MILKCANANIME

There are three main parts to this episode and I'll highlight them separately. The first would be following the main team comprising of only Aya and Tsuyuno at this point. Due to Shioi Rina using too many sticks consecutively and at once, she has suffered severe internal injuries and is now in a coma. Due to this, Aya and Tsuyuno are unable to get any crucial information from her regarding the Tempest.

This is when it daws on Aya that that they could just cooperate with a Mahou Shoujo with the power to wake Shioi up and get the information regarding the Tempest from her. To identify has the abilities matching what they needed, they referred to Shioi's "Murder Book" and found the photo of a girl who looks familiar.

At the exact same time, the TV in the hospital turns on to an idol show and the same girl appears on the screen. She is Anazawa Nijimi, appearing in the idol group Dog's Play as Nijimin.

Nijimin has numerous fans and the main fan which they focused on in this series is this dark-haired man in the image below.

Aya and Tsuyuno managed to infiltrate at this particular meet-and-greet session, and by using their powers, managed to freeze time and teleport Nijimin away from the meet-and-greet location so they had some time to speak. This makes the remaining hall go into a frenzy when Tsuyuno unfreezes time as Nijimin is missing. They start looking for her which cuts the time they had to speak to Nijimin to an incredibly short interval.

Ignoring the fact that it would be definitely more beneficial if they allowed Nijimin to move while still pausing time, they managed to identify each other as Mahou Shoujo and confirm a meeting time that same day.

At that same time, Nijimin meets them at the lobby and appears to be overly excited that she has made new friends. It then strikes Tsuyuno as weird that even with the rumors of Magical Hunter loitering around, Nijimin was so defenceless around them.

This quickly makes sense to Tsuyuno when Nijimin reveals that her stick could help her control other people's minds. This was effectively one of the most powerful skills as she could literally command another person to do anything with just her voice alone. She also uses her powers frequently for trivial things such as getting her fans to do her cleaning and laundry for her.

Noting the dangers of falling on Nijimin's bad side, Tsuyuno quickly steered the conversation to how Nijimin was able to keep her identity as a Mahou Shoujo hidden, especially from other Mahou Shoujo. Nijimin then acknowledges that her stick is actually underwear which makes it easier to hide from other, as compared to bulky items such as Aya's gun. She also dyes her hair and wears colored contacts to prevent the change in her hair and eye color from being known when she uses her powers. She also uses a concealer to conceal the mark on her wrist.

They then moved on to the question if Nijimin knows of any other Mahou Shoujo before meeting them. This was obviously a landmine as she immediately sinks into her other personality.

Nijimin had a fellow Mahou Shoujo named Mikado that was murdered by Shioi Rina. Shioi had a firsthand experience with Nijimin's power and was commanded to rip herself to shreds, and barely managed to escape only due to Mikado's own stick, which helped to cancel out all magic and physical attacks from outside the box.

It isn't revealed in Nijimin's flashback as to how Shioi managed to escape after, but the power of the flashback causes Nijimin to go all insane as she sketches out Shioi's "changed" appearance angrily out on a piece of paper while screaming about her urge to murder Shioi.

The scary part about Nijimin here is how quickly she switches back to her neutral jolly mood after that whole episode. But despite the quick switch, Aya and Tsuyuno understands that it would be impossible to try and enlists Nijimin's help, thus they tried to evade the topic and find a suitable time to leave, which they succeeded in doing.

Back at the hospital, Aya comes out with another plan that consists of stealing Nijimin's wand and simply using it but this was shot down quickly by Tsuyino as she refused to shorten her lifespan for this. This could perhaps also be the same reason as to why she doesn't use the other wands to change Shioi's appearance back to normal as well.

Meanwhile in the same hospital, the second important part in this episode moves. Sarina has her gripes over the scar on her neck and how she was going to make Aya pay for it. Upon leaving her ward, she hears Aya's voice and by following it, she hears about Mahou Shoujo and also finds the ward which Shioi is in.

Upon entering the room she finds the site admin who mentions that Shioi Rina is disqualified. And in her place, the unfortunate soul, Sarina, was invited to become the new Magical Hunter.

The third important part to this plot would be Aya's brother, Kaname. Kaname notices that Aya has changed recently and is extremely unhappy with that as he thinks of Aya as his punching bag and for such an object, friends are not necessary.

