Figures Galore

To whom it may concern interest:

Hey there.
This will be the last entry to this blog.

Thanks for my file hoster all images used in this blog and more important all scripts and styles that drove this site are lost and because (according to them) it's not possible to restore a backup from one day ago this site now looks like this.

I really don't have the time nor the strength and the will to do it all over again. All this javascripting and styling again... . So afer just three months I will bury this funny little hobby side project here and let this be it's memorial on the graveyard.

I never took this too seriously and I never wanted to make a (professional) site for others. It started more as just a "playground to fresh up my programming skills", playing with scripts and features but when I started I thought I use it literally as my log.

I still have articles ready that are still unpublished. Now they sleep for evernity in blogger heaven ^_^

If someone want to see them I would not object against it in general (contact mail is at the bottom).

Sure I just could switch to a default template, delete all old posts and go on but that wouldn't be that much fun for me as with the stuff I implemented myself.

Take this as a good example and check your backup solution if it would work in case of emergency for real at least once.

Thanks to and sorry to all the people who just recently exchanged links with me, you can remove them now -_- (or not).

So to all ten or so people who are returning visitors (of the over 1000 visitors in total) see you maybe again and bye.

Maybe you will read from me again on some other site but that's just a maybe!!

Like in part 003 of Amusing Japanese Language here is another short phrase:

Ikenai koto

For all that do not smirk yet let's dissect it real quick:

Ikenai is the negated form of iku and that is a verb which means to go. But in colloquial language ikenai is used as something's wrong or it's no good or you can't do that or it wont work

Koto means thing and in this case not a physical object (therefor Mono is used) more an intangible thing.

So it describes something you shouldn't do or say. Yeah great potential in every ecchi joke ^_^!!

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Sub-category: Jobs that have a
different meaning nowadays:

Why didn't I thing of that topic earlier?? - I'm constantly listen to music. When I am at home I literally have music playing all the time.
And I just recently talked with my colleagues at work about this.

So today's topic: Composers.
Also every other member of an actual orchestra.

Some time ago, let's say some hundreds of years or the eighteenth century so it's not that long it was still fairly popular to be at a royal court or something comparable are write, conduct and/or perform classical music (classic from our point of view).

Sure it started much earlier even in medieval times but I guess that most well known persons of today are from that later era.

And what all that has to do with anything modern you ask?? - Well first let's talk about the die out part some more and later switch over to the revival of these occupations.

As I just mentioned it was quite normal up to very honorable to be part of an orchestra but to be a Beethoven, a Bach, or a Mozart nowadays would be just not lucrative.

What is a cembalo, a clarinet or an oboe anyway??

In times of Pop Charts, Rap Music and Techno as strong money makers the classical composer had to step aside.

But is it really all dead?? Is everything of today's music society just digitally PC music?? - No on the contrary.

What made me actually think about this topic was the recent (June 24, 2009) release of the full orchestrated album of Suzumiya Haruhi no Gensou played entirely by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and that made me think:
"Hey today we have more orchestrated music than ever".

And that is exactly what's going on.
With the rise of the digital age and the advancements of video games, Hollywood and movies in general and everything else around it it's not all about PC sound.

Nowadays every big budget thing movie or game project that wants to be epic important has to have a full orchestrated soundtrack.

But not only them. Almost every video game brings out two OSTs with itself and that's the actual OST and the arranged version of it which is basically everything re-recorded and played on actual instruments.

Thing about all the piano versions of Final Fantasy up to Dragon Warrior (Quest) with a long tradition of Philharmonic Orchestra recordings (London or Tokyo) the special versions in Brass and so much more.

And yes everything of this sort you hear and love so much is basically in it's core classical music.
I have to admit I love classical music

So all of it did not really die out but took a new direction.
Old formula in a new environment and I like that.

If I spontaneously had to choose one genre of music I could not live without it would be on first thought RPG soundtracks (with all the Final Fantasy, Chrono Cross and so on) and all of that has it's roots with classical composers.

So it's just half the truth with my beloved Kajiura Yuki san ^_^ but still.

The verdict:
Sure there is no denying that
⇐ these guys here still have the edge in out modern music world but I salute the successors of our ancestors the composers.

Hail dear Uematsu san, Kajiura san, Mitsuda san and all others that some day you all are up there in fame with the big ones of the Classical era!!

