I’ve had these for a while, but I just recently found time to upload some pics. This is my first shipment of figures to my house, so it was a good experience (all the other figures are from Anime North). Got them from OtakuFuel, and I have no complaints, timely delivery. Will buy from them again. >_> Too bad Canada doesn’t get the free shipping. It did come in a badass Bleach box.

It’s my first haul before Fan Expo, where rest assured, many figures will be bought. And I have another few coming in as well…

First off is Mina Tsukishiro, from…… >_> I’m pretty sure it was called Getumen no Heiki Mina 0_o The henshin music from the show’s been stuck in my head for a while, and Mina was really cute so I jumped at her!

So many carrots!

And here she is out of the box!

Face is perfect. Very cute.

The carrots make these creaking noises if I brush the leaves against anything. >_< Almost as if they’d snap easily.

Ummmmmm the camera slipped.

The base is nice.

I’ve been looking forward to this figure for a while. It’s Asaba Uresheko as the Mahou Shojo Agnes Bell!

I actually fell in love with the figure itself, but I watched the anime after and I have to say, she’s really cute. XD Also probably oldest girl in my collection at 26.

Honestly, I LOVE HER! She’s cute, but sexy.

She’s has very big and cute eyes. In both respects.

I’m a fan of the skirt that does not qualify a skirt as it doesn’t quite wrap around. XD Sorta like the Dark Magician Girl.

Big eyes indeed. The staff is the worst part though. The sun is attached with a very thin piece of plastic. Mine actually snapped off.

Talk about a dress without a back. She’s practically naked at the back.

Lastly, it’s Rei! Her box is fantastic, I’m definitly keep it around!

Something very cute about this figure. Imagine walking into a room and seeing Rei like this….

She’s like one of those pop-out movie posters, which is pretty cool.

Something about the way she looks at you… It’s a mixture of “What are you doing here?” and “Come closer”.

I haven’t seen the movie yet, although it did play in Waterloo. Seen the series of course, but only after the fact. Did it even play in Canada?

She’s fun to pose with stuff. And she suits the colour of the Macbook! I’d name the laptop Rei if I hadn’t already named it Nina. How bout the middle name? Nina Rei Rodrigez!

All together watching some Unforgotten Realms. Not a fan of the recent episodes, but the first few are hilarious!

My current figure collection, not including the Mecha on the upper shelves. I only just started collecting recently so it’s growing pretty well.

This is actually a really old post, but for some reason I was too lazy to post it. In any case, here it is.

So I finally saw the new Star Trek movie. As it is, I’m not really a big Star Trek fan. It was mostly after the fact for me, I was too young to see the original series, I did watch the Next Generation with the family.

I was basically raised on Star Wars, ever since my cousin lent the me the original VHS copies (Han shot first, bitches), to me getting the Special Edition re-release for myself. We didn’t have video games, Star Wars WAS my video game. I distinctly remember using a VHS tape as my controller, guding the whole crew through their adventures. Time takes so long to pass when you are a kid, yet Return of the Jedi made time fly like nothing else. To this day, I wish someone would create a quicktime event version of the movies.

Star Trek was the weird, untouchable thing, something you couldn’t really ‘get’ until you were speaking Klingon and had a full replica of the bridge of the Enterprise in your basement. I always found it unnecessary and just alienating. Which is part of why I prefered Star Wars, it was accessible, the characters were lovable, and instantly understandable.

I went into the theater with mixed expectations, the trailers looked good, and I had great faith in JJ Abrams. I was a big fan of mission Impossible III, he took the MI franchise and gave it his own exciting spin. And at least the effects looked like they would be good, so I knew would it would be enjoyable on some level.

The first most evident aspect was the music. As the previews ended, and the producer logos appeared on the cinema screen, a tune that reminded me of the song that plays before each Lord of the Rings movie invited me. You could tell this would be an important song, which turned out to be the main theme throughout the movie, then the Bad Robot logo appeared, and music changed to a short blast of horns getting ever louder, as JJ was reminding us “This is Star Trek. This is MY Star Trek” and the horns keep getting lound and louder asking me “Do you want to watch this?” and I think ” Yes.” And movie beings.

