Because I like beautiful girls.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

World is Mine Miku: Brown Frame ver.

A lovely lady arrived at the post office this week. Please forgive the crappy iPhone photography, my camera is a state away. This is a 1/8th PVC version of Miku from the World is Mine PV by Supercell/ryo.

Even if you don't play the video above, the snapshot gives you a pretty good idea what this figure is supposed to look like. Audio quality on that video is pretty terrible compared to the CD anyhow. I did not like World is Mine at first but then I listened and realized how silly the lyrics are and it fits really well. Its a really fun song so I was quite excited to get this figure.

The box has one window and opens up from the front.

The box is simple, elegant, and has images of both frame versions on the sides. Stickers on the top and bottom indicate which color frame is included and the UPC for that version.

Miku and the frame are housed in completely separate layers of plastic.

I got the Brown Frame version. The frame is made of ABS plastic and has a nice satin finish (except the wood-like part which looks like wood, duh.) I really like the headphones laying near the corner. The song name and "supercell" are printed on in silver but can't be read in this shot.
Miku sticks on with magnets so the base is pleasantly clean. The design is quite sturdy, she will stay on quite firmly if you want to hang her on the wall. I even turned her upside down.

The world's number one princess (according to her anyhow ;) ). The iPhone really doesn't do her justice but she does look as good as the sample images promised.

The first thing I noticed is how BIG this set is. She is normal 1/8th but the post and base make her quite large. She draws attention, just like a princess. The frame is not flat but molded so she sinks into it. This also means she looks silly laying on smooth surfaces like one's table.
From the side, you can see how her back arches up a bit and her feet just barely rest on the frame. Her socks are smooth and shiny. White pantsu.

She can sit on edges but isn't very sturdy. The first photo is from this same pose. Her face is rather devious isn't it?

In short, I'm quite happy with this figure. The colors are just fantastic together, unfortunately my iPhone and bad lighting don't show that. I really hate the natural (light colored) frame version (not pictured since I don't have it) but check them both out before you buy.

With the frame she feels a lot more like a piece of artwork than a toy (as my mother calls them) and is a quite elegant way to show off your fandom (said mother actually liked this one). No Miku fan should pass this one up.

UPDATE:
Size wise she's almost as tall as a 15inch laptop screen. Here you can see her on my 15 MacbookPro (easel stand is at an angle over the keyboard)


Monday, December 14, 2009

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Education Rant

You have no right to a formal college education.

There I said it. Bring out the pitchforks. Its a hot topic in CA nowadays for student to demand the state continue paying much of their formal education. They're wrong. The state of CA made sure they got to adulthood reasonably educated and with life habits that come from school work. Now its their choice on how to grow them (or not).

You have a human right to information for self study.

Most likely this is via the internet. Maybe the books at the library. Maybe you work a job where you can hear another language or you post pictures for feedback on a website. Maybe you learn programming from a website or history from a old textbook. You do NOT need a professor to learn. You do not have a RIGHT to be taught by a professor. Your high school teachers did not teach you so you continue to rely on others, they taught to to be an effective human so start applying those skills.

I go to a private university because it is more efficient and enjoyable to learn in a formal environment (particularly that of my chosen school). I am majoring in Japanese studies and would like to do a 3-2 MBA program. My parents and I feel that the private formal environment is more efficient and enjoyable and that it is worth the cost. State students ought pay because they feel the formal environment is better for them than self study but they do not want to pay for the differences of a private school.

ALL students can self study if they do not feel their education is worth paying others for or if they can't pay/don't want loans. I started studying Japanese in middle school or early high school (don't remember) by buying a 10$ kana book and using David Hallgren's Japanese page. After a while of this when I began moving on to kanji, my parents decided to send me to a private Saturday class in Japanese. I got up at 7:30 every Saturday for years to go to a 4 hour class in Japanese language and culture. I love that school, I am grateful for them. While they didn't push students very hard, a motivated student could learn quite a lot and I passed JLPT 4-kyu last December (took it on a whim). I placed into Japanese 331 for freshman college and took JLPT 3-kyu this year. I won't say the formal education didn't help me (it did) but the motivation that made this happen can be applied to self-study.

Only you can better yourself. If you don't like the system, stop relying on it and study on your own.

Preorder Hell

I would like to post more but so much of my otaku funds have been tied up in two preorders that keep being delayed. Rumor has it that World is Mine Miku and Black Rock Shooter are coming out on the 10th and 12th respectively. (Note: AmazonJapan says 12th and 22nd) I'm so excited!!!!!

Monday, November 23, 2009

I'm not dead yet.

I'm just busy. And cold. (I can't believe most of the world has grown up and lives with so much god damned weather!)

I recommended you play Canabalt instead of reading any more blog posts. It is awesome. Excellent, addicting game with great music.

More posts to come when I have stuff to post. ^^;

Friday, October 23, 2009

Mana, Heath, and Blood Oh my!

Got a major stock up on energy drinks. Mana and the like tend to be verrry expensive but the kick is quite good (stronger than zipfizz). Monster/etc doesn't do crap except fill me up (though it tastes OK). Bawl's isn't bad but again, heavy on the stomach.

They included some freebies like a comic and stickers. Small box is appreciated since I gotta carry it around and back over a bridge (Amazon take note!).

The goods, I ordered a 4-pack of the new Blood drink but haven't tried it yet. Twice the size and half the caffeine makes it less alluring than the others but still light on the stomach. I really wanna hang these around for Halloween XD. In the Health box is 6 Mana and 6 Health (not just Health!) Mana is better than Health but both are nice for different moods.


