There she is.

Quite some time ago a flash movie circulated around the internet about a cat meeting a bunny falling in love with the cat around some vending machines. With the movie becoming quite popular English versions were made later on. That movie actually got some sequels and a couple of days ago the last episode was released.

Watch the movies here

Hoshi Saga

I guess it's time for another flash game I've been playing a bit lately. This time it is Hoshi Saga. It consists of many levels where you only have to do one thing. Find the star. Some levels are quite easy and obvious. Others require some thinking or clicking and rarely some typing. I got stuck at some levels but after skipping them and playing it later might provide more insight. All in all a quite amusing game.

There are 3 Hoshi Saga's out already.
Go play them here:

Hoshi Saga
Hoshi Saga 2
Hoshi Saga 3

Image (somewhat related) via moe.imouto.org

Plamo Project Update

Besides getting figures yesterday, it was also the triweekly plamo building day. I was too lazy to putty my MG Strike E IWSP so I started on the build of my Yukikaze Rafe instead. I got it in my last Japan trip as I couldn't find the Mave. There is not much difference between them as the Rafe is the unmanned version of the Mave. They are so alike that most sprues in the Rafe Box are actually from the Mave. It does not have the cockpit but does have the figures for the pilots. As it is an ex model painting and gluing is necessary. I already glued some parts but need to wait as some parts need to be painted before assembling and gluing it. I did do a mockup build as you can see in the picture. Next time should be painting it unless I'm lazy and put off painting and start another build.

New Arrivals

Yesterday was a very good in terms of figures. An order finally arrived~
Figma Hatsune Miku, Figma Kagami, Xenosaga Legend ep 2 figure, 2x Melty Blood pretty collection, Hayate the Combat Butler vol 9 and and issue 11 of Megami Creators Magazine. For the Xenosaga figure I got Shion. She will stand nicely next to the Kos-Mos I fetched in Japan. For the Melty Blood collection I got black Ren and vampire Arcueid. The two twintail figmas are very nice. The twintails both have joints so you can play with the hair giving it much more dynamic poses.

Also, a week ago something else arrived. The VF-25F Alto custom.
It was sold out at most places when I wanted to order it. So I had it preordered for the rerelease at rainbowten. The transformation sequence looks interesting, I will build it when I'm done with my current plamo projects. It got 2 sheets of decals. You can choose to use water transfer or transparent stickers. Will decide on that later.
With them new figures my desktop became much more filled with figures~

Anime Winter Season 2008/2009

With the end of the year ending, the start of a new anime season is nearing. Here's an image I found with thumbnails and descriptions. Not many titles that I heard of before except the second seasons of Druaga and Shikabane Hime and third of Minami Ke. Furthermore an interesting OVAs like Higurashi. Not many must watch titles atm. Probably gonna check the first ep of most of them before deciding what to watch. Anyone got some recommendations?

New Suzumiya Haruhi figure

A new Haruhi figure set has been announced by the folks at MaxFactory. It consists of the convert version of the 3 main female characters. The Haruhi figure will be released in March 2009. The release dates of other figures are not known yet. I'm glad the sculptor did not just copy the pose entirely from the original image. The dynamic pose looks good and the expression look well captured on the pictures. Also love the details like haruhi holding the guitar pick and the highly detailed clothing. If the price wasn't too high for my budget I get one... :(

More images and information at GoodSmile and Mikatan

Gunpla Project Update

Last week there was another plamo session where I and some comrades worked on our plamo. This time I finished the build of my MG Strike E IWSP. I added the weapons and had my first experience with putty. One of the aiming thingies on the IWSP's guns broke off and got lost. So I fabricated a new one with putty. Now it looks like a yellow blob grew on the IWSP. I still need to file/sand it down ._. Still need to putty more misses and seams.

I also took some pics using the dslr with macrolens of a comrade. The pics look much nicer than what my digicam produces.

Clannad Underwear

There is all kind of merchandise. Things like mugs, calendars or more extreme dakimakura(bodypillows). Also clothing is printed with your favourite character. But now they did printed underwear with Clannad characters. Yes... underwear with dango print. (Not a clannad girl, what were you thinking?) I guess it's merchandise for them extreme fanboys or girls. Or (fan)boys that want to attract fangirls.

image via konachan
link via zepy

waki miko reimu~

I played some Dance Dance Revolution with some Touhou songs a couple of days ago and ever since a song has been stuck in my head. Usually songs don't stick for long but this is a persistent one. As it has been stuck for a while now I might as well write something about it.
The evil song is called "Tsukiyo Wo Kakusanai Teido No Nouryoku?"(月夜を隠さない程度の能力？) by IOSYS, a group well known by their remixes of Touhou music. For people that are interested in the original: it is a remix from "少女綺想曲　〜 Dream Battle", a BGM track in the eighth Touhou game: Imperishable Night. It is the theme song for Hakurei Reimu, the miko you see in the picture. The original song is quite nice but the remix added some vocals(waki miko reimu~) which are repeated frequently causing it to loop in my head ._.

