Japantrip 2009 part one

Its 7.30 am. Waiting in arnhem on the train to Frankfurt which, leaves at 8:08. Its cold and dark outside. A preview of hokkaido...

Waking up and getting ready winter edition

Another waking up and getting ready in 5 minutes clip has been made.


Quite some tips this time.
Getting dressed with a different technique with special sock apparatus and glove technique. Cheese fondue and cappuchino honey sweetener/lipgloss breakfast is made with some smart usage of wires. Wire is also used for laundry. Smart usage of foil for faster drying. Head warming is a bit weird. Brushing teeth is a bit weird with dual toothbrushes, reducing water use by using a pet bottle.

video via japanprobe
image via konachan

Girls and mecha

Gemuste has done a poll on favourite anime series and has put up results by gender. When taking a look at the results:

Males
1) K-On!
2) The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi
3) Lucky Star
4) Gundam (all series)
5) Saki
6) Evangelion
7) Nanoha
8) Hetalia
9) Clannad
10)Toradora!

Females
1) Gundam (all series)
2) K-On!
3) Code Geass
4) Macross Frontier
5) Evangelion / Toradora! (tie)
6) The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi
7) Lucky Star
8) Clannad
9) Guren Lagan
10)Minami-ke

Seeing the amount of mecha series in the girls top 10 (or top 5 even), makes it looks like there are quite some girls that like mecha series. It looks like the new approach of putting bishounen in mechas pays off. I'm not sure about the accuracy as there were 923 males compared with only 360 females who answered. But it does look like the target audience is evolving.

via altjapan via gemuste

image via gelbooru

Short 東方 Touhou AMV/MAD

After seeing the AMVs at the convention I was thinking on how much work it would be to make one. So being inspired by a touhou arrangement I heard before, I decided to give it a try. Due to my natural lazyness, I also decided not to use short movies from anime, but to only use images.

The song is by はちみつれもン(hachimitsulemon) a doujin music group, vocals by erica. The song is slow but gives off a nice japanese atmosphere. The title is 酔月(drunken moon), so when deciding on what touhou character to put in there was not very hard(touhou's drunkard suika ibuki)

As the song is calm, not many fancy effects were used. Panning and zooming images with simple transitions depending on the song/image. Some subtle differences in the effects were put in there, referring to the situation or character in the image.

So enough text, on to the video:


Also a nicovideo version:

Abunai 2009: Dutch Anime Convention

Last weekend I've been to the local anime convention(One of the few in the Netherlands). It was a 3 day event so me and other members of the local japanese culture association went and stayed at nearby cottages.

The convention was nice and there was plenty of stuff to do.
There was a dealer room with many shops having stands selling goodies. This time nothing peaked my interest, so no loot. Anime and movies were shown on large screens in videorooms(though I didnt watch anything)
SoramimiKaraoke The karaoke was there to provide there karaoke(I didnt sing though I did time some songs for karaoke)
What I did do was spend some time at the games room, playing projectorgames (falldown and skykids ftw!)

There were plenty of cosplay events like a cosplay act and fashion show.
They even had a maid cafe with some very cute maids.

So as an impression of how it was, here is a picture of four cute ladies cosplaying as the K-On girls.(I assumed there would be plenty of pictures online elsewhere so not many pictures were taken. The only cosplay picture I have taken is this one OTL)
(If fate allows and you happen to be one of the cosplayers on the picture, contact me if you want the original or want it removed)

Another nice event was the AMV competition. Many great AMV were submitted.
The Winner(The song is in dutch, the lyrics matched the video clip perfectly):


This year the organization was able to arrange a taiko performance by Tatake, a Belgian taiko group who even has performed in Japan. The performance was nice and refreshing as they added some typical Belgian humor to the act,

Most of the time I spent time hanging around with other people having a great time. I'm already looking forward to next years convention.

第３回MMD杯 MikuMikuDanceCup 2009 Summer

People checking out the nicovideo ranking must have already noticed it. Currently the MikuMikuDanceCup is being held. Basically it is a contest of the best animation made using MikuMikuDance. The final entrees have been uploaded and the most popular ones are quite high in the general ranking. The contest is until friday 21/08 and the results will be published on monday 24/08.

Most animations use the Hatsune Miku/Vocaloid models. Some use different models like Mona. not much to say about the 3D model but the animation looks great. Some use the k-on girls...

