To Love-Ru

Recently I finished watching the series To Love-Ru. I heard a lot about it being excessively filled with fan service and of being a knock-off of other anime, but Lala's outfit was too interesting and I just had to know who this Fate Testarossa look-alike girl was. So, I watched it, all 26 episodes.





Yes, it's true, it's a show filled with fan service, in fact if you just watch the OP you get almost an overdose of it right there. Now, usually excessive fan service turns me away (like Ikkitousen, which to me was almost unbearable), but I needed something fun to watch and this is a pretty light-hearted show. Also it does boast a great OP song and a decent overall soundtrack, even if the fight music gets a little repetitive after a while. So what can you expect from this anime besides fan service? Well, I can't really say because this wasn't one of those anime that changes your life or makes you get super-emotional. It was a fun ride though, mostly laughs and wtf moments. Lala Satalin Deviluke is a pretty nutty character. Yami a.k.a. Golden Darkness (the Fate Testarossa look-alike) was a pretty cool character, and I love the way she dresses. In fact that's probably one of the perks of this show, is that the outfits some of the characters wear are just pure win. I didn't care for the main protagonist much really, he was the typical harem boy who just can't spit out his words and ends up in bad situations because he can't let his true feelings out. I didn't watch the show expecting some really awesome storyline though, I watched it to see what it was all about. It's got an ok story, although it's nothing that hasn't been done before. What makes this a fun ride is Lala's wacky inventions and some of the plain stupid but funny things that happen throughout it (in my opinion). I'm not here to tell you this anime is awesome, and if you're not a fan of fan service you'll probably just turn your nose up at a series like this. There's always one anime on my list that I need to watch just to watch, something that makes me laugh and generally leaves me feeling like the world doesn't always have to be serious. If you want to know more about the actual story you can go to anime news network. I'm just here to let you know that I liked To Love-Ru, that if you're in need of something silly to watch after seeing something too serious or emotional or violent you should give this a try. It's not for the serious or hardcore who like to rant about how unoriginal every anime they watch is. It's just a new spin on an old story. And I felt like I needed to post something about this since my GoodSmile Lala Satalin Deviluke is on her way here.




As always, click the images to get higher res version.
Images are from the usual suspects: Gelbooru, MoeImouto

Code Geass R2 Finished (No Spoilers)

First off I want to make it completely clear that I will NOT post any spoilers, if you're afraid of being spoiled I suggest you don't read the comments because I have no control over what people write. I just wanted to share my thoughts and feelings here. As usual click on the pictures for higher res.


First off Code Geass R2 is the sequel to Code Geass. It is a mecha style anime, so if that's not your type you might not like the franchise at all. It's filled to the brim with OMGWTF moments and plot twists. If you still crave more information regarding just what it's all about, I suggest you go here for a general synopsis. After watching R2 all the way to the finale I really feel satisfied, the ending was a little bit what I expected and at the same time nothing like what I expected. I don't regret watching the first and second season all the way through. I found myself really getting attached to the characters, and amidst a huge pile of reviews where people constantly talked it down, I enjoyed both series. I can't pick which season I liked more honestly.



Now more than ever, I'd like to see a Figma made of Kallen and C.C. Lelouche and Suzaku got themselves likened to figmas, but I don't find myself running to buy them. For the entire first season and half of the second season I really disliked Suzaku, but by the end my feelings had just come to accepting his role in the whole story, and I guess now I can't say I like or dislike him, he just wasn't one of my favorite characters. Also, since Suzaku is one of those WonFes limited edition type of figures, I don't even feel like trying to find him let alone buy one. Lelouche on the other hand, I might actually buy in the future, perhaps for Christmas or something. Of course, other figures take priority but I wouldn't mind having one eventually. If they made a C.C. Figma then I'd have to get Lelouche. Instead of posting pictures of figures, I'll post some pictures of my favorite characters from Code Geass. If they made a C.C. and/or Kallen Figma, which outfit would you prefer them to be in? For me, C.C. I would prefer her in one of the outfits from the first two pictures, but I would buy her in anything. Preferably she'd come with her own pizza box and slice of pizza. For Kallen I'm really not sure what I'd prefer, again just about any outfit would work here, somehow I can see them making her in her school uniform judging from how much they like making figmas wearing them.






