Anyhoo, watched the live broadcast of Nintendo and  Sony’s E3 conferences yesterday on G4tv.com. Nintendo’s was a bit boring while Sony’s was exciting. Really enjoyed the Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (BOX!!!) and Final Fantasy XIII trailers. I can’t wait for both games!

Also, my boyfriend gave me Advent Children Complete last night for my birthday (advanced). I was so happy I just kept bouncing around… mostly because of the FFXIII demo that came with it. Watched the videos of Versus and Agito and I was floored by the graphics of Versus. Simply beautiful. My only complaint is that the characters look too Japanese. It’s ok for the main male lead, but the blonde girl looks like a Japanese girl/woman with blonde hair and blue contacts. Other than that… I was speachless.

Then… the demo… I had no words. My eyes were tearing a bit while watching the “opening” cut scene/FMV. The graphics changed for the in-game cut scenes and battles but still very good.

And better than the Xbox360.

The trailer presented at the Microsoft conference the other day is the same as the demo: the part where Lightning and Sahz fight the mech boss/thing. You can probably find a video for each somewhere to compare the two. The most obvious difference, and the first thing I noticed, is Lightning’s hair. You can also see the difference on the chick’s feathers. They kinda look like hair in the 360 trailer. Might post comparison pics later when I get home.

Hopefully the quality of the graphics on the final product (PS3) will remain the same, or better.

Big Boss???

Like so many Metal Gear Solid/Kojima Production fans, I am eagerly anticipating the official (and complete) announcement of the next installment in the story… or at least, whatever it is that the Flash site is hinting at. Every time I visit the site I seem to miss when the clock starts up for another countdown. This time, there are around 100+ hours left. Using an online countdown calculator, it seems that this countdown will end on May 31, 2009 around 7:00pm in my corner of the world.

Need to make sure that I’ll have access to a computer and check the site at that time. Hopefully the next announcement or whatever will be something solid (no pun intended) and no more hints. But I wouldn’t mind more waiting. This whole thing is fun (really)! As long as the new stuff only happen at the end of the countdowns I’ll be fine. Either way, I can just catch up by reading other sites and blogs ^_^’

Got inFamous 3 days before official release date.

Went out yesterday to buy a couple of things when my boyfriend spotted inFamous on a store shelf. My reaction was “oh, it’s out already?” (I didn’t know the release date, as far as I knew, it could have been today, yesterday or next month), his was to pick it up immediately and go to the cashiers. Apparently the release date is on Tusday, May 26. He bought it yesterday, May 23. I will have to wait for Tuesday for my copy since there was only one left on the shelf.

inFamous on new set-up

We tested it the moment we got back to my place. I didn’t play it, but it looked really fun. From the looks of it, it’s how I expected Assassin’s Creed to be ¹. I tried the demo later on that evening after my boyfriend went home and I can’t wait until I get my own copy.

Basically, I find how Cole moves around more dynamic than Altair. Don’t get me wrong though — Assassin’s Creed is one of my all time favorite games. inFamous looks like it will join that list… but we’ll see! ^_^

The developers probably had a good reason for the new look and feel, but I hope that if they come out with the new one that it has a more defined horror feel to it. All the others made my heart thud louder in my chest. Thinking of Nemesis kinda gives me the chills XD RE5 on the other hand was just point and shoot. Fun, but definitely not the same experience.

Oh, and slightly off topic, I kind of miss games with fixed cameras ^^’

The package arrived nearly two weeks ago on a Wednesday. I had to take a bus to pick it up because no one was home to sign for it. I was really worried because it was a rainy day but thankfully by the time I got it, it was just foggy. Damp, but not raining.

I grabbed my cutter and my Nikon and snapped a bunch of photos to commemorate the box opening. Brought out Haruhi and Tsuruya to greet a new Nendo comrade. Thanks again to Danny and Hobby Link Japan for Nendoroid Ryoko Asakura!

Nendoroid Haruhi and Tsuruya greet the newcomer

The moment I pulled out the plastic thingy that holds the Nendoroid and the various extra parts, I realized that it will take a long time for me to get each of them out. If you click on the image to see the larger version, you’ll see that there’s a twisty wire holding Ryoko down. Took me around 10-15 minutes trying to untwist it till I gave up and cut it off with my blade.