The special effects are amazing, I was reminded of the opening scene of Revenge of The Sith, particularly with the immediate scenes of space warfare, with plenty of explosions. A nice touch is the silence of space, something that is refreshingly implemented. The ships going to warp is always cool, and I would reccomend seeing this movie in a theatre with a good surround system. I could feel it in my chest when a ship went to warp, it was cool experience, it almost felt like being in one of those theatres with movie

I really like the new theme songs. The Star Trek theme gives a feeling on legacy, something Star Trek has much of. The theme “Enterprising Young Men” is assumidly the theme for the Enterprise, as it is used during the “unveiling” of the new Enterprise, lovingly shown from every angle, again dripping with legacy. This particular theme is also used during the opening title, in wonderful effect. It starts with Lost-esque tune, hinting that something is wrong in the Star Trek world (and after the preceding scene, Star Trek buffs were scratching their heads, as something happens that shouldn’t have in the canon). Then we are treated to th title sequence, the Starfleet symbol turing to slowly revealing the title, which is already fairly visible, and as the silver words Star Trek make their full apperance, the star Trek theme pops in, as if to say “Don’t worry. It’s different. But this is STILL Star Trek” and since not being a fan, it felt like a grand reveal to something I would immediately enjoy. The song finishes in a fade to black, and it reminded me of watching a stage show almost. I had to remind myself I was in the theatre for a second! Of course, some of the old cues are there, from the “To Boldy Go” theme to even the classic Star Trek theme, which was stuck in my head after leaving the theatre. Micheal Giacchino was MASTERFUL with the soundtrack.

The thing that made this movie awesome was the fact that…. it felt amazing to watch. I remember that feeling I had of watching Star Wars for the first time as kid, and that feeling came rushing back as I watch this. The movie is just FUN. It’s not too serious about itself, if Star Trek  was anything before, it was too serious. It’s actually really funny, I’d almost classify this as an Action-Comedy. The jokes, along with everything, take full advantage of the characters, and it’s treat to see characters treated with such care these days.

Honestly, I have so much faith in JJ Abrams now, that if he said he was making a remake of Star Wars, I would say “How long until I can see it?”

Perfect together. I recently got the Suzumiya Haruhi Fraulien Revoltech, which was included with the Haruhi Wii game, and the Special Wonderfest Konata Cosplay ver. Figma. Special thanks to chuachuram from Dannychoo (berriyummi on Ebay), whom I bought these from! This will actually be my first figure review/showing/whatever ever, so I’m going to go all Danny Choo style on this! XD

I actually was only planning to get Konata, since I’m aware she’s a special item, but Haruhi looked too cute to pass up. I was hoping they’d be perfect together, and lo and behold, their hands can even fit together.

First off, the Haruhi Revoltech. She’s actually really cute, I’m not actually a fan of Haruhi’s character, but something about her in figure form… is irresistible!

She’s a bit better than the other revoltech I have, Gurren Lagann. The joints seem a bit better, and the overall detail is more noticeable. Her outfit is a bit too light blue, but I don’t mind.

My biggest complaint is the stand. I’m seeing a bad trend of one thing being wrong with a revoltech. My Gurren Lagann has a bad pair of glasses, they actually popped off. In this case, the stand has a little pole much like the figma to keep it stood up, except… it didn’t fit. As such, I actually had to stick something sticky to the feet to get her to stand.

Konata. I LOVE Konata. She’s pretty much me as an anime girl. I still want to get me a normal Konata figma, but I jumped at this version! This figure… just works. She’s actually my first figma, and I’m really impressed. No flaws at all, she poses perfectly, and the stand is infinitely better than Haruhi’s was. My only minor complaint is her hand has this hole in it. Nothing big, but given this pose, it’s noticeable. That’s more my positioning than anything else though.

Really though, these two figures are a pair now. I actually think Haruhi’s a bit cuter, but together, they’re AWESOME! And it’s kind of cute that two different figure companies made such compatible figures… and that they work so well displayed together! I love these two, and they’ll be right in the front of my growing collection!

As it is, the blog has been fairly neglected, updating less than even VG cats. This would be due a lack of caring, I am highly suspecting that I am under the effects of depression. It’s sorta odd, it’s like you don’t really care about anything. Like things you usually love or feel that you need anymore don’t seems as important anymore. Perhaps it’s just sloth, I’m pretty lazy as it is.

It has effected my school work, let’s just say I’m not going back to University until winter. It’s hard to study when you don’t care. Worse still, my aspirations as a writer have dimmed somewhat, not caring about writing doesn’t help. That’s where this post come in.

I’m planning to get back on my feet as it were. I’m stuck in a rut, working, sleeping, and working, a stagnant lifestyle. But I do have a plan.