My favorite until now is this very nice Touhou animation.


more videos on this tag

image via konachan

化物語 ED 君の知らない物語: Bakemonogatari ED kimi no shiranai monogatari

SInce it's the 13th already the single has been released and some new videos have appeared on nicovideo:

A better quality version:

nicosound link

The second song on the single:

nicosound link

And a PV version:


image via moe.imouto.org via pixiv

化物語 Bakemonogatari Full ED: 君の知らない物語 kimi no shiranai monogatari

It looks like the full version of the ending theme of Bakemonogatari has leaked onto nicovideo. I very much like the song and it was a nice surprise as the single was planned to release in a couple of days on the 12th of August. The song 君の知らない物語(kimi no shiranai monogatari) is composed by Supercell, the group Ryo belongs to. Ryo is famous on Nicovideo for the songs he has made using Vocaloid Hatsune Miku. This has lead to many covers (歌ってみた) of his songs with the most famous one being Melt（メルト）. His songs have a certain style which was somewhat recognizable when hearing the ED for the first time. The singer is Nagi (previously known as ガゼル) who is also very much known on Nicovideo for her songs. Before as Gazelle she also made a cover of Melt with Ryo. I've been looking forward the ED to be released. This is a nice surprise indeed.


nicosound link

Because I couldn't decide on the image, heres some more.


images via konachan

JDrama: Mr Brain

As of this weekend I've been watching some Jdrama again. My time used for watching Jdrama steadily decreased since my internship but last friday I decided to watch a drama thats airing this/last season again. I finally watched the Galileo movie and that made my drama watching urges resurface. This drama (and the Galileo Movie)kept me from making post I planned to make this weekend. So expect more post when I'm done watching.

After some looking around I decided to watch Mr Brain. Its quite funny and you learn things about brains :P
It is about Tsukumo Ryusuke, former host club host, brain scientist due to a accident. He acts a bit odd but nonetheless is assigned to the brain science department of IPS (Institute of Police Science) where he due to his odd interests is involved in crime investigation. There he, using his 'brain science' skills, helps solving different cases using high tech equipment.

Tsukumo is played by Kimura Takuya, famous actor singer as part of SMAP. Besides him many different Japanese celebrities including Gackt, Kamenashi Kazuya and Nakama Yukie.

Check some screenshots or the trailer below. Time for a banana.

Gackt in ep 2


Kamenashi Kazuya in ep 3



Nakama Yukie in ep 5/6


trailer here
Official website
Mr Brain on dramawiki

萌え萌えキュン♡

While browsing through nicovideo I came across a very well made 3D animation of 萌え萌えキュン♡　



Heres another short moe moe kyun animation made in MikuMikuDance


image via pixiv.net

Virtual Yakiniku

Technology has come this far that you can eat virtual yakiniku. Perfect for them poor students and people on a diet. You only need a good and active imagination and a computer(and a paper apron if you're afraid to drop virtual meat). The only downside is the wait until the meat is done cooking...

Reminds me to go eat at the korean bbq anytime soon...

Air yakiniku

link via Japanprobe via cnet

image via gelbooru

Reimu Hakurei Nendoroid

Mikatan's blog brought some great news!!! A Reimu Hakurei Nendoroid~

Do want very much~

There is just one problem. It will be released at Comiket 76 exclusively ;_;
So I'll be looking for people going to C76 that can get me one >.>

Check the post for images of a very cute Reimu nendoroid
image via konachan

Waking up making lunch and get ready

Just like the salaryman waking up and getting ready in 5 min. This time it is an housewife with a kid getting ready and making a lunchbox in 5 min.



image via konachan
video via japanprobe

Vocaloid Original: ＊ハロー、プラネット。

I've been checking out vocaloid songs occasionally now and usually I prefer the 歌ってみた version where someone else sings the song making it sound less artificial. But in the case of this song the vocaloid voice goes perfectly with the music. The lyrics are quite funny too. A translation is provided in the comments.


image via konachan

New Haruhi Eps

It was leaked earlier by some broadcasting station and got subsequently removed as reported by zepy. But it seems it is confirmed. The eight ep of the re-airing will be an new ep. This is because the re-airing is in chronological order and the 笹の葉ラプソディ(bamboo leaf rhapsody) arc was not in the first season. Looking at the storyline in chronological order after this ep the upcoming eps will be a mix of new eps and old eps.

Sooo..... woohooo new haruhi~

image via konachan

Rocket Launch

It seems that the peculiar way of putting on you pants (as seen in the previous post) can be used for other things.

movie via japanprobe
image via gelbooru

Waking up and getting ready

I have never been great at waking up and getting ready. Since I started with the internship I have to wake up have to wake up at 6 in the morning and get ready in just 30 minutes. For me that is already quite fast but it seems it is possible to do it in just 5 minutes.