All the parts that came with Ryoko-chan... lots...

The reason why I chose this Nendoroid was because it was a set. I don’t have Yuki nor Mikuru which is a bit of a waste, but I do have Haruhi and, well, the hat and the cape look really cute on Miku. ^_^ My only problem is that I have to remove her arms for her to fit in it. XD

Bits and pieces

Ryoko had a lot of plastic wrapping. Over her skirt, under her ears, under her hair, over her chest, over the rest of her body and one over her entire length… I think that was it. I figured that it was to avoid paint transfer, and as I eventually learned, I was right.

Thanks again to Danny and HLJ!

Took me a long time to post because I just started work at SimplyCast.Com. Learning a lot and having lots of fun but it drains all my energy and at the end of the day I just want to sleep. Anyway, will be posting a review of the entire set and some illustration updates (sorry for the really long wait!).

On a different note, I’ve been taking Japanese lessons during the weekends. Basically I can introduce myself, ask and tell the time, ask for directions, give some directions and ask how much stuff are XD

おはようみんあさん！
私はチャルです。どうぞよろしく。
私はフィリピん人です。ねんどろいどがすきです。

K, I hope that’s right XD Let’s try it in Spanish!

Hola mis amigos y amigas!
Me llamo Char. Encantada de conocerte.
Soy Filipina. Me gusta los Nendoroids.

…Necesito a practicar… Se ha quatro años desde que hablé y escribí en Español.

Yay if I got both right! ^^’

Summer is here. I’d better get cracking. First thing on my list is fixing the smileys. They’re off for some reason and the ones that appear in the post are not the same as the ones lined up where you type comments XD

Haha, I have so much to do ^_^/

Brown Rice Tea with Tsuruya~

Caught the seasonal flu over the weekend. Still recovering now but I feel much better. The first day was horrible. I think that was the first time I ever had the flu (not counting stomach flu). I’ll spare you the details though. When I was strong enough, my parents took me to the walk-in clinic nearby. That was when I found out that I had a minor case of flu. I was told to drink lots of fluids so I am now drinking obscene amounts of Gatorade and Japanese Brown Rice Tea <3

I really want a Japanese tea set but this will do for  now. Guh, I just realized while typing this that I chose a picture where Tsuruya’s blocking my tea cup XD Bought the cup in a Japanese store in the Philippines. Got the tea “pot” from Atlantic Superstore here in Canada. It uses a plastic draining thingy instead of a wired one which makes it really easy to clean ^_^

Lucky Star Main Cast

On another note, I haven’t been posting here lately since I’ve been very busy with school work. During that time 4 additions to my collection arrived, including a Figma (GoodSmile) Takara Miyuki of Lucky Star.My Lucky Star Figma collection is now complete~ ^o^ They were all ordered from KidNemo.

Currently, they are the only figures on my computer desk. All my figures used to be here too but it left me with very little desk space which I really needed once the school year started XD

Now, in order of arrival:

Konata

Konata was my first Figma. She’s my favorite among the 4 Figmas, though she and Kagami are both my favorite characters in Lucky Star. One of the reasons is because I find her the easiest to pose. My only problem is that her hair always gets in the way and limits the poses she can do. Otherwise, I think she, and the other girls, were made very well.

Now on to the Hiiragi twins who arrived together:

Kagami

Saddly I didn’t think of taking pictures of the two of them in their shipping box. I found it really cute that they were coincidentally shipped together. I ordered them separately but Kid Nemo contacted me and said that they could ship the twins together for a cheaper price. Yay!

Kagami is my other favorite character in the series. Don’t get me wrong though, I love the entire cast ^^ I usually have a character I dislike in every series, but not this one.

The Kagami Figma is just about as easy to pose as the Konata one but there’s just something off about it that I can’t put my finger on. She is also the least stable on a stand. If I shake the computer table they’re on, she shakes the most… even when I’m typing. Her pigtails makes gives her a wide range of possible poses compared to Konata though!