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Yo bros.

Today more stuff fo' shizzle.

If you do not yet know what's going of please check out part 001 of Slangy English Language.

You can hear it every day in (I guess) every language. People want to be different, unique and cool and make up their own words.

Some of them are just for personal use, some of them are one shots... and some become internet phenomenons or even become adopted.

So here is the newest stuff I found memorable:

1. Major Assage : Like with ownage


2. Craptastic : All time, all purposes when something is just soo eh crap


3. Crapcacular : Similar to the entry above but stronger and/or wider in range


4. most awesomestest : If you need more than just a level one superlative


5. Actingasm : When you so overact in a movie like totally too much ^_^


6. Sucktacular : When something that is supposed to be spectacular just sucks e.g. anti-climactic movie endings


7. Yesteryear : Sooo old


8. Punnery : The art of making puns (whether good or bad)


9. Retardation : The fact of being reatrded

Near all of them I found on the internet and they are not invented by me so credits to the guys they came up with this nice hellspawns e.g. guys on That Guy With The Glasses, Epic Battle Cry and more.

And remember this is all for fun purposes (and maybe a little bit analytical reasons) only.

And last but you know the revealing I talked about.
I found out the origin of the word awesome and the logic behind it:

Simple just turn the word around and bam you have it:
Some awe --> Definition: When you are somewhat in awe before a thing it's awesome ^_^.

Hey that actually makes too much sense so let's alter it a bit to some-freaking-awe. Yeah that's more appropriate for the list. Consider it added.

So until the next and maybe then some German terms as previously mentioned!!

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So time for another amusing short found in the Japanese language and what a coincidence it's from the show I'm currently watching (while writing this) namely Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.

Right in episode one exactly at 19.30 minutes while Nanoha escaped with Yuuno in his ferret form he tells her the first background and that, for the sake of finding the Jewel Seeds (Lost Logia), he came from another world.

So for all the (at least a little bit) Japanese speakers: What do you expect to come?? - World is mostly translated to sekai that won't change but another hmmm... maybe something with the adjective betsu in it like betsujin or betsuni.

But wait don't the Japanese like to paraphrase things?? - Also true here so it is:

"Came from another world" = "Koko dewa nai sekai kara kimashita"

Again just ^__^
The part Koko dewa nai sekai literally translates to not here world.

I just freakin' love it!!

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This time I'm here again to point something out that is probably not totally obvious to most of you but it is around you every day in video form.

It is applying to many different media including cinema movies, video games, TV shows and everything animated and when you read this start thinking and you will hate it too: Trailers

First let's put away the obvious joke about this kind of ⇒ trailer.

First it's not funny anymore and second I would look like a Screwattack rip-off.

So this obviously is about real trailers. The ones you see for movies before the actual movie in the cinema or all over the internet. The ones that are for new games and sites like GameTrailers.com can thank for their huge success. The ones that are between 90 and 150 seconds long.

So you like trailers?? - OK let's be more specific. I don't mean the fragmental ones that are just clips from the game etc.
I especially mean the so called Launch Trailer. The for the industry most important ones, their figureheads to showcase their product.

All right what's actually wrong with these kinds of the suppose to be best versions of a trailer?? - They are all freakin' the same!

Yeah you heard me right.
Here I'm obviously not talking about the content itself (that is as different as day and night to each other). I'm talking about the whole damn structure, build up, design, execution and flow of these trailers.

Let me give you my essential and abridged version with which I can describe EVERY one of these Launch Trailers that follow the "We have to look epic"-formula. Sure not every one uses every element I'm going to mention so I give some alternatives but you will see my point:

Begins with logos of the creators and studios etc. (especially movie trailers, game trailers tend to let that part out) together with gentle or quiet music parts (slow build up) followed by either a narrator voice of spoken dialog directly out of the medium or mixed and alternating. In common always just very short passages.
To this very short brief scenes cut and put together in a very fast way like flashing glimpes of disjointed moments, parts and locations from the medium.

This flow (I am sarcastic here) is constantly broken by a black screen and a popping up lettering zooming in to the audience accompanied by the narrator reading these exact short lines e.g. "There is a time" or "You thought it was over".

These scenes in turn are alternating with the flashy short clips and after 30 to 60 seconds these word shorts form a continuing sentence e.g. "There was a time" --> "when [hero name] thought it was all over" --> "but we was wrong".