As I'm enjoying it in my head already I guess I'll share the joy~ (waki miko reimu)*

image via moe.imouto.org

Saimoe 2008

The semi-finals went as predicted. The Hiiragi won and the Final would be a match between the twin sisters. Tsukasa won from Hinagiku with 1137 vs 1096 where Kagami clearly won from Nagisa with 1122 vs 922.

Kagami was too strong for her sister and easily won with 1037 vs 976. Kagami got less votes than the semi finals and she won either way. It would have been more interesting if it would be Kagami vs Hinagiku. Anyways Hiiragi Kagami is the winner of Saimoe 2008 so here's a pic.



(sidenote: Kagami lost from Yuki in the international Saimoe 2008. The finals will be between Fate and Yuki... bleh. Clearly the Japanese have better taste than the international pplz.)

Anime Backgrounds

As some already know, the setting and backgrounds of anime are sometimes based on real places. A well known one is Lucky Star. There they used the town Washimiya as setting. The shrines the Hiiragi sisters work at is an actual shrine there. This has led to large amount of fans and even the voice actors to visit the town and shrine.
Now I found a site where many of such anime/game are listed with pictures for comparison. Check it here. It seems more anime/games have real-life settings that I thought. It looks like the type moon and key games all have real-life settings. I guess the artists like some places so much they put it in the game/anime. For Haruhi, the area where the writer of the novel studied in his university times was used. Some way to pay tribute to the original author I guess. So anyone feel like visiting the area of your favorite anime/game when you're in Japan?

link via dannychoo.com

Saimoe 2008

So the quarterfinals of Saimoe are over. The results are as I would have voted so I guess the japanese voters and me think alike.

Kagami(Lucky Star) won from Tomoyo(Clannad)
with 1138 vs 790
Nagisa(Clannad) defeated Tamaki(Bamboo Blade)
with 953 vs 891
Tsukasa(Lucky Star) won from Fuuko(Clannad)
with 1049 vs 804
Hinagiku(Hayate no Gotoku) defeated Kirino(Bamboo Blade)
with 934 vs 750

With this the Bamboo Blade characters are out and only one from Clannad character is left.

Next matches are:
Kagami vs Nagisa

Tsukasa vs Hinagiku

With these matches there a big chance the Hiiragi sisters meet in the finals making it a match between twin sisters. If my ip range wouldn't be banned my vote would go to Kagami and to Hinagiku as she made it this far being the only character from Hayate no Gotoku which got this far.

Leading Edge

I've found another flash game to play instead of doing something useful. Leading Edge is a sidescrolling shooter which is surprisingly fun to play. It is somewhat hard as you cant rambo your way through it. Still a fun game to play a couple of times though.

Find the game here. for more games of the maker visit his site

AR-Figure

Augmented reality, combining digital data with the real world using web cams, has found itself a new application, the AR figure. Not very long ago Geisha Tokyo Entertainment released their first AR figure. You just need a web cam and a computer running the software. Using the software and the cube and paddle that comes with the package you can have a virtual figure walking around on your desk. The cube and paddle have special print printed on it so the software recognizes the cube when being filmed with web cam. You can interact with it using the paddle. Depending on the print on the paddle you can poke or even undress the figure... Using other cubes and cards with different print you can also give presents to your figure. Somewhat scary how the first thing you can do to a virtual figure is undressing it...

Demo movie(mind the volume):

More at Geisha Tokyo Entertainment

Strike E IWSP *progress*

Today i finally have found the time to continue building my Strike E IWSP. For some time now my Strike E IWSP has been armless. Lately i couldn't find the time (was too lazy) to build the arms. Together with some comrades we spent the afternoon and evening building plamo. Had a good time and it is a great idea to make people that put off building plamo ^^;

Results of the day:
Strike E IWSP finally got arms ^^; (Added some panellining to test my new markers, I know it looks like crap but at least it got arms)

Now it just needs weapons and the build is somewhat complete. Still need to fill up mistakes add details and sand it until it is all smooth. All that then awaits me is painting it~
We'll see how long I can put off that one...

Saimoe

While international saimoe got me disappointed in the people voting, the original saimoe is getting very interesting. Most of my favorites are still in the tournament ^^. Though this makes deciding on who to vote for much more harder...
Standings are like this:

If you feel like voting... some japanese skill is required. A guide can be found here

Current match: Kagami vs Tomoyo
Current voting thread: http://changi.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/vote/1224682412/

New MG Sinanju Pictures

I came across some new Mg Sinanju pictures I just had to share.

