Nendoroid Puchi Nanoha Set Preview part 2

Mar 31, 2010

Nendoroid Puchi Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Set

Continuation of yesterday's preview of Nendoroid Puchi Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Set. 5 more figures have been presented in detail today on Mikatan's blog. Which leaves one figure to be revealed later as a surprise.

Nendoroid Puchi Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Set

Nanoha in casual wear with Raising Heart in Device Mode.

Nendoroid Puchi Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Set

Fate in casual wear with Bardiche in Device Mode.

Nendoroid Puchi Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Set

Nanoha in school uniform.

Nendoroid Puchi Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Set

Arisa comes with a small Yuuno, and Suzuka comes with Arf. Don't really know why the familiars come with Nanoha's classmates but whatever.

Nendoroid Puchi Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Set

Devices are of course interchangeable among individual Nendos. Therefore, you can make Fate brandish Raising Heart, and vice versa, Nanoha wield Bardiche.

The preorders for Nendoroid Puchi Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Set are to start on April 2.

All photos are courtesy of Mikatan.


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Nendoroid Puchi Nanoha Set Preview part 1

Mar 30, 2010

Nendoroid Puchi Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha

Mikatan has showed us 10 figures of the upcoming Nendoroid Puchi Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha set. The whole set will include 11 different figures. 5 have been presented in detail today. Other 5 will be individually presented tomorrow.

Nendoroid Puchi Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha

Nendoroid Puchi Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha

First is Nanoha in Barrier Jacket and Raising Heart in Shooting Mode.

Nendoroid Puchi Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha

Next and the best and most important is Fate in Barrier Jacket and Bardiche in Scythe Form.

Nendoroid Puchi Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha

Arf, Fate's familiar. She's got cute ears.

Nendoroid Puchi Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha

Human form Yuuno Scrya. He has a very serious expression.

Nendoroid Puchi Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha

Another deadly serious looking man, Chrono Harlaown.

They all look very cool with resolute faces. Let's look forward to seeing another 5 tomorrow.

All photos are courtesy of Mikatan.


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Umineko EP6 ED Song - Birth of a new witch [eng trans]

Mar 29, 2010

I haven't done any translation for a while and found out there is no translation of this very intriguing song. I gave it a shot but there are parts where I wasn't sure who is the subject and who is the object as there are no pronouns and vague context. Well, the whole message of this song is rather nebulous and can be interpreted in various ways so maybe it's possible that the lyricist gave the listeners something to think of and wanted them to come to their own respective understandings by themselves. Anyways, it is the ending song from Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru EP6 visual novel. It doesn't matter whether you have read it or not. If you haven't read it, you will probably be very, very confused by the lyrics. So you don't have to read them at all and just listen to this amazing piece of music. I'm about to fall asleep at any second, so no more blabbering. Enjoy it!

You surely don't believe the dream
wherein you fear an eternal being
You surely don't believe
that it still talks to you in your heart.

Even so not once did you believe
You fool....
The sealed love
just spurs evil witches at me.

"Ah... The miracle I dreamed about with him has been stolen"
But I'm sure you can feel it too
It must be our eyes

Your dream will not come true
It's your fate for having been looking away
The more you fear the more you reject
the exposed dirty mind by your side

The miracle never occurs
Neither the dream nor the disclosure of gold
The hollow eyes
have taught me what has worth

"Uu- ... I can't see
the days I spent with him in cradle"
Can't you hear something now?
It must be our screams.

Reigning Reigning The spiral Venus
Above all humans
Burning Burning Burn it in the magic and...
Burn it to nothing. Just...
Fear me Fear me “The heartless breaker”
I will
Take you all Take to the end of the world
I invite you

(NOTE: I don't really get this part. It's in Engrish and it's not included in the official lyrics. I was able to discern just bits of it)
Welcome to the real witches' world
love
what you get
song of a witch

"Ah... I demand judgment
upon the being that stole him"
Still, the tears are coming out, aren't they?
It must be the same for us

Ritual Ritual A witch called infinity
Praise her
Moment Moment You must surrender
Fall on your knees; now...
Pray me Pray me “The final dreamer”
I shall not grant your wish
Go away Go away your game is over
Weep and scream

You've hated me for so many times already
It can't even be put into words
Why do I recall the smile of yours
that is supposed to have rotten?

He isn't surely a stuffed animal
He's a precious friend of mine
I don't forgive my unfeeling mother
I will assess the revenge; but...
Feel me Feel me I wanna meet you
Somewhere in my heart
Lonely Lonely Laugh at your cynic and...
I can't understand; therefore...

Reigning Reigning The spiral Venus
Above all humans
Burning Burning Burn it in the magic and...
Burn it to nothing. Just...
Fear me Fear me “The heartless breaker”
I will
Take you all Take to the end of the world
I invite you


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Nendoroid Takamachi Nanoha photo shoot

Mar 28, 2010

Nendoroid Takamachi Nanoha

It's been a while I got my Nanoha nendo but I hadn't got round to taking photos until earlier this week. I took the indoor photos on Wednesday, and on Friday I and Nanoha ventured into the wilderness outside.

Nendoroid Takamachi Nanoha

Unfortunately, the paint job is worse than usual. I hear I'm not the only one whose Nanoha nendo has some paint issues. On the contrary, I haven't heard of anyone whose Nanoha would be flawless. The lines on clothes are a bit blurred and there are several blots on her dress. The faces are perfect, however.