I must say some of the techniques used are quite interesting like tying the tie. How he puts on his pants looks weird.

image via gelbooru
movie via japanprobe

Sakura & new camera

It has been a while since my last post. I have been quite busy with school and started with an internship. Meanwhile I got myself a new camera. On the trip to japan the old ixus 55 was a bit too limited. Been doubting between a DSLR and a high end compact but in the end I chose for the portability. After some deliberation I chose for the Panasonic Lumix LX3. The reviews on dpreview and dannychoo looked good. It does not have much zoom but after checking the zoom in the japan trip pics the extra zoom was not that necessary.

Been playing with it for a while and in the street there happened to be some sakura trees in bloom. Not enough trees to look like its raining sakura petals so I got a blossom to check the macro qualities of the camera.
I had to get used to the shallow DOF when taking pictures. Often petals in the back were a bit blurred. Love the details you see on the picture like the structure of a petal.
Also lighting was not easy with the lens being so close. In this pic I tried a shutter time of 60 seconds combined with f/8.0 Worked out quite nice.

I must say I like the manual setting of the camera. The whitebalance/focus is still tricky though. Still need more practice with the camera. When I get the hang of the lighting/whitebalance aspect, expect some figure pics.

K1-Max Cosplay Fighter

You'd never think K-1 and cosplay would be related in any way. But now there is Yuuichiro "Jienotsu" Nakajima. He's not just any K1 fighter. He is an anime-otaku K1 fighter.
His love for anime is shown in his K1 ring entrances and appearances at press conferences. In his latest fight he entered in Ranka cosplay and doing her dance from her song Seikan Hikou. He also won that fight with a KO, though in later rounds he got TKOed himself. Too bad he can't fight in cosplay. Would be funny seeing Ranka punching a K1 fighter knockout. Previously he has cosplayed as various anime characters including Hatsune Miku and Haruhi. It is hilarious when all other K1 fighters get pictures taken in fighting pose in a suit while he does a pose in cosplay. I also got quite some laughs with his ring entrances. It seems he has gained quite some support from the akiba-kei. If more people would do this we could get a K1 fight between anime characters~
But still.. cosplay would be preferred over crossplay. Seeing good female cosplayers in the ring would be nice wouldn't it?

Here's a video of his latest appearance:

more videos here
and his blog
image from gelbooru

Anime Sping Season 2009

Winter season is coming to an end so its time to take a look what the spring season is offering.
After a first glance and preliminary filtering the following remains(with respective links to their anidb page):
Shangri-La (like the cover image),
K-on (kyoani of the season),
Sengoku Basara (wondering how they change japanese history),
Senjou no Valkyria(heard good things about the game),
Pandora Hearts(shounen series of the season),
Saki(yeah Mahjong Anime~),
Queens Blade(images in the megami creators makes me wonder what it is about),
Hayate no Gotoku 2(Hinagiku~),
Tears to Tiara(enjoyed the game),
Tayutama (ecchi harem serie of the season),
Polyphonica s2(s1 was reasonable).

Ovas:
Denpa Teki Kanojo(biribiri~?),
To love Ru(because I watched the anime),
Koihime Musou(I don't know why...),
Yurumates(like the art),
To Heart 2adplus(Tama-nee~),
Hayate no Gotoku2 OVA (More Hinagiku~),
Spice & Wolf 2(more economy lessons for current recession),
Higurashi Rei(higurashii~).

Still a large amount of titles -.- I guess the amount will drop after some eps or prioritizing.

image again via 4chan

edit: found a nicovideo of anime in the spring season, ranking of winter season and some previews of the summer season:

1/8 Meiya Mitsurugi review

So I have finally taken some pictures of the Meiya I got last month. For people that don't know the character, Meiya is a female main character from the game MuvLuv made by âge who also made Kimi ga Nozomu Eien. MuvLuv is actually split into two games Extra and Unlimited which take place in two universes. Extra is a normal one where the main characters are schoolmates and one where aliens invaded and humans are fighting them off with giant mecha. Meiya happens to be a pilot of such mecha in the Unlimited universe, hence the skintight pilot suit. The figure is actually based on the sequel Muvluv Alternative which also takes place in the Unlimited universe. It has a great story though some might find it depressing. Also it has some welcome cameo's from KimiNozo.

Enough about the game, on with the figure.
As said before the figure looks great and was modeled well after the original character designs. The suit is painted with glossy paint giving it a shiny finish whereas her head end hair is painted matt using white for highlights. The hair looks great as her hair and hairribbon are modeled in an active pose showing the many layers of her hair.
Though there are some imperfections that are visible when you are looking for them. Her left knee's paint is a bit "chipped" and some casting lines are still visible.

