Mistakes of Youth: The Blog (Powered by EXCELLENCE!)

I imagine the scene at the post office will play out something like this.

Comedy Dr. Strangelove option.

What follows is a list of items I intend to buy in Japan come hell or high water. I will most certainly buy a lot more things, but these are top priority.

• The Rest Of Chocotto Sister: Despite the misguided cries of naysayers, the Chocotto Sister anime is a fine adaptation of the heart-warming manga by the same name. I bought volumes 1 and 5–because they came with artboxes–and now I’m looking to get the rest. Used is the best way to go, I suspect. I’ll probably be hitting Liberty and various other Akiba shops, but if that fails I’ll have to make do with Amazon market place.
• Choco Dakimakura Cover: While still on the Chocosis vein, I figure I may as well pick up this nice little trinket, since it seems to finally be back in stock. I may pick up her cute little friend, too.
• Really? Really! visual fanbook: I love Kaede, I loved her game (that I could hardly understand) and I’d love to own more hard copies of Nishimata Aoi’s work, so this is more or less a given.
• IQ FINAL PERFECT MUSIC FILE: Even though I was a dirty little pirate and downloaded this album, I’d like very much to own it. IQ has one of the most amazing soundtracks I’ve ever heard, and it’s just a puzzle game!
• Max Factory’s Asahina Mikuru Gekisou Version: Mikuru-chan is amazingly cute, and my most favourite Haruhi girl. That being the case, I have quite a sizable collection of 3D PVC depictions of her, so another one can’t hurt, right?
• Max Factory’s Asahina Mikuru Adult Version: See above.
• KOTOBUKIYA’s Sanzenin Nagi Bikini Version: Sweet, another figure I can’t display in my parent’s home!
• Otaku no Musume-san: This is a great manga that has unfortunately been marred by not-so-stellar translation work as of late. I have the raws, but I’d rather squint at tiny furigana on a page, as opposed to tiny furigana on my monitor. It’s probably healthier.
  
• Some Zero no Tsukaima dakimakura: I kind of want the Tifa one.
• Tsukuyomi ~Moon Phase~ Best Collection: Tsukuyomi has a most beautiful and haunting soundtrack, and I’ve always been sad that I don’t actually own it. The CD has gone out of print, but with hope I can find it used somewhere.

There will be a lot of impulse purchases, as well–most probably of doujinshi and rare items that I can only find at Mandarake. I can’t wait!

Shingo may be lost in the wild, exotic and dangerous lands of World of Warcraft, but that doesn’t mean the fine art of reviewing anime, manga and game figures is dead! Far from it! With him eternally lost in a land of wonder, we few, we happy few, we band of brothers must stand and pick up the slack. As such, I have four great reviews right here, coming towards you at the speed of a Rocket Punch!

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Otakon 2008 was the best Otakon ever and the worst Otakon ever. It was the best in that I finally managed to pull off the magical balancing act of hanging out with all of my friends from various different communities for equal amounts of time, and it was the worst in that the con programming was, in a word, terrible. But who cares about all that– JAM Project was there!

But, yes, aside from JAM Project, the con’s programming was some of the worst I’ve ever seen. Much like last year, they had stupid people on panel duty, so instead of getting cool and funny panels on Nico Nico Douga, we got “How To Wear 8-Inch Heels” or “Otaku Bellydancing 101.” It’s not like I’m one for panels anyway, but the lack of good panels cut down on the urge to walk into random panel rooms late at night, as I sometimes do. The guests weren’t anything to write home about either, with none of them being female seiyuu, and almost all of them being lame fangirl bait. Or some dumb no-name models.

JAM Project saved the day with the concert, though, and it was quite awesome. I wish they would have brought their instruments along, and I also wish that the person working the sound knew a thing about sound design, but whatever– IT WAS MOTHERFUCKING JAM PROJECT.