Hence he decides to do a little snooping around and realizes that Aya has been on a "Mahou Shoujo Site" due to her computer's history.

Despite being unable to find and enter the said site, it still piques his interest and it's almost certain that he would be snooping around even more in episodes to come!

~ Reina-rin

From a continuation of the last episode, Sarina was invited to become a Mahou Shoujo by the site admin, who also confirmed that Aya and Tsuyuno were Mahou Shoujo and their sticks were what resulted in the death of her friend, Erika, as well as the wound on Sarina's neck.

The site admin then hands her her stick, which is a yo-yo and tells her that she could have fun testing her stick's powers. Sarina then does just that, effectively cutting off a crow's head. This shows that her wand is rather precise (cutting) and is rather long-ranged. Having attaqined this new power, she then feels an even stronger need for revenge.

Around the same time, we see Tsuyuno askin Aya why she was a target for the bullies. This induces the start of a flashback from when Aya first transferred into the school. Due to her inability to communicate well with others, she tend to keep speaking to a minimal and hence failed to thank Sarina for her help, thus inducing Sarina and her friends' wrath.

After the day when they confronted her about her lack of thank yous, of which Aya still did not manage to say, they started bullying her. This included piling garbage on her shoes, drawing obscenities over her desk and placing insects on her belongings.

Aya knows that this whole situation is her fault and Tsuyuno comforts her then, telling her that she is not as weak and worthless as she thinks she is. Tsuyuno also confirms that she plans to make Aya stronger.

Aya gets home happily, glad that she finally made a new friend!

A short section is dedicated to Kaname's point of view where it is revealed that he thinks of himself as a god and the rest of the world are just brainless meat bags to him.

Amongst all these scum, he thinks of his father as one of the worst kinds, the kind that can only ascertain their value through others. As if touching on this point, a scene also comes in where Kaname is beaten up by his father for scoring badly in his examinations.

News of Nijimin retiring from Dog Play also reaches the school the next day, and together with Sarina's discharge, Nijimin also transfers into the school. This leaves Aya in confusion as there are too many changes suddenly on a day when Tsuyuno is also absent from school.

Aya speaks to Nijimin about Tsuyuno being absent from class as well as her plans to visit Tsuyuno after school. Aya plans to consult her friend about Nijimi's transfer, as she quit the idol group so as to dedicate more time to search for Mikado's murderer, Shioi. However, Nijimin voices her plans to tag along.

Sarina, who happens to overhear their conversation on the roof then confronts Nijimin about her revenge plans and also revealed Shioi's location. Nijimin then leaves without informing Aya, leaving the latter confused but glad to have shaken her off.

Aya then goes to Tsuyuno's apartment alone and was surprised to find the door unlocked. She opens it then to hear a man's voice. Fearing for her friend's safety, she tiptoes into the apartment while keeping a hand on her stick at all times.

She finds her friend collapsed on the floor. Tsuyuno awakens then, telling Aay not to worry as this was simply a side-effect from using her stick too much.

Tsuyuno also refuses to allow Aya to call for an ambulance as she refuses to let anyone find, and take away the man she has imprisoned in her house. To this, we have a scene where we see a man groaning and seemingly in pain, strapped down to a chair as he begs for help.

Tsuyuno reveals that this man broke into her house when she was still a child and murdered her entire family. However, he let her live that one night as she found her quite cute and decided that it would be better for him to come back and find her when she was a little more grown-up.

Tsuyuno was living in fear of that man returning ever since that day, but with her heart set on revenge as well, she looked for other strategies instead of trying to escape. Then, she chances upon the infamous "Mahou Shoujo Site" and acquired powers.

Together with her newfound powers, she no longer feared him. Instead, she stood up against him and simply stayed waiting for him, like a prey turned predator.

~ Reina-rin

Ignorance isn't necessarily bliss, though I suppose that would still make an effective excuse for not doing certain stuff, like watching the anime adaptation of Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii. Believe it or not, I have read the manga before, but have since conveniently swept that memory under the carpet. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike the manga. I just wish I could relate more to it.

The glaring question is, would a non-otaku like myself be able to happily immerse in the anime then? Yes and no. Really, it depends on how one approaches the series from its beginning. My suggestion is to simply focus on what plays on the surface, and not dwell much on the many references and such that could easily overwhelm a non-otaku. The anime is thankfully rather digestible compared to the manga.