I want to write a post a day. I won’t work myself too hard at first, I plan to do one big post, and then a small post each day. It’s all towards building up my work ethic, I want to build my skills as writer, and gain the ability to write constantly.

I also hope to gain some supoort through some, well, actual readers. I’m going to make a shout out on some sites, probably danny choo and 4cr, which are my frequented sites. If anyone happens to stumble upon this site, please continue to support this blog! I assure you, there will be a new post each day!

TT_TT So I dug up the old blog after at least a year of neglect. Rest assured, I am going to attempt to continue this blog on. It’s my goal to get at least one entry in EVERY DAY. Feel free to spam my e-mail account if I fail to do so (who am I talking to?)

Mysterious Girlfriend X is strange to say the least. At one point, two girls are having lunch. After they’re done, one of the girls puts their finger in their mouth and drools on it. “Here, Dessert.”

Yeah. But past the inherit weirdness of “drool-sharing”, there is a fairly intriguing story. It’s really interesting.

Urabe Mikoto moves into the class of Tsubaki, the main character. Urabe is clearly a strange girl, doing things such as laughing out loud in the middle of class for no apparent reason, and acting extremely anti-social when people try to talk to her. Tsubaki finds her asleep in the class room after class, drool in a puddle on her desk. After she leaves, he randomly tastes the drool on the desk (Look, I don’t know why, even he freaks out that he did it).

In the days afterwards, he begins having dreams of dancing with Urabe, and soon collapses and has to stay home sick. Urabe comes by to give Tsubaki some “handouts”. After seeing him sick, she drools on her finger and puts it in his mouth. Tsubaki, though freaked out, discovers that the drool has cured him, and he feels better than before. She reveals that he has no cold or flu, he is suffering withdrawal from not tasting any of her drool. Tsubaki wonders if there are drugs or bacteria in the drool causing the withdrawal, but Urabe just laughs and say it wasn’t anything like that: Tsubaki was just love-sick.

They begin meeting after school, getting a “dose” to make sure he doesn’t get sick. Tsubaki learns of Urabe “scissors hobby”, in that she can adeptly cut anything using the scissors that she keeps in her panties (yeah, I said panties…).

Eventually, he develops feelings for her, and wants to ask her to be his (mysterious) girlfriend. She initially refuses, because she doesn’t like his average proposal, so he borrows her scissors and cuts up a picture of his old crush, saying she is the only girl for him. She responds by spitting out a whole bunch of drool, saying she’s become really happy (I wonder what they’re alluding to…). She reveals why she laughed in class before: She heard a voice in her head saying Tsubaki would be the first boy she would have sex with. She walks to leave, but first tells him that she is now Tsubaki’s (very mysterious) girlfriend.

…

I’ve read to chapter 13 of this series (I might post on more chapters, this is just on the first chapter, which is over 50 page long), and it’s pretty interesting. It toys with the idea of the emerging sexuality of Tsubaki without being overtly sexual (which is… a hard thing to do). The whole “bond of the drool” thing is explored, to some interesting results. And I’m pretty sure you’ll never see another story where people can communicate through drool…

I just found it really interesting. I wonder how the story will play out, and what exactly become of their relationship. And what is the freaking deal with Urabe and the “drool bond”. It might be a good read ahead.

Click here if you want to read it online, just be sure to support it if you like it and it comes out where you are!

I haven’t posted in a while. The reason should be obviopus to many a gamer out there, Super Smash Bros Brawl came out, and I’ve been playing a lot to say the least. While this took up a fair bit of time, what really ate up my time was my friends coming over at every oppurtunity to play. Good times were had by all, Brawl is definitliy worth the hype.

Newcomers Olimar, Sonic and Pit are amongst my favourites, and the stages are prehaps the best part of the game, there are many memorable and fun courses you would never find in any other fighting game.

One thing I have to say is that they have made the game more even, as in, every match my friends and I had were always pretty close. I sucked at Melee, but in Brawl, I can actually get in a few kills. The Final Smash isn’t as cheap as I thought it would be, each one is very situational, and can only truly be effective in certain circumstances.

Subspace Emissary is truly a great add-on. The cinemas are definitly the highlight for me, some truly spectaclar scenes and few strange ones. It is fun solo, but more fun with a friend. My friends and I did the final level (which is VERY long) rotating controllers, and it was great fun. I do have one complaint: At some points, the platforms or launchers are placed in bad location, leading to some lame deaths. But this is just one speck on the greatness of this game.