So farewell Code Geass, it was a fun ride throughout both seasons for me. Even my wife sat down and watched all the way through both of these, which was surprising because she wasn't really into mecha before this came along. I caught an episode of the dub of the first season, and now I want to watch it all over again in english. Some of the voices were pretty bad, but I was amused. Of course, I prefer Japanese with subtitles, but still... dual audio with subtitle options please. I'll most likely be going out and buying the DVDs for both of these when I can manage to slow down my figure spending. Btw, anyone else get hungry for pizza while watching the first season?

These images taken from: (warning: nsfw image boards)
http://nekobooru.net/
http://moe.imouto.org/
http://konachan.com/
http://danbooru.donmai.us/

Lucky Star OVA

So, how many of you have gotten a chance to see the "Lucky Star OVA" either raw or subbed by now?? I finally got to see it in a mostly subbed version, with live action "Lucky Channel" raw version. I have to say I love the OVA!:D And Akira's voice actor is so perfect for her!:D This picture here is just a teeny bit of a spoiler for those who haven't gotten to see it yet... You must see if you are a "Lucky Star" fan like myself!:D
All I need to say about this... Konata is definitely up to her antics in this one!:P And Tsukasa volleyball game... absolutely adorable!:D
Well, enough spoilage... if you have seen it, or do see it soon would love to hear what you think of the OVA!:D Look forward to hearing from everyone on this!:D

Goodbye Wallet, Hello Persocom!

Alright, I just did what I thought I'd hold off on for a while. I went and ordered a couple PVC figures because I'm afraid if I don't do it now, they won't be available much longer. Today's order consists of Lala Satalin Deviluke (GoodSmile company version) from ToLove-Ru and Tabitha (by Koyobukiya) from Zero No Tsukaima. Not to mention the fact that I have Rin and Len Kagamine figmas, Tsuruya figma and Yoko Ritona Revoltech all coming next month. Lala was hard enough to find, and Tabitha seems a little easier to come by. One figure that I'm craving had to be put on hold though, Enma Ai by Alter. I'm currently trying to finish watching the 2nd season of Jigoku Shoujo to prepare for the 3rd which should be airing next month. If I miss this figure though I have a feeling there's a high chance of a new figure coming out to coincide with the new season, and from demands, if they're met, she'll be the perfect version that everyone wants so badly, her in the kimono she wears when delivering revenge. I have to get a figure of her eventually... it's a must. So ToLove-Ru is nearing it's end and this figure is already getting hard to find so I decided to jump on it before I regret it. I was worried it might be a leaner but I've seen numerous review on it and I guess her lower half is made of ABS so hopefully no worries. So that's all for now, it might not seem like much but we (my wife and I) are starting to get a little carried away with the speed which we buy figures. I didn't really start collecting figures until this year, and I'm already trying to figure out where I'll put them when I run out of space on my computer area. Keep in mind I have a four year old son, so I gotta keep them out of his reach too. One of these days I'll show where I have them now. I'm also getting a lot of boxes stacking up, I just don't like getting rid of them. I guess that's all for now, look forward to more pictures soon!

Zero No Tsukaima-Season 3

So... I don't want to spoil the anime for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, but "Zero No Tsukaima-Princess No Rondo" totally kicks butt!:D I really hope to see this go to a fourth season.
Out of all the characters I think Tabitha (Tabasa) is probably my favorite, She really reminds me of Chii from "Chobits", and Yuki from "The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya". The ending of the 3rd season really had a lot of unexpected surprises...
Now the question,... HOW MANY HAVE WATCHED THE ANIME UP TO THE 3RD SEASON? WHAT DID YOU THINK OF IT THUS FAR?

