Erin Finnegan notes that RightStuf is having a big sale on CMX manga, and if you don’t know what to buy, she has some suggestions. My recs: Emma (of course!), Canon, Kiichi and the Magic Books, Oyayubihime Infinity (excellent shoujo past-life story with a quirky cast), Chikyu Misaki, and Presents. I also liked their version [...]
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Well, as the title says it’s competition time and here’s what I have on offer: Emma (complete series + Shirley) Psychic Academy (complete series) Enchanter 1-7 Yen Plus Issue One There is no first prize, each offering is it’s own draw. All of these are new titles that were bought in duplicate, except for Yen Plus, which was bough in [...]
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Amazon.com Widgets Title:  Shirley Author: Kaoru Mori Publisher: CMX ISBN: 9781401217778 May Contain Spoilers Shirley is an easy read, and at a single volume, it’s also easy on the pocket book.  Written prior to Mori’s other maid title, EMMA, the illustrations aren’t as complex, but they are still very charming.  I especially [...]
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I always remember Pokemon while watching World Destruction (no, not because of the cute bear…). It’s because per episode, they get into a certain place/town then they meet someone in dilemma, they try to help, Team Rocket comes (and in this case, it’s a maid and a glasses-dude) and they go blasting off again… The team [...]
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Did you just let Carl Kimlinger insult Jane Austen in his VIctorian Romance Emma review? Did you really? I mean, seriously. I’m glad you liked it, it’s a wonderful series. But, really. JANE. AUSTEN. Did you also put “Jane Austen” and “Harlequin-esque bodice rippers” in the same sentence, as if to imply that they were one and the same? [...]
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About the Mangaka Mori Kaoru has become famous through her work, Emma, and Shirley. Fairly young as far as mangaka go, being only in her mid 20’s (she’s actually the same age as me ). She’s also famous for her ‘ugly’ self portraits which are rather funny. All of her works are set in a image [...]
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Teana Lanster - MovicIt's already holiday and i still doing photo session rarely. I've done this photo session last Friday, i've done it with my friends (Joan and Nico), they are the persons who helped me at Nendoroid photoshot. In this photo session, i had Teana Lanster (Movic) and Kureha (Kotobukiya) photographed.My favorite character from Nanoha Strikers.I got this Teana Lanster back in March 2008 for IDR 580000 (USD 60, JPY 5800). Teana Lanster is one of my favorite character from Nanoha Strikers. She's the leader of Strikers squad. Some of my friend said that Teana doesn't have great power, weak, and all. But i like twintailed girl, and i like dual weapon wielding girl.Her vest and skirt are nicely made.Some people don't really like Movic quality. I had a hard time deciding to buy this or not, because i had a dilemma. If i didn't buy this figure, then i would miss out the only PVC figure of my favorite character. But if i bought this figure, then i would have to deal with Movic quality. I had a little doubt of Movic quality, they can't make things nice and clean like Alter, Kotobukiya, Max Factory, and Good Smile.Her aiming face looks cool.After i bought this figure, i quickly checked all her body parts, legs, arms, hand, foots, skin, face, hair, and all things that came with this figure. At first glance, you can see that her skin is pale, and also a little glossy. A good figure came with a nice colored and doff skin.Note : glossy surface can reflect light harder than a doff surface.Sometimes people judge figure quality by the face. Just look at Teana's face, eyes are important factor that determine figure face quality, and her eyes are (still) good. The best eyes i ever seen are made by Max Factory.I can't see her breast, not sexy.Movic figure's skin isn't that good, but her clothing is well made. Details, painting and shading are still okay. You can still see flawed paint on the edge of her vest, but you won't see a little detail like that unless you check it closely. Teana Lanster wears vest styled clothing, skirt, stockings, shoes, and gloves. So her open body parts are only her arms and small parts of her legs. So i had no worry about her skin flaw like i said before.Detail at her skirt and her belt.Looking at her skirt, it's safe to say that Movic done her clothing well. Her belt and details at her skirt are well made. This figure is made by Movic, and Movic's quality is doubted by people, so i made this post to clear your doubt. So you can decide what will you do if you had a favorite character figure released by Movic.Visible plastic line on her stockings.Skin, face, and all things i mentioned above are still on my tolerance rate. This is the worst part of this figure. Plastic line all over the arms and leg. You probably won't see the plastic line on her arms, but you can see this clearly on her stockings. The photo above proved it. Plastic line are things that you don't want to see on a figure, it shows that this figure isn't that soft and clean.Cross Mirage, dual gun device that only has 2 forms.Cross Mirage, Teana's device, is on of the coolest device in Nanoha series i ever seen. While Fate's Bardiche and Nanoha's Raging Heart are focused on their ability to transform to other forms, Teana has to deal with the enemies with just 2 forms of this device. I like her not just because of twintail, but she's cool, smart, and skilled.Magic circle base, unique.This figure got unique base, a magic circle. But a unique base won't really affect figure overall quality. So i don't really care about this base. Anyway, this is the first time i used mini studio setup with my Canon Speedlite 580EX II, and it turn out that using external flash with high power is effective for bright background but not white background.Creating shadow with reflector background.At first i tried to use white background, but i guess 1 external flash can't really make the whole setup bright, so i still have to avoid usage of white background for now. I planned on getting 2 wireless hotshoe slave (PT-04) and buying another cheap external flash. This way, i can use white background.Extreme RGB level editing.The second photo used white colored background, but it didn't get that white after the shot. I extremely increased the RGB level and the brightness, and the result are that photo. The original photo result has grayish background. And this experiment proved that you can't combine the usage of photography flash with desk lamp, you have to choose one of them.Well, that's it for now. Next will be Kureha (Kotobukiya) photos, i'll post them tomorrow.