A pic of Meiya in her natural environment. The cardboard backdrop that came with the box.

After some miserable attempts to take pictures in my poorly lit room with a compact camera I decided to move to a more bright environment.. the bathroom.
With plenty of light and bright walls the pictures turned out much better as no flash was needed. Though some exposure adjusting was needed.
Here Meiya was exposed more giving the picture some bloom effect. Her hairribbon disappears into the background.
Frontal view showing her shiny suit.
Side view where if you look closely at her left knee, you can see some paint chips probably caused by removing masking tape.

More pictures of painted 1/7 Lily Saber

Mikatan posted some pictures of the painted version of the 1/7 Lily Saber that will be up for preorder soon. Release will be in june. I must say the figure looks even more gorgeous after some paint. The new pictures show Lily saber from more angles now. A behind and above picture is available now. The motion and flow in her pose is very well captured in her dress. You can also see how Avalon(the sheath) is floating midair.

update: more pics added. More close up pics with some details of her corset, dress and stand.

Find the pics at mikatan

New Loot

Some loot finally arrived. It arrived last week but I was too busy/lazy/distracted to post about it. This time the order contains another issue of megami creators. This time it is vol 08. I just put a megami creators in every order until I get them all. It got a nice poster of a nurse mecha girl and several foldouts :3 more on megami creators in future posts.
I also got several figures. With figma Miyuki I now got all main lucky star girls complete. Also got two haruhi third set puchi-nendoroids. Never had much luck with puchi nendoroids. I Kept getting the same one when I was in Japan last summer -.- Luckily enough this time I got two different ones. The Haruhi and Nagato in concert outfit.
But the thing I was anticipating moest was my first 1/8 sized figure: Meiya Mitsurugi of the MuvLuv series. I must say she looks very nice. There are some small things that are not entirely perfect but not anything to fuss over. More on it in a review of her which will be posted in the future when I find time to make decent pictures.

I'm quite happy with the purchase this time. Only I'm just realizing that besides Meiya there are two other figures in the MuvLuv set. Somehow I get the urge to get those too though my wallet is complaining as it is quite empty now...

More Haruhi Extravaganza figures releasedates announced

The releasedates of Haruhi and Mikuru were announced before to be March and April 2009 respectively. Now the releasedate for the Yuki figure has been announced to be May 2009. With this the releasedate of the all of the extravaganza set have been announced. All are still available for preorder on HobbySearch. With 7057 yen per figures it would be too much of an assault on my cash reserves :(

Also a cute MikuMikku Kagami nendoroid from the Lucky Star OVA was announced.
pictures and info at Goodsmile and Mikatan

Plamo Projects Update

The plamo projects were not in a standstill in the holidays. After finishing the build of the rafe, I started practicing with airbrushing some old hgs of mine. Until I get some confidence in airbrushing painting the rafe will have to wait. Because airbrushing all the time is somewhat monotonous I decided to start another build. Since i was already working with aiplanes the Valkyrie would be a nice intermediate. I got quite some work done in the holidays. The mochup build is done and I spend some time trying to have it transform.
Here the blank VF25F in airplane modus. The components are somewhat loose and parts do not always join up very well due to the joints used for transforming. The plane modus looks quite nice and sleek but without decals it is somewhat empty.
The VF25F in Gerwalk modus. The gerwalk modus hasn't been a modus I was very fond of. It just looks a bit weird. The landing gear and the body-mounted gun are removed. The engines are rotated down and have become legs. Furthermore using a mechanism in the engines/motor allows the thruster to pulled out more making it become an ankle and foot. Also arms are rotated out from the body. The tail becomes the shield. The shield also holds a knife.
The VF25F in Battroid modus. Here is a shot of the VF25F holding the rifle. Transforming to battroid required more work. The wings were folded back in. The hips were straigthened out making it become more of a standing leg. The cockpit area is divided in several parts that fold into the body. Whereas the head and antennae pop up from the body.

2 different sheets of decals were in the box. A clear sticker sheet and a water decal sheet. Saving the water decals for the more high quality painted version in the future I have started to put the sticker decals on the body. This is quite some work handling the damn small decals. I haven't finished putting on the decals yet. I guess I'll save that for later.

Valkyrie girl via moe.imouto.org (original a megami creators poster)

Happy New Year

明けましておめでとうございます~ Happy New Year

After some time of inactivity in the holidays periods here is a post to break the silence. Expect a series of posts to catch up on stuff from the holidays.

Happy 200⑨ to all.

Image via gelbooru