At that point the next distinctive and repetitive trailer point kicks in. Either with a short silent pause beforehand or seamlessly the music picks up, gets louder and more intense. Everything I mentioned before now even gets faster and intertwines. Big explosions or action parts are now shown content wise.

This goes on to a point where everything instantly comes to a halt. This mostly applies to movie trailers which tend to run mostly 120 to 150 seconds, game trailers who are mostly shorter with just 90 to 120 seconds in average sometimes leaves out that portion.

Anyway after the silence (sometimes with the narrator saying one part without music) the big bang finale kicks in and everything goes out with being big and lout and boom.

As you maybe have already guessed by looking at the images I interspersed within this article, the main statement is: Do something new!

It's as if they just take their template from the last one, change the content and a little bit here and there and (re-)release it for their next product.But that's not it in fact they pay big money for these productions.

So what's the problem then?? Why do they do that??
I think this problem can be tracked back to what are the roots of many other things and also the entire entertainment industry as well and that is:
Don't try something new, use what works and what everyone is used to. Just do what no one complained about the whole time because that must mean that is the best possible way. So the only way.

God dammit that's a big pile of BS here. That is not a rule of thumb that's what you even want your kids not to do it: That's peer pressure.

If you are that kind of person that can't well imagine things just by reading my descriptions, see and compare for yourself. here is just a small selection of typical trailers that on the outside look totally different but on the inside all follow this boring as hell unwritten law of how trailers have to be.

So once more: Why do they really do that?? - The answer is as clear as it is disillusioning: For money!

The main goal of trailers is to cash in big time with the advertised product so why not squeeze in as much as possible different scenes so the chance of someone finding a bit they like is greater. But what really gets missing with that is a word that much people nowadays miss and vocally address this opinion: Innovation.

But why just complain about the product itself complain about the trailers too because to watch them nowadays has become so blunt and dull it's not fun anymore.
Don't just do what the herd is doing.
Cut out this cutting fest and make one straight trailer focusing on only one aspect or something completely different.

The advertisement industry does this too: These are spots that just want to transfer facts and there are the humorous types which want to bind their product to a memorable joke... but that is for another article.

So long!!

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So after some days of looking around I found some cool custom made figures which shouldn't be overlooked and I'm sure some of you would like to see some mass produced variants of these:

I did not see much coverage of these at other sources and also because of that, but mainly I like them, these are my awesome follow-up picks of WF2009:

Interesting Gwendolyn from Odin Sphere and here also is Momohime (Peach Princess) from the Wii game Muramasa: The Demon Blade:

And another Fate Testarossa Harlaown from the Nanoha Universe

And to start switching over to the theme of the grand finale here is Shion from Xenosaga.

So guys here it is. It's a 1/4 scale Garage Kit made by Volks that will be sold at Chara Hobby 2009 and Volks Hobby Round 2 for the unbelievably high price of 48000 Yen (plus 5% taxes inside of Japan so 50400 Yen).
Holy cow that's approx. 357 Euros just for the Kit. Calculating approx. 12000 - 14000 Yen shipping costs plus a whooping 19% taxes here that would be something between 550 and 600 Euros -_- but I'm so GK builder so lucky

If they ever release this as a prepainted completed model... fuck me I'm screwed:

OK to be honest sure I would like to have this one I just looove KOS-MOS that much!!

And again for everyone out there who did not find a figure for him or her to like please check out the Wonder Festival 2009 Specials from E2046.com.
Maybe there will be something for you.

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Oh boy this topic can be hot... so I won't tough it the way many might now expect.

I don't want to talk about whether an original Japanese audio with subtitles is preferable or a dubbed version in your own language. Pretty much everyone has his or her own opinion on that already.

But what I want to talk about or more, what I want you to think about for yourselves is:
When you watch the original version and the dubbed version next to each other (or after another) or just to think about both. Is it really the same anime you just saw??

I mean the voices are sooo important to a character and just the fact that you are hearing two different things (voices) and that fact for every character in the show. This alone can be so drastically that the same show can be as if you have two completely different things.

And there again comes the taste factor into play. It's not about good or bad in general but (now) on a personal level because you prefer one over the other because it gives your show the (distinct) personality you like.