The cute wittle bottles of 160mg of caffeine each!

Mana and Health are two different drinks besides different taste and color. Mana has more B12 and an enzyme mix, assumingly to help you digest faster so you feel lighter (unlike what some reviewers claim, they WON'T make you sick, I take 100x the amount of lactase in Mana multiple times a day. XP). Health has different vitamin mix most notably is that there is no niacin/B3 (some rare folks get harmless but painful itching and flushed after having mana because of niacin). Both have no sugar which means no crash/jitters. The feeling of each is different so try both.

These really are small drinks

I'll post more on Blood later when I try it :)

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Miracle*Train: Anime hits a new low

Watch Episode 1 (legal simulcast)

Train stations (not trains but the stations) come to life as beautiful boys to help solve the problems of young women. I don't know what to say about this. Usually when an anime involves a single girl surrounded by 6 men on a empty subway train its just chikan gang-rape and, no matter how distasteful one finds that, it makes way more sense than Miracle Train ever could. Dull plot-of-the-week styling and random train trivia (Roppongi is the deepest station on the Oedo line....so what?) are weaved with a thin premise. Why do stations have to manually search inside stations (themselves) to find a dog? How can Roppongi-san be running around inside Roppongi-eki anyhow? Stupid etchi shows are stupid but at least they have a goal and actually meet it.

I might keep watching this just to see if it can fall any lower....

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Black*Rock Shooter Pilot Edition (thoughts and lots of screenshots!)

I am in love with BRS (The PVC should be shipping this month) so don't expect much objectivity here. The DVD comes with a 16pg. artbooklet, a CD of 2M Mix (both Miku and instrumental versions), and of course the DVD with the 90 second promo video in three flavors, original/Instrumental, 2M Mix (Hatsune Miku), and 2M Mix Instrumental. 2M mix stands up as a instrumental piece better than the original but I don't have much preference between vocal versions, the original is beautiful but 2M mixes with the sound effects of the anime much better. If I was just going to listen to BRS I'd choose the original but for this DVD I generally prefer 2M vocal :)

So here is some comparisons to the (longer) original PV (above):




The obvious difference between the openings is BRS-san is not in the picture ^^;


BRS-san with her sword in the checkered tunnel. No total match on this shot but shes obviously moving and jumping so that's to be expected :)









Now for some original shots! Part of me thinks they should get Saki Fujita to play BRS-san because we all associate this work so closely with Miku.


Magical Girl Transformation GO!







Normally, I would take case shots and whatever but its pretty typical packaging. If you want to see the artbook Amazon.co.jp still has this amazing disc in stock (and blu-ray versions too if thats your thing).

NOTE: I reported this disc was Region free since it uh... says region ALL on it. And on the case. But my internal drive is reporting region 2. I didn't notice yesterday because I was importing the CD from my internal (R1) while watching the movie on my external (R2). Sorry Folks

Saturday, September 26, 2009

ATTENTION! MS finally made a decent ad!

Its true, Microsoft has actually made a advertisement that is enjoyable for the RIGHT reasons. Witness this miracle above.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Clover DVD & Komari plush

A long awaited CD Japan box finally made it's way to my new residence! Komari was delayed a couple times so this took quite a while to get!. The remastered CLOVER DVD looks fantastic and is highly recommended since its fairly cheap (but short).


Here we have, Komari from Little Busters! in plush form, the 1999 Clover OVA finally released to the public on DVD (it was shown before the first CardCaptor Sakura movie), and Vocalostar : a top rated Vocaloid collection.


Clover Front


Clover Inside. Fairly simple with a warning on the menu acting strange with certain players.


SHES SO KYOOOT.


Komari meets Komari x3


CD Front



CD Inside


Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Here be Happy Words



Microsoft's latest ad is an awkward blend of cute little girls, unicorns, marshmallows, hard rock, and a little dash of Windows.

Aired during last night's football game. This ad does not seem to appeal to the sports crowd but hey what do I know. I didn't spend big bucks on this. Actually, it freaks me out.

Monday, September 7, 2009

BLACK★ROCK SHOOTER PROJECT



BRS Anime.

HELL YEAH!

With all my Supercell loving, its needless to say I ordered the DVD version. Money's not east but its BRS!



Post is late because of moving. Sorry all >_<

Monday, August 17, 2009

Why people Really buy a Mac.

A lot of reasons are thrown around on why people by macs:
  • Speed
  • Reliability
  • Sexiness
  • Justin Long
  • Viruses, Lack of
  • User Interface
  • 1 package
  • creative power
  • Right click is the work of Satan
  • Vista
  • 64 bit
  • It works
  • to be cool
  • Thought out design
  • iPods
But the real reason is:

Photo Booth.

And yeah I did this whole thing to post a Photo Booth shot of my kitty. Isn't she kyoot? :3

For those who don't know, Photo Booth is a app included w/ OS X that lets you take snapshots with your webcam and even has stupid effects (if one wants) :)

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Obitsu Body for Sumomo and packing to Move

Its been a while! Entirely my own fault but life has been hectic...

At ComicCon I got Sumomo a posable Obitsu body. While this isn't as nice plastic as the Pure Neemo bodies (which are PVC) it is much much more posable. Shes been sitting on my desk for a while now ^_^



I recently changed her back to her regular uniform. I think this body makes her look older...





On another note, I'm moving to a dorm. I can't take all my figures so I've boxed about 75% up (and will box/cover the rest soon) so far to keep them safe and clean. (I don't have the box for older figures like my Sumomo nendoroid or Primula nendoroid and 1/8th so they are in the mighty mouse and dokimajo boxes) I'm still deciding who to take...