Nendoroid Takamachi Nanoha

Another problem is Nanoha's staves. There are two included in the set: Raising Heart in Device Mode, and Raising Heart in Shooting Mode. When you want Nanoha to grab either of them, you have to attach hands to it by detaching one end of the staff and pulling the staff through a hole in the hand. However, after several pull ons and offs, the white paint on the staff gets scraped a bit, making it look greyish rather than white.

Nendoroid Takamachi Nanoha

But don't take me wrong. I'm happy to have this figure and I love it a lot, regardless of the flaws. I just wanted to point out what you should expect of it and give an objective image. You will hardly notice anything in the photos.

Nendoroid Takamachi Nanoha

Nendoroid Takamachi Nanoha

Nendoroid Takamachi Nanoha

Nendoroid Takamachi Nanoha

Nendoroid Takamachi Nanoha

Nanoha in the Sky.

Nendoroid Takamachi Nanoha

Nendoroid Takamachi Nanoha

The sun was almost setting and the trip was rather exhausting for little Nanoha so she took a nap by a stump for a while.

Nendoroid Takamachi Nanoha

Nendoroid Takamachi Nanoha

The White Devil Clairvoyant.

Nendoroid Takamachi Nanoha

Nendoroid Takamachi Nanoha

Poor little Nanoha seems to be a sleepwalker. Hope she does not jump off her shelf one day.

Nendoroid Takamachi Nanoha

I hope you liked the photos. And even though I said there are some flaws on Nanoha, she would certainly make a great addition to your collection if you managed to get her somewhere. Now I'm looking forward to getting her yuri-bedmate lover partner, Fate.


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DFC Saturday #7

Mar 27, 2010

Hatsune Miku

Hatsune Miku by dassyoku

The blueish grey clouds are gathering in the sky, obscuring the sun and casting a gloomy atmosphere upon the terrestrial beings. That's the picture of what it looks like here and now. If the situation is similar in your city, town, or village, you may want to brighten your spirits with a modest bunch of radiant pictures. It goes without saying that brightening your spirits involves things that are not compatible with work. To cut a long story into 4 letters, NSFW.

BRS

BRS by an unknown artist

Picture from Nyantype magazine

Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko

Picture from Nyantype magazine

Remilia Scarlet

Remilia Scarlet by gusutafu

Flandre Scarlet

Flandre Scarlet by Arikichi Gen

Megurine Luka

Megurine Luka by Ryuu Ryuu

Hinamori Amu

Hinamori Amu by ixy

picture by matsuryuu

Takamachi Nanoha

Takamachi Nanoha by odaya

In case you have been feeling down, I hope this gallery has helped you at least a bit to regain some cheerfulness ^^


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Top 10 Best Known Seiyuu in Japan

Mar 26, 2010

Mizuki Nana 水樹 奈々

A survey inquiring into people's awareness of seiyuu has been conducted in Japan. Obviously, the sample of respondents, 23,338 individuals, consisted of general population so the results show who the most popular seiyuu in Japan are. To my delight, the most recognized seiyuu is Mizuki Nana, 34% respondent knowing about her. I think that particularly her appearance at Kouhaku Uta Gassen must have helped her to become more popular and recognized among the public.

Female ranking is as follows:

1. Mizuki Nana
2. Hirano Aya
3. Sakamoto Maaya
4. Paku Romi
5. Kugimiya Rie
6. Yukana
7. Sawashiro Miyuki
8. Koshimizu Ami
9. Kaneda Tomoko
10. Gotou Yuuko

Kugyuu's fifth place has made me happy as well. It's nice she's quite well known among general population, too.

Male ranking is as follows:

1. Suzumura Kenichi
2. Miyano Mamoru
3. Sakurai Takahiro
4. Fukuyama Jun
5. Irino Miyu
6. Sugita Tomokazu
7. Kamiya Hiroshi
8. Ono Daisuke
9. Nakamura Yuuichi
10. Yoshino Hiroyuki

While 34% of respondents knew the name Mizuki Nana, only 8% of respondents knew the name of Suzumura Kenichi who has secured the first place among males. It indicates there's a considerable difference between the popularity and recognition between male and female seiyuu. The fact is that the each female seiyuu from the top 5 is better known than the first male seiyuu.

On a bit different note, what's interesting is the even competition among male seiyuu, in contrast with the fairly decisive results in the female counterpart. The difference between the first and the tenth among male seiyuu is mere 4%, whereas it climbs all the way up to 30% among females. The huge popularity of a few certain female seiyuu can be explained pretty easily, I think. However, the reason why there's no extremely popular male seiyuu remains a kind of a mystery. It may have to do something with the fact that a lot of female seiyuu also follow the career in music industry. We can only speculate, though.


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Moe Sofa

Mar 25, 2010

Moe Sofa

Furniture manufacturing company Takaraya Kagu, based in Nagoya, have created a sofa targeted at otaku. The design is very simple, a white cover with purple armrests. What makes it different from any other sofa is that there's an moe character printed on the backrest.

The manager of the company says he wanted to please the otaku crowd and that's why he came up with the idea of making this sofa, which quite stands out in the shop filled with classy furniture.

Moe Sofa

Apparently, the Moe Sofa will not be the only moe product and others are probably in process of making or designing.

The current price of Moe Sofa is 80,000 yen. However, if it makes into mass production, the price will most likely go down.

Source: Itai News


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MoeHaku 2010 Itasha Meeting

Mar 24, 2010

MoeHaku 2010

About 300 various vehicles were on display at the recent MoeHaku 2010 event. Besides the "regular" itasha (cars), also itatansha (motorbikes), itachari (bicycles), and apparently one itabus (bus) could be seen at the site. Here's a digest of the master works that gathered there.

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

MoeHaku 2010

Source: Gigazine


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