for a friend). I've got the materials all together now but I just need to get out the jigsaw and the sander to make it. I don't know if I'll even bother.

(Read more...)

Fate vs Saber

The mutant figmas seemed to be a hit with my "Mix it up, Mikuru" post so I decided to do some more today. That I really wished I had done more with Saber in the school uniform is why I decided to do another photo shoot. I'd also like to say before anything that I appreciate the huge amount of people adding me to their blogrolls. Keeping track on StatCounter I've noticed that a lot of people are coming here from other blogs and a lot of people are exiting to other blogs, so thanks, folks!

Personal:

It's a week until Anime Evolution and I've still got props to make! I'll be sure to take pictures of myself in costume this week for anyone who reads this and is also going to AE. It'd be nice to bump into someone who only knows me because of my blog. If you didn't know, I'll be doing Kaito of VOCALOID and Urahara of Bleach (yeah I know, "mainstream anime" now). I haven't been including much anime in my diet recently but I think I should make it my goal to finish Shakugan no Shana and Gurren Lagann before the convention so I'll recognize more of the cosplayers. I'll catch up on the last 3 episodes of Code Geass if I feel like it as well.

Figures:

So here we go again, more photos! I didn't take many with my FREE (haha!) Fate Testarossa when I did my first August shoot so I thought that I'd get a few more in here. I also decided to send her and Saber to North High, see the pictures below (Saber on Mikuru's body and Fate on Nagato's):

Fate: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4

Fate of North High: 1 // 2 // 3

Fate vs Saber: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8

Thank you for taking the time to look through these. Expect some cosplay photos next week, until then, take care everyone.

(Read more...)

Mix it up, Mikuru

SOS-dan is now complete! Although last week I was expecting Mikuru figma to arrive, I got Fate Testarossa instead by mistake. It took Hobby Search exactly 7 days to resolve the issue and ship a Mikuru figma to me free of charge. I've appropriately titled this post "Mix it up" for 2 reasons: First, I've redone my blog graphics and made 3 new banners for the top. They "mix up" randomly so hopefully you'll see all 3 of them eventually. Secondly, I mixed my figma's parts around today to create some mutants. Apart from Mikuru I plan to show those pictures as well.

Personal:

There's not much to report. I'm doing much better after last week's breakup; still wondering what will happen when I bump into her at the convention next weekend. I've just been working a lot and hanging out with friends to keep my mind occupied. Yesterday I played DBZ:Tenkaichi 2 with Alfred for 2 hours straight. Man, that game is so much fun.

Figures:

Another beautiful day allowed me to take more pictures. With this the SOS-dan is complete.

Mikuru: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6

Additional: 1 // 2 // 3

Games:

I'm also happy to report that for PSP, released in November, will be a 3rd DJ Max Portable game released in North America (the previous 2 were Korea and Japan only). It will be titled DJ Max Fever and as far as I know will have songs from both games and I'm assuming more (as there will be at least 100 tracks).

In other news, I'm thoroughly enjoying DBZ:Tenkaichi 2 again now that I have a worthy opponent to play against. Thanks Alfred!

(Read more...)

Weekend Update

I didn't know how else to title this? As my blog gets exported to Facebook and I also have the readers popping in from DannyChoo and affiliated blogs, I need to be able to cater to both friends and fans. I'd like to start by including some pictures I didn't include in the last post (mostly because my PC card reader died and I couldn't get the photos off without restarting the PC...and was far too lazy).


Photos:

Above: These are all of the figmas I have so far excluding Konata (below) and the Fate (see previous post).
Below: Konata Nendoroid and figma. I also got this neat little mecha hanger from the hobby shop and put my Eva in it (only small scale Eva I had).

Personal:

It's been about a week since the break-up and although I felt bad this morning and yesterday (mostly because the shock and denial has started to hit me), I was able to get a few things sorted out and able to answer the question of "why?". Even though it will take me some time to want to become friends with her again (which she wants sooner than I'd like), I know that by being apart we'll have time to grow up on our own independent of each other. We're still young, and this is why it is probably for the best. I'm starting to be able to watch movies again without getting distracted on my current problems; I'll probably play some GTAIV this afternoon, let out some steam.

PS: Thanks all for visiting. I've passed 2000 views already!

So until next time (which will be this week when Mikuru-chan arrives), take care. ^^

(Read more...)

Figure Photoshoot August

It is finally that time again! Although a mishap occurred in which I didn't receive all of the figures by this week, I did promise that I would be making a post this week and I intend to keep that promise. So, first the news, then the photos:

Figures:
Since the last photoshoot in July I have acquired: Konata Nendoroid, Lelouch figma, Kyon figma, Konata figma, and Fate Harlaown figma. The thing is, Konata was supposed to ship with Mikuru from Hobby Search but instead arrived with the Fate figma (and an invoice showing I had indeed paid for and ordered Mikuru). The Fate figma is beautiful and even though I don't even know the character I was willing to ship it back or at least pay for a new Mikuru. I e-mailed Hobby Search and told them that I had received the wrong figure and by today they'll have shipped a new Mikuru to me free of charge! Therefore, this Fate figma I got (worth $10 more than Mikuru), I get to keep!

Personal:
I don't mean to kill the mood completely, but on Monday I ended the 3 and a half year relationship with my girlfriend. It hurts more than I want it to but I'm taking it surprisingly well. I don't fully understand the reasons why it had to turn out this way (considering it wasn't my decision), and I don't know how long it will take me to adjust to not having someone in my life. The only way for me to move on without being concerned for her is to cut myself off from her completely, and as of last night, tying up some loose ends, I believe I've done that. I fully trust in God that this was for the best.

