Definitely:

BakaTest – I heard the light novel is nice. Main character looks like Louise, but you knew that already. The whole A class/F class thing reminds me of Special A. This looks like it’ll be a fun short ~13 ep series.

Dance in the Vampire Bund – SHAFT is more than enough reason to watch this. I actually haven’t seen many vampire anime (aside from Eva from Negima, only VK which was mediocre at best), so I’ll take this opportunity to add some variety to my list. Mina seems pretty awesome. She’s also voiced by Murasaki’s VA, leading me to think that if only Akira were to be voiced by Sawashiro Miyuki… sadly that is not so.

Durarara!! – Style looks great. Apparently it’s going to be similar to Baccano!, but I haven’t seen that yet. However, the director is also the same as for Natsume Yuujinchou, so surely nothing can go wrong here. \o/

Fate/stay night TV reproduction – If I don’t watch this I doubt I’ll remember anything from the original series, which was rather forgettable. I’m not much of a Saber fan at all, so what I’m really looking foward to is…

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works – HELL YES RIN AND ARCHER!

Hidamari Sketch x☆☆☆ – More moe overload is very welcome. Looking forward to seeing what the new girls are like, but of course, as long as Miyako is there, the show will succeed. And of course, SHAFT.

Katanagatari – I’m not going to make a Bakemonogatari joke here. Oh wait, I kinda just did. Moving along… apparently this is going to air in 1hr long episodes, once a month. Anyway, NisiOisiN, show is destined to be epic, etc etc.

Nodame Cantabile Finale – Watched the first two seasons, so why not. I’m hoping for some real development between Chiaki and Nodame; hopefully it ends nicely.

Omamori Himari – To be honest, I don’t care much about the actual story at all. I didn’t even read the summary. Why is this show in the ‘definitely’ section? Suigintou.

Ookami Kakushi – Why hello there, Higurashi S3. Mana is a loli imouto voiced by Fujita Saki. Do want.

QUIZ Magic Academy 2 – Only because I watched the first one. :/

So・Ra・No・Wo・To – Looks like K-ON! + Strike Witches. Actually, this post practically sums it up perfectly.

Maybe:

Chu-Bra!! – Lol, we’ll see.
Hanamaru Yochien – It does look kinda cute…
Ladies vs Butlers! – Not getting many vibes from this one, but apparently it’s actually pretty popular.
Seikon no Qwaser – I’ll give it a chance to not turn into Queen’s Blade.

We interrupt your boxing day budget planning for another intrution on your well balanced figure get list.

Remember that uncoloured Saber figure we saw during WonFes earlier this year? Well, the production plans are currently underway and we now have a coloured picture of the prototype.

Saber ~Sword of Promised Victory (Excalibur)~ is to be scheduled to be released in mid 2010. Interestingly enough, she is to be of 1/7 scale, possibly to be set up with her alter Saber Lily. Another thing to note is that this figure has chosen to adopt the peg supporting method to allow a dynamic mid-air action pose – that previous seen in Alter’s Nanoha StrikerS figure line up (also 1/7 scaled, with the exception of Reinforce Zwei).

Better start planning your budgets now, 2010 will be harsh for us fellow Saber fanboys. I won;’t lie and say I’m not tempted to get the GSC Saber Alter as well, but then again, that figure is a bit scary (by “a bit” I mean “very much so”)

Source: Zotaku

Just like the one we have this year!

Kat as Tohsaka Rin & Illy as Saber from Fate/Stay Night

And now, pick your gift. Do not open until Christmas if it is not Christmas where you are!

Hope you enjoy/enjoyed your Christmas, and don’t/didn’t eat too much!

Just some updates..

I love this pic. It suits Archer well. You can also see Saber and Shirou on the background.

Gekijouban Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works

23.01.2010

Another thing is this:

Fate/Stay Night TV Reproduction

OVA, 2 episodes

22.01.2010

To coincide with the January theatrical release of the Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works anime motion picture, the 2005 TV series will be condensed into a pair of hour long Fate/stay night TV Reproduction specials released on Japanese DVD and Blu-ray on January 22. Each special will condense half of the 24 episode TV series and reportedly include limited new animation. The “Reproduction I” OVA will also feature a newly recorded version of the series’ original opening theme, set to a new opening animation footage. Both OVAs will feature new, previously unheard ending theme songs.