The sinanju with the pilot. You now can see and appreciate the size of the Sinanju.

Action shot with large axe

pictures via amiblog

International Saimoe *Update*

The results were in and I was disappointed, very disappointed...
So disappointed I didn't feel like writing until now.

Hinagiku lost...
Haruhi lost by 1 vote...
Kyou lost...
Ni~paah~ lost...

So a new round has started with the following contestants:

Tomoyo vs Konata
C.C. vs Kotomi

Too disappointed to add images now...

vote if you still feel like voting...

International Saimoe *Update*

The results were in some days ago, I was just too lazy to update.

Tsukasa Hiiragi (LS) vs. Hinagiku Katsura (HnG)
504 --> 514
Konata Izumi (LS) vs. Suigintou (RM)
626 <-- 456
Mai Kawasumi (KN) vs. C.C. (CG)
493 --> 520
Nanoha Takamachi (NA) vs. Rika Furude (HNKN)
468 -->483

When voting I decided Hinagiku should win from Tsukasa as there is still another Hiiragi in the tournament. This means all the girls I voted for won ^^

So the contestants of next voting round will be:


(#9) Hinagiku Katsura vs. Tomoyo Sakagami (#2)
Hinagiku ftw~

(#12) Konata Izumi vs. Haruhi Suzumiya (#3)
The real haruhi should win from the cosplayer.

(#11) C.C. vs. Kyou Fujibayashi (#5)
Kyou~

(#15) Rika Furude vs. Kotomi Ichinose (#8)
ni-paah~

No doubts with voting this time :)

Voting starts pretty soon now, so go vote

Fuuka Taisen

Last couple of days I've been wasting my time playing Fuuka Taisen. Fuuka Taisen is a 2D fighting game like Melty Blood but has Mai-hime characters instead. 3D backgrounds and 2D gamesprites. The gameplay is a bit different. Attacks do much more damage and countering does even more damage. Also every character has a "child" which can be used for special moves. The game is quite amusing, though sometimes it seems a bit unbalanced. Some characters clearly dominate some other characters. All in all a nice game.

Screens here

A gameplay video:


Try the game if you have time to spend. The demo is available here.(bottom of the page marked ダウンロード) I'm sure the full game is available too if you spend some time searching ;)

International Saimoe *Update*

First winners bracket results are in:

(#1) Fate Testarossa vs. Kotomi Ichinose (#8)
631 <-- 520 (#5)
Kyou Fujibayashi vs. Shana (#4)
562 --> 614
(#3) Haruhi Suzumiya vs. Yuki Nagato (#6)
562 --> 593
(#7) Kagami Hiiragi vs. Tomoyo Sakagami (#2)
608 <-- 584
my votes only won in the last match ;_;
This means some very close(imo) matches in the next round

Next matches for the losers bracket looks like this:


Tsukasa Hiiragi (LS) vs. Hinagiku Katsura (HnG)
can't decide on this one ><

Konata Izumi (LS) vs. Suigintou (RM)
Konata~

Mai Kawasumi (KN) vs. C.C. (CG)
C.C. with cheese-kun~

Nanoha Takamachi (NA) vs. Rika Furude (HNKN)
the ni-paah~ should win

don't forget to vote!

MSN-06S Sinanju Ver. Ka

A new MG has been announced and is open for reservation. The MSN-06S Sinanju Ver.Ka. After the Unicorn this is the new Ver. Ka. Based on the Sazabi you can recognise the traits from it. It is from the same timeframe as the Unicorn and it was built to compete with the Unicorn. It is also equipped with a psychoframe but it does not looks like it has a destroyer mode. It looks quite nice. Out for release late December.

International Saimoe Update

The first round is over. Here are the results:

(#1) Fate Testarossa vs. Tsukasa Hiiragi (#16)
673 <-- 588
(#8) Kotomi Ichinose vs. Hinagiku Katsura (#9)
632 <-- 566
(#5) Kyou Fujibayashi vs. Konata Izumi (#12)
627 <-- 616
(#4) Shana vs. Suigintou (#13)
722 <-- 535
(#3) Haruhi Suzumiya vs. Mai Kawasumi (#14)
753 <-- 473
(#6) Yuki Nagato vs. C.C. (#11)
661 <-- 583
(#7) Kagami Hiiragi vs. Nanoha Takamachi (#10)
740 <-- 505
(#2) Tomoyo Sakagami vs. Rika Furude (#15)
703 <-- 510

The results were not that surprising. It was a close one between kyou and konata though.