Think about all the main arguments why many say the localized voices are so laughable. It's partly because they know the original and don't like them because they are so different of the voices they compare them to in their heads.

Sure there are enough things they are just plain awful and/or evil on their own but isn't what I just described a (major) factor in why you like things and don't liker other?!

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Ah it's that time of the year again. Not that I would anticipate in advance or something but every time I read about it it's "Ahhhhhh" ^_^ you know.

So I browsed through all the pictures of the newest stuff in figures and this are the ones that stood out.

Now with my figure likings I'm quite biased (who isn't). I can pretty much instantly tell if a figure is interesting and deserves a second look (either because I want to have her or because she is related to something I know in some way) or just skip over it. I have my own rules so this does not mean the figures I will not show here are bad. It just means these are the ones I will look out for and you should take notice of... because they seem to be awesome.

Notice: All pictures are clickable links with an overlay zoom beneath and all are connected in a slide show feature fashion.(watch your mouse pointer).

So again the figures you will see her are either things with a very high wanna have factor or interesting to look at because of previous figures:

This one is an exception because I don't know her or the show related to her but she is really nice looking in a non sexy mysterious and mesmerizing way.

I now know it's Adelicia Lenn Mathers from Rental Magica.
Will definitely check it out.

Here is Alter's Mercedes.
After Alter released Gwendolyn Yamato released their Mercedes and Alter strikes back with this one.

Definitely nicer and it would fit my Gwendolyn and my upcoming Velvet but I can't have them all so this is the one to pass.

Not long ago I saw the show (read it here) and I liked her quite the most.

If the Pumpgun and the skin will be detailed enough I will rethink about this one.

So there are the gems you should save up for and if not buying definitely at least check them out!!

And for everyone out there who did not find a figure for him or her to like please check out the Wonder Festival 2009 Specials from E2046.com. Maybe there will be something for you.

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Hello reader:
I thought in between reviews of my bigger figures (the Completed Models) I should pop in some shorter reviews of my Gashapon from time to time. And so with this the Figure Quickie is born, a not so detailed look on these not so detailed little ones.

As just mentioned this articles will not be as extensive as my other reviews but the same rules apply. So again if you want the full "introduction" or if you just want more (here is just the shortened version with the index only) please check out my other reviews:
Number one of Ignis.
Number two of KOS-MOS.
Number three of Nu Villetta.

Notice: All pictures are clickable links which open the image in it's full size in a convenient overlay box for your viewing pleasure (watch your mouse pointer switching to a hand).

Most reviews on many sites are not reviews at all. They, most the time, are just a whole bunch of pictures and maybe a comment or two at the end.

So here I am trying to give you the things just pictures can not provide you with. It is written to primarily give you facts in an easy to understand and also entertaining funny way. If you are not interested in one part (for example assembling) just skip ahead to the next number:

1. About my scoring system.


2. A little introduction to the character and the figures related to her.


3. What you get


4. The figure from bottom to top


5. In depth descriptions of little and major details on the surface, color gradients, effects, material quality, possible faults and errors and everything else you should look for(-ward to).


6. Wrapping up with points I love and hate


7. And my detailed scoring


8. And final thoughts

01. About my scores:
Please see my first review (section 01.) here for the structural explanations.

Note that for my Gashapon reviews I will use a separated scale of scoring so that I do not compare the lower quality Gashapon with the Completed Models.
So a five for a Gashapon is not a five for a Completed Model and so on.

02. Who's that?
Whoever this is she sounds German... ^_^ pseudo German at least.
It's Ritsuko Kübel Kettenkrad (律子·キューベル·ケッテンクラート) where Kübel Kettenkrad are her two surnames for all people that are confused now, from the OVA series and TV show Kujibiki Unbalance.

The show itself is a spin-off from Genshiken wherein it is an anime show on it's own.
Kujibiki means Lottery or drawn lot so an unfair lottery.

She is a half-German girl who is the current head of the Student Council.
I won't go more into detail because the premise of the OVA series and the TV show are different.

Kübel is a German word and means bucket, pail or tub but it is normally not used as a name.

Kettenkrad isn't a word but it sounds pseudo enough to be similar to Kettenrad (without the k) and that means chain wheel or sprocket wheel but again not typical name.