Source(s):
Anidb – Unlimited Works
Anidb – OVA

For the first time in quite a while I was actually able to go out for a dollfie shoot today. Unfortunately it was kind of dreary today not to mention freezing cold outside so while I did go out I didn’t stay outside for very long. Today’s picture of the day is of my Rin DD, I chose Rin because although she is a favorite of mine I don’t really have many photos of her. I was luckily able to manage to get her through Volk’s lottery system, I’m glad I did as her prices on the secondary market has soared quite a bit and as much as I love her I couldn’t see myself paying quite that much for her.

I miss being able to go out with the dollfies more for photo shoots, I don’t like shooting them in the apartment that much I just don’t have the space to set them up for photos right. Especially considering the weather right now and the fact that we are supposed to get 14 inches of snow overnight, I kind of fear that dollfie photos will continue to be few and far between until the weather warms up a bit. Of course snow also means there is a pretty good chance tomorrow’s picture of the day will be of a doll/figure playing outside in the snow.

I may have skipped a day, I don’t know. If I have to I’ll do another double update on Christmas.

12. K-ON and general moe

11. PVC figures

10. Doujinshi

9. Fate/Stay Night

I wish I could be gar for Lancer

I’ve been curious about Fate/Stay Night for a few years now, since I saw the anime a while back and mostly liked what I saw. It wasn’t until this summer that I actually started playing the game, though. As you may guess from my previous review of the Fate route, I like Fate/Stay Night quite a bit.

I love how the game tackles such issues as immortality and whether it would truly be so wonderful, and whether wishes can just be granted by a magical vessel without any work toward the goal from the person making the wish. Fate/Stay Night explores quite a few deep themes like that, and I find it fascinating.

Of course there is also the cute girl aspect, and I do love me some Rider and Caster. And Saber. And Rin.

Also Lancer is just so cool. Why is everyone GAR for Archer? They should be GAR for Lancer for goodness sake! Also why is there no scale figure for Lancer? Or Taiga. Or Caster? Or…damn it I love Saber, but there needs to be more scale figures of pretty much any F/SN character that isn’t Saber.

Over the course of the year I’ve gotten mildly addicted to Fate/Stay Night. From quoting things like “People die if they are killed” to friends for no apparent reason to even going so far as to look at mythology books on Cú Chulainn in Borders because Lancer is just that awesome, Fate/Stay Night is definitely something that’s present in my mind a lot.

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This looks epic.

Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works, the movie adaptation of Fate/Stay Night, had just release an official trailer. The movie will be aired in Japan on the 23rd January 2010.

TTvTT How I wish I can be there to watch it >.<

I am so horribly behind on the times. It took me up until this past July to finally stop being lazy and start playing visual novels, after End Game spent the whole summer poking me to play Umineko. I refused to play Umineko since it wasn’t completely released yet, but all of her poking did convince me that it was high time to start playing VNs. So where did I start? Where else? Fate/Stay Night.

This was the most epic battle in the entire Fate route

I had watched the Fate/Stay Night anime when the American DVDs were released here. That had a lot to do with my choice to play Fate Stay Night. I enjoyed the anime, especially at first, but towards the end it started to get insanely confusing. I was hoping the VN would explain things better, which it did. Read on for a proper review. Heads up, though; the idea of porn starring Shirou Emiya was not something that sounded too appealing to me, so I installed the anti-ero patch that covers the Fate and Unlimited Blade Works routes.

Okay, I should probably start with a quick terminology lesson for anyone that doesn’t know much about visual novels before getting into the review. A visual novel is kind of like a video game, usually for the computer. However, instead of controlling a little sprite that walks around and fighting enemies, all you do in a visual novel is read text and make choices. What choice you make affects the outcome of the game. They’re kind of like those pick your own path books from the 90’s, only more sophisticated and detailed, and yes, they actually are fun. They’re especially nice for people like me that suck at video games. I also mentioned the term “routes”. In this case, I’m referring to the fact that Fate/Stay Night has three different versions of the game, so to speak, and you play them in order. They’re Fate, Unlimited Blade Works, and Heaven’s Feel. As I’ve only just started playing UBW, this review obviously only covers Fate. From what I understand, “route” can also refer to the choices you make affecting which girl you end up with in dating sim VNs, too.

So, the basic premise of Fate/Stay Night is…not simple at all. Every 10 years, the Holy Grail appears in Fuyuki City, where the story takes place. 7 magi each summon a “Servant” from 7 different classes (Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Berserker, Assassin), and proceed to duke it out in a battle royale for the right to possess the Holy Grail and obtain a wish from it. The only problem? You play as Shirou Emiya, a pitiful excuse for a magus with no idea what’s going on.