So sorry, sorry to the maybe 5 readers who might actually read this (I’m thinking way too much of this…) . The game is just too damned fun!

And so ends Kenpachi vs. Nnoitra, with the death of Nnoitra. One thing you have to say about Bleach is there are really great villains in the story. Nnoitra’s lust for death on the battlefields is the perfect match for Kenpachi’s urge to fight, and their battle was quite thrilling and interesting to watch.

Things get complicated when Orohime is suddenly whisked away by a Arranacar. So Orohime is suddenly UNrescued (ugh), in a way too convienent and lazy way (sigh). But then something happened that I totally did not see coming, that sort of make up for that…

Really? Already?! I thought they were going to wait until the Orohime rescue arc was over until this happened!

I wonder if they’ll flip right to Karakura Town under assault? there are sure to be some suprises, I’m pretty sure none of the Soul Reapers thought this would happen so soon.

Also, many of the captains are still in Hueco Mundo, so Karakura Town is pretty defenseless right now… Things sure are getting interesting!

Oh wow. Evidently, while absorbed, Orochimaru is still alive within Sasuke’s body.

Having guarded against Sasuke’s badass Kirin attack using the mysterious Susano ability, Sasuke’s body had been completely drained of chakra. And so it seems Orochimaru took over from there.

…and not even three pages in, he gets owned by Itachi. That’s pretty badass, although as Sasuke said himself when he defeat Orochimaru, “He was weak”.

I wonder what is going to happen next, it could really effect how this series goes from here. Sasuke is seemingly out of options, and is out of chakra. His cursed seal runs out as the chapter ends, and he cannot even rely on Orochimaru anymore… Will Itachi win? Perhaps Naruto will save Sasuke. I think Tobi may have something to do with the end, prehaps as Itachi is weak he’ll steal his Sharingan. But doesn’t he already have mangekyou if he really is Madara??? Tobi is featured on the cover of this chapter and the wording alludes to us finding out what is under his mask.

There are still many mysteries to this story, and I can’t help but wonder how this will all work out. What is up with Tobi, and if he is indeed Madara, why has he become weakened. What is up with Pain, and what info did Jiraiya pass on? All I know is, this will make for good reading ahead!

I’ve had two blogs before this one, both during the ‘days of my youth’, as in, I was in High School. I’d link them, but a honestly don’t remember what the URLs were…

The first was YP online, YP meaning my internet namesake, yanipheonu. Incidentally, Yani isn’t my real name, and I am not a ‘Pheonu’, although sometimes wish I were (and I further confuse people).

The second was named Just Observing and in a way this is the spiritual successor of that site.

There were two problems that both these blogs eventually succumbed to. The first was they often would act as more of a news blog, spiting out items of game news that I found interesting. This ultimately made for a boring blog, as it was 95% me saying “HAY LOOK THIS ARE COOL!!!1!”. I eventually face-palmed at the sight of the site and gave up. I’m afraid I haven’t exactly ‘killed my inner critic’ as it were.

The second problem was I am quite a distracted person. I often wonder to myself if I have ADD, as I have a hard time concentrating on anything without putting a movie on my iPod, or checking the latest news online (which I do quite a lot of). As such, when my younger self was distracted with other things, my blog would become neglected and ultimatly scrapped. Now that I am older, I like to think that I am a bit more focused than I was (keep telling yourself that…).

So why did I return to blogging? Well first off, I often write on forums and comments on game sites anyways, I figured I should be more constructive with my internet time. I thinking it was mostly because of getting into University (U of Waterloo, and Wilfried Laurier FYI). I felt like I needed to do… something. I wanted to craft something. I had already become accustomed to making stories on my own, but a blog is something that feels more ‘real’ somehow. More dynamic, it does not grow and change with me, a blog changes as the world does ( and I further confuse people). I guess another reason would be I wanted to improve my writing.

I have a rather inconsistent writing style I’m afraid. It usually consists of me punching in one letter at a time, until I have an actual sentence down, and then I’ll get distracted by some new game news or a newly discovered episode of a favourite anime. Hense, “One key at a time” is the ultimate expression of my struggles in writing, and as most books on writing will depressingly point out, writing in whole is a struggle, but so is life I suppose. I’ll juast keep punching it in one day at a time, and hopefully reach that future in the distance.