The tournament tree looks like this now:

The winners of round 1 will face eachother on Friday, October 3 @ 0200 GMT - 2600 GMT
The losers of round 1 will face eachother on Tuesday, October 7 @ 0200 GMT - 2600 GMT

International Saimoe

Saimoe the japanese tournament where fans can vote for the most moe character has spawned an international version. After the 64 contestants were nominated from the top of the other saimoe of previous years preliminary rounds were held. Now those rounds have ended and only 16 are left.
The matches are:









Now vote for the character you think is most moe

Incredible Hard Game

A incredible hard game on the japanese game show haneru no tobira.
This time the contestants had to swing on a conveyorbelt, take a footstand, use it to jump onto a rope hanging from the ceiling and land on a platform in very hot water. Fail jumping on the conveyor means landing in flour. Failing the conveyor of the rope means landing in hot water.



link via Japan probe

Gundam Pack Exchange

While building the MG Strike E IWSP a question hit me. Is the IWSP compatible with other gundams? I only have 2 other MG to try it on. The MG Freedom and the MG Strike Freedom. It did require some minor changes but here are the results:

The MG Freedom with IWSP. The pack did not fit entirely. I had to remove 2 thrusters from the back of Freedom for the IWSP to fit. Sacrificing 2 thrusters for 1 large pack wasn't that big of a problem ^^. I must say the pack looks good on the Freedom.
Another pose holding the shield. Getting the pose right was not so simple. The swords form the IWSP were somewhat in the way of the arms.
Here Strike Freedom with the old wings comes along. Too bad the IWSP doesn't fit on the Strike Freedom.
Soon when I finish the Strike E IWSP I will try more variations.

New season of anime *updated*

The chart with the anime in the new anime season has been updated. Now with more release dates and sorted on release date for your pleasure. Hope it helps with your selection. Most of the interesting titles start airing from 1 October on. Also the Lucky star OVA will be released on the 26th of September. Also something to forward to ;)



Found via 4chan/a/

New Gundam:00 game

2 PV's have been released for the upcoming gundam:00 game. It will be released for the PS2(which means I will be able to play it), on October 16th. The battle system is somewhat different from the previous Gundam games. Button press timing moments have been added and it looks much faster than the previous games. If the gameplay is good this will be my favorite medium of Gundam 00 as the anime was somewhat disappointing.

Pantsu Shots

You know pantyshot moments are not very rare in anime. Depending on the genre you usually get at least a few in a series. So far so good for the anime realm. Now it seems panty shots also appear on the news, or the weather program to be exact. It seems that typhoons and weather news can provide some interesting shots.

Link via dannychoo

Kagi Nochi Tobira

I have come across a different game this time. Kagi Nochi Tobira is no action platform but more of a puzzle game. You need to find a key and the door. With just 20 levels it's less time consuming than Dot Action

play it here

Nicodouga

I'm planning to post some nicodouga link on this blog. Nicodouga is a japanese video streaming site like youtube only more interesting content. Only problem is you have to register to view videos. The problem is that google analytics shows most readers of this blog are not proficient in japanese enough to get around nicodouga or even register. But I found a solution to that.
guide 1
guide 2
These guides should help with registering. But too be able to fully use the features of nicodouga you need to know some Japanese.
I'll start out with a video showing how an artist drew Hatsune Miku。



glhf~

Comiket special

Once in every 5 years a Comiket Special is held. The next one is in 2010 and they are searching for a town to host the event and attract visitors to the town. I guess they aren't looking for a town outside japan. Else I would rally for somewhere near where I live...

news via zepy

Being creative with sticky notes

You feel bored and have some sticky notes around?
Then here is something to relieve your boredom.

Lucky Star Festival

We all know that the locations of the lucky star anime are based on real locations. Washinomiya shrine, the shrine where the shrine in Lucky Star was based on was already being visited by many fans of Lucky Star. Now they have held a festival at the shrine. A Lucky Star portable shrine was carried around by 120 fans. I guess the Lucky Star chars have become gods.

more info here

Ero game business model

After the post about the anime business model. Zepy now made a post where he translated an article about the ero game industry. That is a lot of copies before a company breaks even.

link here

New anime season

A new anime season is starting soon. It got some great titles amongst it. Already know what you are going to watch? Here's a chart with some images.

Not sure what I'm going to watch. There are some second seasons like Gundam 00 s2, Rosario x Vampire capu 2 and Clannad After Story. Also some promising manga/light novel adaptations like Tora Dora, Kemeko DX and Kannagi. One sure watch is TV adaptation of Kyou no 5 no 2. There are still more interesting titles out there. Guess I will have to look at the first eps before I can decide.