The game starts with a prologue from the perspective of another major character, Rin Tohsaka. If only the whole game was that way. Sigh. The biggest problem with Fate/Stay Night is that Shirou is so annoying. I’ve heard that this gets better in the later routes, but I’ve yet to see. You probably all know who Shirou Emiya is regardless of whether or not you’re familiar with Fate/Stay Night. You probably know him because he is the great philosopher of anime that told us “People die if they are killed”. Yeah, you get to play as that guy. And trust me, his Fate wisdom extends beyond that. He also lets you know that you can’t catch lightning because it is lightning. There are plenty of these and I should have written them down, but now you can discover them for yourself by playing the game. As annoying as Shirou is, this game really is worth playing.

The best part of Fate/Stay Night is to get to know the Servants. Shirou, despite being pathetic, somehow manages to summon Saber, who is regarded as the best of the Servants. Note, the Servants are all epic heroes; historical figures or mythological characters that have become legendary. So as you go through the story, each Servant’s identity is revealed. Saber is the Servant that gets the most development and screen time, but all of them are fascinating. I still have a soft spot for Caster left over from the anime, despite her minute role in the Fate route. Rider is awesome on many levels, as her battle against Saber displays. Seriously, Rider and Saber  scale a skyscraper while they have at it. Is that not total badass? There’s even a Pegasus involved. Towards the end of the Fate route, Lancer is just plain badass and wins at life in order to go out with a bang. It’s tough because you get attached to almost all of the Servants, but only one can survive to the end, and none of them can stay…unless you count the second Archer.

Sometimes people are horrible and fuel a servant that has drunk from the Holy Grail. The fluid within the grail keeps the Servant sustained in the human world after the War is over. They’re fueled with souls. This is how a second Archer happened. End Game keeps referring to him as Girugamesh and making me unable to unsee really bad things involving the second Archer and Sakuracon and Vic Mignogna.

Also, Taiga is hilarious and made of win. The Tiger Dojo sequences that follow a bad end choice are hilarious, as is any scene with Taiga involved. If you’ve seen Azumanga Daioh, Taiga is comparable to Yukari Tanizaki. They might even be the same person in secret, but I don’t know because it’s a secret.

I can’t do a lot of compare/contrast stuff yet, since I’ve only played through one route, but I can definitely recommend playing Fate/Stay Night. It’s a good visual novel and definitely worth your time. Do yourself a favor, though, and don’t try to use the Studio DEEN TV series as a shortcut. Maybe use it as a litmus test for your interest in the Fate/Stay Night franchise, but otherwise it’s best to avoid it and just play the game.

I’d give Fate/Stay Night’s Fate route high marks, but it’s still not the best story I’ve ever read. Hopefully Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven’s Feel will be more interesting. I’ll probably do reviews of those as well when I finish them.

fg Site has just updated their site with some pictures of a gorgeous custom Figma Saber Alter using Saber Lily Figma by Max Factory online. With some recoloring and customizing, Saber lily Figma can turn into sure an Awesome Figma Saber Alter xD

Hmm… I wonder if they provide recolouring services. If so I’m going to get another Saber Lily and get it coloured^^

Via fg Site

After having previously shown some photos of my Detolf display case equipped with Dioder led lights, Ludovic suggested making some photos at night with only the led light strips illuminating the display case.

Thought this was interesting idea, so one evening turned off all the other lights and snapped some images.

As making these photos required a longer exposure time compared to a daytime photoshoot, it was necessary to use a tripod to keep the camera steady throughout.

With the only light source coming from above, you can see that Saber Lily’s face remains darker due to her pose and hair covering that angle of incoming light.

Really love the effect the led lights have on Kos-Mos’ near transparent blue hair. Astute viewers may notice her base is slightly curved, although she has never been exposed to direct sunlight, after time it somehow started to bend.
When pulling Kos-Mos from the base, it sets itself back straight, so suspect the legs on the figure are somehow pulling together causing the base to bend.

Left the ISO setting at ISO 200, using f-stop setting f/9 and having the light source in the shot itself, the exposure of the first photo was only ½ second. This second photo already had a full second exposure time but had stopped down to f/14 there.

Above image looks rather bright for a nighttime photo, being further away from the led lights and with f-stop f/16 the exposure time was set to 13 seconds to achieve this result.

Not having really shot with such long exposure times at night yet, was quite interested to see how it would turn out.

The bottom glass plate was really in the dark, was hard to discern any real details with the naked eye, but using an exposure time of 15 seconds, managed to get a well lit shot though did open up to f/11.

Used my Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS kit lens instead of the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 macro USM lens since its working distance was more convenient to get the full width of the display cabinet in the frame.

My photography skills are still basic, but really like snapping images and trying things, though should take my camera along with me throughout the day to practice.