The rest of the con (read: The Dealers Room) was pretty good, with my buddies at Hen Da Ne being all too kind to me all of the time, and the rest of of the Otaku-friendly booths offering up some hot stuff (usually too hot for my budget, sadly.) I came out of there completely broke come Saturday.

Socially, I had a blast. Like I mentioned earlier, this was the first time that I really managed to hang out with just about everyone I knew for mostly equal amounts of time. I hung out with internet people slightly more than my IRL friends, but only because I see my IRL friends a lot and my internet friends… not a lot. And really, that’s what made the con great. I even got to meet Daryl Surat!

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More preorders from six+ months ago have come in!

Alter 1/8 Mikuru Asahina Maid Version 

Yet another figure of Mikuru in her oh-so-cute cultural festival outfit. This Alter version features slightly greyed out colours for a more realistic look, and lacks MaxFactory’s Neko Miki Mode option. The sculpt is good all around, and the paint job is solid. A nice addition to my growing collection of Mikuru figures.

Alter 1/8 Siesta

I believe this is Siesta’s first foray into the world of figures, and it doesn’t disappoint. The pose is extremely cute, and is backed up a fucking solid sculpt. My only problem lies in the paint job– it’s about 99.98% good, except for one area around the bust, and some odd orange colouring in between her fingers. Maybe that’s just on mine, I dunno. Anyways, I’m quite happy with it. Shame it’s not castoff, though, because they have her wearing a nice pair of green panties :3

BONUS: MARTIAL ARTS MADNESS MIKURU!!!

I’m pretty sure that’s not a real stance in any martial art.

…and I will give you some real quick reviews on all of them!!

MaxFactory 1/8 Mikuru School Festival Ver.

MaxFactory is known for their quality, and this figure is no exception. At first I found the face sculpt to be kind of awkward, but then I realized that was only due to the fact that Mikuru never ever looks this happy in the show. If I had to say anything bad about it, it’d be that taking the headband thing that was already on her head off to put the cat ears on is kind of hard, and the figure isn’t castoffable. I mean seriously, these panties are beautifully rendered, why must MaxFactory tease us so? The panties on the castoffable Atelier Sai figures suck.

In my mind I like to think that Mikuru thinks long and hard about what kind of panties to wear each day, on the off-chance that she will get lucky with meKyon.

Random Primula trading figure

I don’t know much about trading figures, but this one seems pretty ok. Yeah, the paint job isn’t the greatest and the eye detail is weak, but it’s a small little thing that looks good from afar. And hey, it’s cool to have a dainty little girl making a sand castle right there on your desk so you don’t have to sneak out to a beach and watch the real ones do it from a distance!

CharaAni Limited Edition Kaede Fuyou

I was originally going to get this version off of Yahoo Auctions for 1000 yen, but it was early in the morning, I forgot how to bid, and by the time I came to my senses the auction was over. So, I instead opted to get this limited edition version for 6000 yen. I kind of had to warm up to this one. Yes, it’s Kaede, so that’s like 99 out of 100 points right there, but the face sculpt for this one kind of bothers me. I’ve since gotten used to the sculpt, but if I had skills I’d paint some more stuff in the eyes or something.

If I ever see the original version floating around I’ll pick that one up, too.

Random Kaede Fuyou Trading Figure 1

Man, this one is so fucking hot. The best part about this one is the legs– they’re carved out so beautifully that I could lick them all over. Her body is also totally amazing too, and I just love how Kaede looks in that dress, especially the way her boobs come out. If I had to complain about this figure, I’d complain that the kneeled version of the legs weren’t included, but that’s not the figure’s fault.

Random Kaede Fuyou Trading Figure 2

And this is the hottest figure I got today. I just love how this one comes together, from the flowing hair, to the sexy “yes dear~” expression, to the hot hot dress, to the soup ladle that tops it all off. This incredibly sexy housewife looking pose embodies everything I love about women, and as such I totally love this figure. And damn, whoever sculpted this one gave Kaede some nice tits.

And that’s it for tonight! Welcome to the family, girls!