Kagami Hiiragi Figma

My figma Kagami Hiiragi from Lucky Star arrived yesterday and I took some pictures of her but waited until today to post them up. I was planning on doing it all outdoors but the weather changed from sunny to cloudy while I was in the middle of it, and most of the shots I took turned out horrible. I found a decent alternative though I suppose. Now the Hiiragi twins are complete, one more Lucky Star figma left to get! Yes, I've got Miyuki pre-ordered the minute I saw her up on HobbySearch. Alright enough randomness, on to her review!




Kagami comes with a book that is actually just plain white, and it comes with two manga cover stickers as I've shown here. The sticker was a tiny bit larger than the book itself, but it works alright. I tried and failed a pose and her book fell into the water of the plant behind her, and it survived! Good thing they have two stickers though. Aside from these special hands she has her regular eight that all the Lucky Star figmas have. She came with only two faces a serious one and a happy one, but since all the Lucky Star figmas are interchangeable with each other and her eyes are the same as Tsukasa's then collecting them both just allows for more options. After all, why would you wanna separate the twins? Speaking of twins, I had to throw a couple of pictures of them together now that they've been reunited after the long trip overseas. Of course, Konata plays a small cameo here and tries to steal the show.






As for the quality of this figma, I saw no flaws from the time I spent doing these pictures. No loose limbs here. The hair and faces fit the way they should, and the twin tails, even though they lack figma joints due to their size, they don't pop out when moved around, at least for me. The stand fit in her back just right and the stand itself isn't loose. A little detail that I noticed and like is that her shoes have more detail than Tsukasa and Konata, she's got little laces on her shoes. Overall, she's probably the best made of the LS figmas so far, at least for me. So who else is excited about the upcoming OVA? I know it's only one episode but I could go for another whole season. I think it'd be interesting to see what their lives after high school would be like.

What's Up This Month?

Well, I don't want to steal the show for my wife so I'll direct you to her blog. Today she finally got the tattoo she intended on getting on her birthday, Tama the white talking tiger from Hayate no Gotoku, so go on over there to take a look, if you haven't already seen it posted on DannyChoo ^^ I'm sure she'd be happy to add any of my readers to her blogroll that aren't there already so don't be shy to ask, she just doesn't have as much time to read everyone's blogs as I do.

Let's see, maybe some of you have a fear of insects or whatever, and I admit I can't stand them most of the time, but lately a couple of praying mantis have been living on my air conditioner, and they let me take pictures of them so here we go. I never knew they even lived around these parts until I saw one on it a couple weeks ago. After all I've only lived here in Colorado for just over a year now. Oh yeah, that black streak is not what you might think, the air conditioner is just dirty because it's right underneath a tree and it's fall.



I've been trying to catch up and finish the 2nd season of Jigoku Shoujo before the 3rd season comes out next month. Also my wife came across a nendoroid the other day on DannyChoo that caught her interests, and found out the anime it was from, Kyoran Kazoku Nikki. Here's a picture of the nendo from the Good Smile Company website, and yeah we watched a few episodes and decided to pre-order it. It comes out in January. I'll be doing a review of it when it does arrive, but that's quite some time from now.



Also, my Kagami Hiiragi figma left customs early this morning so that means it should be here either tomorrow or Saturday. So look forward to pictures of her soon ^^

Tama the Otaku tattoo!:D Finally done!:D

SO... I have finally gotten my second tattoo!:D This is the one that all otaku's that know me have been waiting for... Tama Tiger inspired from a dream as well as the anime Hayate no Gotoku ...
I had originally planned on putting it on my ankle but it ended up on my calf because of the size. The dream that the idea for the tattoo originally came from was one I had shortly after the death of my mom (who's name is written in katakana in it's Japanese pronunciation,below Tama... thank you Katie for helping me get that figured out...) I had a dream that my mom was walking alongside a white tiger... and shortly after that was when we had checked out and seen Tama for the first time in Hayate no Gotoku. And knowing the type of personality my mom had most of the time was a prettty humorous one, I thought the draw out for this tattoo was totally perfect!:D I know the pictures may not be the greatest quality because I did just get it done tonight, but at least you get the general idea of what it looks like. Let me know what you all think!:D I look forward to everyone's comments on this!:D