Naturally, the narrative brings together a bunch of characters who identify as otaku though their interests vary. There is a fujoshi slash BL doujinshi artist, a hardcore gamer, a cosplayer, and a hero slash bishoujo fanatic. The idea of finding romance from an otaku's perspective shapes the gist of the story, as these characters bring with them the struggles of balancing their 'normal' lives and 'not so normal' interests.

I think I actually appreciate the anime more, maybe because it feels milder yet still colourful enough to please most people. There is an overall feel-good vibe to it, and I find myself laughing quite heartily at several scenes. Unfortunately, the anime will only run for 11 episodes. I don't know if it is a one-season thing, but a continuation would be nice!

Eccentrically Yours.

Written by J.Fluffysheep ♪

Magical Mirai Miku 2017 was definitely one of the better Miku Nendoroids. I do love these Miku Nendoroids that we get a very different costume for every year, such as Snow Miku! This is also the second consecutive year that I'm getting a Magical Mirai Miku Nendoroid... These are just too cute!

As you can see, the theme is very close to a Magician theme and she comes with a wand and some playing cards to perform her magic tricks! Something good about these Nendoroids is that they often come with a whole bunch of accessories and this definitely does not disappoint!

She comes with three different faceplates, a wand, a top hat, a different bottom body part to pose her floating mid-air, and several exchanges of limbs.

She also comes with this background sheet that shows a circle of cards. You can display this either behind (as in official pictures) or in front of Miku to heighten the effect that she is casting her magic. Of course, this would work with any other Nendoroid as well.

For this Nendoroid, you can display her with or without her top hat. First, I'll take a look at her without her top hat so we can see her facial features and hair better.

And the first thing which I would like to highlight is that her hairstyle is quite different from the common Miku Nendoroids we see everywhere. Not only is the color slightly different, she also has a "straighter" and "chunkier" front part between her eyes, while the usual Miku only has one thick bunch of hair in the same area. The next two images below would provide a comparison for a better emphasis of what I just mentioned.

Next, let's take the same image from above back to take a closer look at the front view of the outfit of this Miku's Nendoroid.

She comes with a little dark blue tailcoat vest with a tiny ribbon to hold the entire set-up together. In addition, she comes with this dress that has a beautiful dark to light gradient going on and the bottom is lined with a thick border of lace and littered with three to four different star patterns. In addition, she comes with gloves to match the white lace and a pair of boots to complement. The boots uses a slightly translucent white shade and violet accents that contrasts well against the blue to add a splash of color to this Nendoroid.

She also comes with bloomers that not only really matches the concept of this outfit but also has each ruffle carefully sculpted. You can really feel the detail and amount of effort put into such a simple outfit by the sculpting and painting crew!

From the back, we see even more purple accents on her vest which helps to tie the color scheme used for the boots better with the rest of this Nendoroid.

Looking at the back of her head, do you see that criss-cross sectioning of her hair? I really love how that looks in real life and on Nendoroids and since not all Miku Nendoroids actually have this sectioning, I did hope that this Miku would have it and here she is, just as I wished for! That being said, the side strands at the nape of her neck is slightly awkward looking and I hope that they would have used something that would be more natural looking.

Now let's look at the other accessories that Miku comes with, starting from the wand. It comes with the elegant colors of gold and red and ends with a translucent teal apple-shaped top that matches Miku's hair color. This fits mostly well in Miku's hand and also complements her theme.

The other glorious accessory that comes along is this rainbow with playing cards and stars to create a more magical effect. When you match this with the wand, it looks just as if she has just casted a spell or performed a really cool magic trick! This rainbow has a peg hole at its back which you can then attach to the base with a ball-stand. By using a ball-stand, you can also change the angle for the rainbow to create different nuances in posing.

The other accessory which I'll like to highlight is this skirt part, which does come with different folds and lined around the edges with patterns which are better seen with this lighting. The flare of this skirt also makes it suitable for a pose where she is sitting or jumping in the air.

The other side of the skirt doesn't have any patterns which are worth mentioning but do note that it comes with a peg to join to her pelvic and legs. This peg also helps with posing her as you can have her either just leaping or sitting in the air.