This particular figure is from the set !StoryImageFigure! Kujibiki Unbalance 1 released by back in November of 2005.

Here is the whole set:

As far as I know are only two other figures (Garage Kits excluded) available. Here is one of them (just to compare):

03. In and out of the box
It's one of the bigger Gashapon that does not come in a plastic ball (egg) like the ones in the 100 - 300 Yen tier. This one comes in a paperboard box and a price tag of 600 Yen which is about $6.33 according to the current course and about $5 according to last years course (before the big jump of the Yen).
I bought her for 10 Euros (about $14 now).

You get four parts:

• The oval white base
• the lower body (the legs)
• the blue skirt
• the upper body including the head and hairs

So the figure itself splits in two halfes where the waistline is the disjoining point.

So just put the skirt on the legs and stick the upper body onto it.

04. What are you looking at?
Short answer: At an interesting facial expression. But let's begin down there. No not there, lower sheesh -_- you guys I will come to that.

The base does it's job. Nothing more to say. It's equipped with two fixed pegs for the feet of the figure in the known one is smaller, one is biggerfashion.

The first thing that bump maps out are the shoelaces.
The skirt is more or less symmetrical nothing fency.
The crossed arms in front of her chest pose fits the serious face.
Her helmet hat (yeah that must be her Kübel) is a little bit too beep in her face but it fits the source material.

So what stands out?? - It's (literally) her hair.
It's flowing from her head around her whole upper body down to her waistline. When you just take the upper body it looks quite funny like an octopus or Medusa's snake hair (not photo of that available).

05. Say it exactly!
So about the quality: It's just an expensive Gashapon so I didn't expect an exact image of the anime or manga source but somehow I'm still underwhelmed.

It seems the makers wanted to do too much and failed because of that.

The hair is quite complex and there are several points where it just looks like it crumbles, is glued together or breaks.

The paint job especially on laces and ribbons but on the helmet too isn't very detailed nor nicely done, it's slapped on.

Thanks to the lower quality plastic nearly every part looks freckeled as if e.g. her hair has porosities like the human skin.

Her expression captures the mood of the show so no complains there.

Manufacturing wise there are some issues: The holes in the feet do not perfectly match the base's pegs so the potential to lean is there... and exactly that is boosted by the weight of the hair.
So bottom line: My figure is leaning to the back. Look closely on the pictures of the feet and you can see they are lifted a bit.

But it's not really that bad even one of my more expensive Completed Model Ignis' has that characteristic a bit.

Other errors: The skirt has a little dent (can be seen on the pictures) and there are various painting spots that are bad like overpainting or missing a gradient.

And as a side note as mentioned in the joke at the beginning when I said I will come back to the lower parts later: So you not only can take upskirt shots but you can remove the skirt completely if you like to. Also not photo of that available but if you really want to see that I guess your imagination is big enough ^_-.

And finally here are all the shots I took. For your viewing pleasure with all the cool 3D wall and gallery options for you (choose the flash powered 3D wall and/or the Gallery Link below):

If you like a more classic view, click the gallery logo to start the "gallery view with slide show feature"!

06. Can you please stop now:
So now to wrap things up I give you the good old positives and negatives.

The goods:

• The facial expression


• The voluminous hair


• The wide skirt compared to her chest and waistline width

The bads:

• Hair is cheap looking from behind


• Bad (surface) material that is not evenly covered by the paint


• Helm not removable

07. What are these numbers (out of 10)?

Sculpting: 4.2
The transitions from one point to the other are fine but the mentioned surface and color issues are not that good.

Painting: 4.4
On wider areas like on the skirt it's OK but there are too many bothering spots.

Posing: 3.7
Not much and because of the leaning problem just a front view is acceptable. Looks strange from the side and veery creepy from the back (Medusa hair).

Base: 5.3
It gets the job done. Nice shape but no writing of symbol on it (not even made in China).

Enjoyment: 5.8
If you want a more serious and not so sexy girl figure it's a possibility.

Overall: 4.7
It's better made than some other conventional gashapon but compared to the Xenosaga Legend sets it's a joke.

08. Any last words my friend?
When I saw the show I really wanted a figure of her that lives up to the unusual original the manga and anime provide. The other figures do not fulfil that any more than this one in fact you could say they fail even more because they are completed models and not more appealing.
She is a nice uncommon addition though!!

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