Tsukasa

Tsukasa’s joints are a bit more stiff than the latter two. I don’t know if it is by design or it’s a random occurence during production. Either way, I don’t really care since the overall quality is really good. Besides, when I think about it, the more I pose the Figmas, the more likely outcome is that the joints will loosen rather than tighten. I hardly move them though XD I’ve had them in this pose ever since they arrived. It’s not as uniformed now since I moved them around for this post ^^’

Miyuki

Finally, we have Miyuki. I find her really really sweet and affable. As for the Figma, I like this one the least. Maybe it’s because she has larger opai that her blouse is shorter than the rest, but I think it should have been lengthened a bit. There’s just something a bit off about her proportions compared to the other three. The dark pink parts of her uniform are darker than the rest (then again, all of their pink “ties” are of different shades, except for the twins). Maybe it’s intentional though… my uniform wasn’t exactly the same as my classmates’ ^^’

Overall though, I’m still happy with how she was made. Maybe it would have been nice if her glasses could be removed but I’d rather have it fixed like this than have it constantly falling off her face.

Ta-daaa~!

…I handle and pose the Figmas I like least the most…

…Did that make sense?

Figma Bits and Pieces Case

This is where I keep all the parts that come with the girls. I didn’t label the compartments… probably because I’m lazy. Hehe. I know which hands belongs to which character based on the face next to it XD Like I mentioned earlier, I haven’t changed their poses or parts ever since I left them in the pose in the group picture. Mostly because it’s painful to change their hands. Does anyone know a pain-free way to change their hands without damaging them?

In conclusion, I’m really happy with my Figmas. I wish that there would be a similar line in a larger size and without fixed clothing, but not too close to BJDs since I like how Figmas look nearly 100% like the anime characters.

…I bet there’ll be Figma versions of the K-On! cast soon ^_^ *prepares wallet for another round of spending*

That’s it for today. Might post tomorrow about the other 3 additions to my collection ^^ Unlike Miyuki, I haven’t even taken them out of their boxes yet.

I was really surprised because I couldn’t find all the prices of the food even if I searched through the restaurant pages of Ikea.jp. I guess I didn’t find them all XD

This was the second one I participated in and I didn’t expect to win. Really happy though ^_^ The first round was guessing how many of Danny’s machines were running OS X. I searched for all the pictures were Mac related and added the Dell mini.

Second round was funny. I just got back from a grueling exam and my head was mushy so even if I found the prices of each of the items through Hobby Link Japan, I still got it wrong. One was because Danny didn’t have to pay for them, and even if he did, I thought one of the items were two separate items >.> But we all got a second chance so yay! ^_^

Final round was guessing how much he spent in Ikea. Found all the furniture and even the bulbs, which were tough to find. However, what was even tougher to find was the food. Found some of the prices in the restaurant section of the Ikea.jp but not all. I think I found the cookies that were in the picture with the car but wasn’t sure. Either way, I added it since I couldn’t find the prices of the other food.

Will be posting about the Nendoroid and the calendar when they arrive. Thanks again to Danny Choo and Hobby Link Japan!

K-On! Cast

_{Note: Currently working on a paper, re-watching the first episode of K-On, drinking brown rice tea and helping (and failing) mom use the call function on Yahoo Messenger… so pardon the messy post.}

I was browsing through DannyChoo.com when I stumbled upon his article about K-On!. I only read up to the second image because I couldn’t wait to watch it. I finished the first episode yesterday and already I’m hooked.

So far my favorite character is Mio ^_^ She just looks so cool.

Mio

Story wise, it’s interesting and light, perfect for me right now. I’m not in the mood for dark deep stuff XD What really attracted me though was the art/style. It’s really cute and I really like the fluidity of the movements. I’ve always kind of wished for an anime that’s something like Lucky Star but less… fixed to the backgrounds/static… Can’t really explain. I mean, I love Lucky Star and it’s style of characters moving in a single background works for it, but I also like it when characters “explore” their surroundings ^^’

Anyway, my point is, I like K-On! ^_^

Wah. Anime like this make me think of my own high school days. I too was part of a group of four friends. Haha!

[Update]

I watched it again today for the… 4th or 5th time… and I realized something: Even if the ep shows how silly looking or easy castanet playing is, it really isn’t. It’s not even played like that. It’s played by clicking them together using one hand. I used to think it was really easy till I tried it in Spain after watching a Flamenco dance XD

Anyway, I haven’t Plurked in a long time and only joined Twitter for school purposes, to track a project’s progress. But now I added my classmates so we’ll see how long I will continue Twitt…ing?

Twitter username: picchar