And finally, last but not the least, let's take a look at her top hat. It comes with some decorative accessories at the left side - some roses, a playing card, and a dangling star. It also comes with a white ribbon that contrasts well against the dark colors of the hat.

Unfortunately the hat isn't well-balanced on her and instead of putting a magnet, GSC has chosen to use the purple felt strap for securing the hat to her head. The hat comes with the felt strap already attached to one side of the hat while the other side comes with a velcro. You have to slip the felt strap under her chin and attach it to the velcro. While this may hold well in the short term, I have my suspicions on its durability if you are the kind to move the hat around frequently.

That being said, this Miku Nendoroid is definitely one of the cutest and I hope that you'll consider purchasing one if you have the chance to do so!

~ Reina-rin

Here is another Miku Nendoroid and this time, it's Racing Miku 2017 version! If it isn't obvious yet, I'm finally opening all of my unopened figures and I hope to get them all done before... maybe December? Without further ado, let's look at this figure!

The box of Racing Miku has always been humongous, partially due to the fact that it always comes with a car and stickers to emulate the race car being used. This year's Miku is based on a fairy, and is illustrated by Tony. While I have my gripes about the scale figure (which my friend, a fan of Tony's artwork, has preordered), this Nendoroid is simply too cute and irresistible for me. So, here she is!

The front of the box is mainly in white and rather clean-looking while the back features slightly more color and design. That being said, the entire packaging is rather simple-looking and slightly plain, although I think that by doing so, it doesn't outshine the printed pictures of the Nendoroid itself.

Racing Miku figures are complimentary to the donation (8,000 yen) and thus are "exclusive" since you wouldn't be able to get them otherwise. However do note that for the 2018 version, it isn't as exclusive as you are still able to pre-order her at stores (for 6,000+ yen) although it definitely is less worthwhile than getting the "exclusive" one which comes with additional items such as a personal sponsor card and acrylic keychains/stands which are 1,000+ yen each on pre-order.

Leaving that aside, let's look at the different compartments of Fairy Miku!

She comes with quite limited pose-ability but the main bulk of the price is usually due to the car included as well as exclusive status. And as usual, Miku comes with accessories which you can use for posing Miku both inside and outside of the car. As you can see in the image below, there's the steering wheel of the car complete with hands to hold, as well as a flower bouquet which you can use when you simulate her victory!

Miku also comes with a bent leg for a cuter pose as well as hands with peace signs which you can use for a cheery double peace pose!

Additional accessories include her fairy wings and a trophy.

First, let's look at Miku with a bouquet in her right hand and a peace sign for her left. By using her bent leg here flushed out to the side at an angle, it really helps to complete the cute aspect of this figure. There are two aspects which I would like to mention about Miku's hair would be the gradient from green to yellow that adds to the soft feel this figure comes with, and the floral hair band on her left twintail has the same colors as her bouquet and really go well together!

Next, let's take a look at her outfit! It comes with a mass of white and light greens, but has a few parts highlighted by red (such as the butterflies on her boots as well as the Good Smile Racing logo. Her ears also comes with an ornament covering her ears, which plays up the fantasy aspect for this fairy themed Nendoroid.

She comes with this small green tie to boost the kawaii aspect, and some special design for her outfit, as demarcated by the translucent grey parts. You can even see her belly button through it!

Her wings uses a transparent plastic part with a light dusting of blue from the middle of the wings and designs to create a futuristic fairy appearance. I was initially quite skeptical as to how they would pull this off but the end result isn't too far from amazing. The only downside is that you are unable to use it when posing Miku in the car. I do wish they included a compromise for that.

Next up, we have Miku in the car, along with the trophy. I wouldn't go into details about the trophy as it is pretty self-explanatory but I'll like to show how the car looks before and after using the decals provided. Without further ado, let's look at a 360 of the car without any decals!

GSC has provided two sets of decals that you can use to paste on your car to make it look exactly like the one shown on the box. It also comes with a set of instructions on which to stick where in case you are uncertain. Do note that for my case, there are some stickers on either set that wouldn't come off well, and so I had to use the extra set to make up for it. Do treat each pasting like you wouldn't have an extra decal to use in replacement, and you'll mess up less.