On a lighter and more positive note, I'm in all of my fall courses and THEN some. I got into all of the core design and media arts courses I need to take this semester (and another one I'm holding off on taking until next year). I'm taking a 6th course online that I intend to drop if things get too busy for me; however, I do at the moment get Wednesdays and most likely Fridays off. I'll be very very busy come September.

So, without further delay:

Photos:

These photos are also available in slideshow format on my portfolio.

1 // 2 // 3 // 4

The first one I'd like to say a bit about first. So, I open this figure up and the first thing that happens is her front hair piece falls right off. There's absolutely no friction holding the thing on. So, I then decide to take her back hairpiece out (which plugs up the stand hole), and put her on the stand. Of course it doesn't fit too well so I have to put it in with some force. Now, the hole is stretched a bit and the hairpiece plug doesn't fit in properly. Now, this is a fairly normal problem with figmas. But here's the worst part, I go to bend her arm, and the peg attached between the joint and the arm just snaps. It's literally dangling there by a thread so I have to keep it wedged into the shoulder area of the sailor fuku or it will just dangle there. So that's about all I have to say about Konata, the figma I've been most anticipating for the last 2 months.

1 // 2 // 3 // 4

This one, as I mentioned, I get to keep for free! Even though I don't exactly know anything from the show this one is from it's still pretty darn beautiful.

1 // 2 // 3 // 4

Smug lil' Lelouch Lamperouge.

1 // 2

Kyon, unimpressed, as usual.

1 // 2

This one actually caused the most trouble of them all. It's a counterfeit Konata Nendoroid from Hong Kong. When I bought it on ebay I knew it would probably be a fake but I bought it anyways. When I paid through paypal a server error caused me to pay twice and the seller did absolutely nothing to respond to me to try and fix it (basically, "I have your money now I'll ignore you"). I had to bring it up to paypal to get my money back. The seller didn't even ship until 2 weeks after I had paid. I'm never buying figures from Hong Kong again. Contrast this incident with the Japanese seller Hobby Search who is sending me a free figure after a mishap (and they take exactly 7 days to arrive after order).


This one is a little bonus. I found this Miku shirt at Sakura Media of all places (Metrotown, Burnaby, BC). They had her under "Leek girl" until I complained about it, haha. I got this shirt after a friend told me the very same morning that he had found one there. I bought it then showed my friend the next day and then he went that same morning to go get it too. So, I wouldn't be surprised if this cycle continued until they run out of stock. Funny thing is, I wore it to work the next day (work at a video store), and the first customer I got (25 year old girl), knew who it was. That made my day...I didn't think people in Ocean Park were cool that way.

So, that was a long one. Signing off.

(Read more...)

Summer To-Do

With a month left before classes begin I've started to set some personal goals (and some are mandatory as well). This post is mostly personal reference for myself before it is promptly bumped off the front page of my blog when I do some reviews this week (provided my expected figures arrive (I know they've been shipped!).

Blog:
-Add some kind of tab system at the top for my labels

Anime:
-Shakugan no Shana (1 and 2)
-Ocean Waves (Ghibli)
-Welcome to the NHK!
-Pani Poni Dash
-Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni
-Ouran Host Club
-Keep up to date on Code Geass
-Eventually catch up on Bleach
-Burn older series onto DVDs to make HD space

Games:
-Complete FFIV DS
-Start FFIX on PSP
-Restart and complete FFXII
-Finish Ratchet and Clank PS3
-Lego Batman (TBA)

Figures:
-Set up 3 point lighting and backdrop for figures
-Finish reviews on July/Aug released figures
-Create Kyonko from spare Nagato figma

Cosplay:
-Complete my Kaito cosplay props

School:
-Finish CMPT 165 (next week)
-Prepare for September by learning Flash CS3
-Brush up on Maya skills

(Read more...)

Square-Enix Bombshells

Here's some news for all of you who haven't been able to hear the fantastic news yet (for Sony fan boys everywhere).

DKS3713 (DKΣ3713) is the invite-only private party by Square-Enix in which a lot of important announcements are being made and demos shown. Day one is complete, tomorrow will be day two so expect more. This is the breakdown of the name:

D: Dissidia
K: Kingdom Hearts
Σigma: Σigma Harmaonics
3: Third birthday
7: FF7AC bluray
13: FF13

They've already promised a HUGE FFVII announcement and at the end of day one it is not in sight yet. However, we do have some jaw-dropping announcments:

1. FFVII:AC Blu-Ray will have extra scenes, trailers for FFXIII (VS and Agito), and a playable demo of FFXIII.

2. FFXIII:Agito will have a PSP release instead of being mobile-exclusive (YES!).

3. Parasite Eve: The 3rd Birthday - AKA Parasite Eve 3! For what system: PSP!

So there's a 2 for 1 bomb of news for the PSP owners everywhere (like myself).

4. Release dates are set for FF:Dissidia, KH: Birth by Sleep PSP, and KH 358/2 Days DS, all of which are the end of 2008 (with exception to KH for PSP which is early 09).

5. FF vs. XIII will remain worldwide exclusive to PS3. This comforts me a little more now that FFXIII has moved over to Xbox360 as well.

So, I hope by tomorrow we get even more bombshells dropped on us by Square-Enix. This news has already made my Summer.

PS: I will have figure photos up next week for sure of at least 4 new figmas + one nendoroid. ^_^

PPS: Thank you all for the hits, not a week after 1000 views I'm already passed 1300.

(Read more...)