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I always enjoy the CMX panels because they actually give you a synopsis of their upcoming releases.  Here’s the lowdown on the panel from yesterday: Batman: Deathmask graphic novel will be out 10/08, collecting all four issues and including bonus artwork and materials. EMMA - the 3 remaining volumes will be released in ‘09.  Yay! [...]
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Quantum of Solace - Teaser Trailer (Quicktime, various size) Obviously this post has nothing to do whatsoever with anime so if you only like anime, feel free to skip this one. For everyone else, EON finally released the teaser trailer for James Bond 007's latest movie, Quantum of Solace. First thing first, if you're wondering about the title, the meaning is simple: a little comfort. It refers to what Bond probably would want after the incident that happened in the previous Bond installment, Casino Royale. It's unfortunate that Eva Green won't be in this film since she was really fantastic in Casino Royale. However, Gemma Arterton (St.Trinian's) and Olga Kurylenko (Hitman) are pretty good choices for Bond girls as well. The trailer looks pretty good as well, IMO. I was concerned that the writers will turn Bond into a perfect Ken doll now that he's a fully-fledged agent. Much to my relief, the guy still bleeds and gets bruised from his fight just like in Casino Royale. And with Craig acting as Bond, I hope the storyline holds up as well. I don't think there's anything else I can say but hit the cut for tons of screencaps of the trailer.
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Hirano Aya was interviewed on the famitsu.com website about how she was playing Chiko in Daughter of Twenty-Faces (Nijuumensou no Musume). Here is a rough translation.Question -- You’re playing quite varied characters in 2008. The character you play in Daughter of Twenty-Faces has a very quiet air about her. She seems to be different from any character you’ve played before.Hirano Aya – She has a quiet strength. All the time I’m playing her I think how difficult she is to play (laughs). You find something new in her in every episode.Q -- It seems difficult to play a character whose feelings rise and fall so quietly.Hirano – The basic line cannot be broken. Her ups and downs can’t go very far, and when they do, they have to be portrayed very quietly. It’s hard to do.When they were talking to me about my voice, the director and sound director said: “If you just change the nuance slightly, the changed expression will immediately come out in your voice. You have to restrain yourself more than you think.” And in fact, when I see the show on air, there are still places where I haven’t suppressed the emotion enough. But there are also places where I have suppressed it too much.After that, you have to bring out the flavor of the times in which the show is set. This was a theme of the show from the start. Daughter of Twenty-Faces is set in the Showa Thirties [1956-65]. When recording started, the sound director brought me a book called something like “Japan in the Showa Thirties.” I really absorbed a lot from the book, about the war being over and Japan’s revival coming on. One of the themes of how we’re playing this is the feeling of how people’s rising power is concentrated in the character.Q -- How do you show “the flavor of the time” in your performance?Hirano – It’s in small things. For instance when you hear the way people pronounced the “e” sound in eiga (movies), and the intonation, they were slightly different. I was asked to pronounce the endings of words fully and carefully [….] To be honest, I hadn’t been very aware of the differences in eras up to now [….] In this, too, the show has been a good education.Q -- It seems that this role requires you to stretch your sensitivity in many ways.Hirano – That’s why I can’t play other roles while I’m doing Chiko. I have to change completely. In Daughter of Twenty-Faces, there are a lot of scenes that are like a foreign film, but that have to be given an anime treatment. I think we feel those subtle points in all that.Q -- It seems as if you have to do a lot of learning.Hirano – Yes, indeed. If one reaction is wrong, you know it. I’ve only dubbed one foreign work, and that was total culture shock (laughs). You have to listen carefully to be sure your voice fits the tone. You really have to have a good ear. [note: I wasn't aware that she had done any dubbing.]Q -- Ear?Hirano – Yes. You have to really listen to the people before you, so you have the same tone. You’re in the same space and you have to produce the same atmosphere. I think you have to develop a good ear, to use in your acting.NOTES: I think this is Aya's best work so far, and part of the reason is that she is expressing herself in such a restrained and subtle way in it. Thanks to the advice of the sound director and director, it appears. This is more like movie acting than stage acting or normal anime voice-acting.The sound director of this show is Kikuta Hiromi, one of the few female sound directors in anime. She has done Kamichu, Emma, the Da Capo shows, Kimi ga Nozomu Eien and many other well-known shows, as well as Daughter of Twenty-Faces.I'll just add another couple of photos here, from Aya's blog. The well-known artist Murakami Takashi gave her a piece that is like a big sunflower cushion. She calls it "Hanamaru" (a hanamaru is a flower sticker that is given out in elementary school like a gold star). She says she comes home after work and dives into it, in front of her small TV.
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