The way the decals are arranged are exactly how you should put them on the car and it is actually rather simple to discern what should go where. Though, do note that the oil and dirt from you fingers may result in the decals being less sticky so I do recommend using something such as a pair of tweezers to carefully position the decal well. Re-pasting the decal would also obviously lead to it being damaged or being less sticky.

The most difficult decal to paste would be the yellow and pink flowers as I felt that they didn't line up well with the grooves and different angles of the car where it should have been pasted on. It wasn't very nicely done even on the prototype, so there's that as well.

It's definitely a very good feeling to finally own a Racing Nendoroid since most of them rise in price after release! Keep a lookout for her in the aftermarket if you do like this Nendoroid and I hope you'll find her at an affordable price!

~ Reina-rin

Unbelievably short anime titles that run for two to three minutes per episode seem increasingly delighted to play and tease, leaving most people extremely confused over their intentions. I still wonder about such creations, as usually one would stuff commercials and promotional videos to fill in those time gaps before the next show. Anyway, here is something that I kind of stumbled upon by accident. It isn't what I would usually watch, but amid its apparent theme springs a few pleasant (?) surprises. Welcome to Tachibanakan!

Tachibanakan To Lie Angle is classified as yuri, yet there really isn't much to be overly excited (?) by given its three-minutes-per-episode treatment. As for the surprises (?), one of them is the generous display of curves and assets supported by skimpy or no lingerie. I suppose the preferred term is fan service, not that I have anything to complain about. It just numbs rather quickly over time though. If you ask me what Tachibanakan is really all about, I would probably stare at thin air or something. Well, since it is yuri, it wouldn't be weird to expect something more sexy (?) and such over the course of the series.

Okay, so the main character Hanabi begins a new chapter of her life as she becomes a high school freshman, relocating to a supposedly posh dormitory known as Tachibanakan. Unfortunately, her relative mistakes the kanji for Tachibana, and poor Hanabi finds herself standing outside a much watered down Tachibanakan. Fate may have dealt a strong card, but it isn't totally an upsetting outcome. Hanabi sees a naked girl from the corner of her eye.

A scenario like this is very common. I mean, it is after all part of the fan service. The image embeds itself into Hanabi, who later discovers that the girl is also a resident of Tachibanakan.

Hanabi spots another resident of Tachibanakan, Konomi. Konomi shares fond childhood memories with Hanabi, but the latter only manages to place her until moments later. Konomi seems to have much deeper feelings for Hanabi, who remains largely oblivious.

Tachibanakan To Lie Angle is in fact a creative wordplay at its finest, if you happen to know the Japanese language pretty well. To Lie Angle can be interpreted as Triangle especially when read in katakana. So there will be a love triangle progressively in this series! Oh, don't mind the pair of boobs over there. I think it belongs to the landlady? I can't remember whose!

Eccentrically Yours.

Written by J.Fluffysheep ♪

"For relaxing times, make it Suntory time." 13 years after Lost in Translation's release, it seems as though the whole world has caught on and made their relaxing time a Suntory one, or Nikka...or any other Japanese whisky brand in fact, judging by how the industry is making international headlines every month. For the last three to four years, Japanese whisky sales has shot through the roof both domestically and internationally, winning numerous accolades and garnering immense praise from both critics and consumers alike. However, the attention has been a double-edged sword, with newer boys in the business being forced to innovate with non-age statement expressions or to bide their time and hope that the world is still as receptive in a few years. For market leaders Suntory and Nikka, they must be kicking themselves for not having the foresight to predict the success they're having currently, having opted to play it safe when the industry was in a lull. For the former brand, it has had to cease distribution for its popular Hakushuu 12 and Hibiki 17 expressions. On Nikka's end, they've had to do the same for their Yoichi and Miyagikyo lines. And as for myself, I regret not buying a few bottles when I had the chance to while I was travelling..and for finishing my bottle of Yamazaki 12 a little too quickly. Oh well, they say that hindsight is 20/20 after all.

With all the buzz surrounding Japanese whisky recently, I was curious to find out what made their take on the caramel-coloured spirit so appealing to consumers worldwide in recent years, even beating out bigwigs from Scotland and the USA. Enter Brian Ashcraft's Japanese Whisky: The Ultimate Guide to the World's Most Desirable Spirit. I came across the book while window shopping recently and eventually bought it after my browsing session threatened to become an in-depth reading. The book is split into two parts, with the first one detailing the history of Japanese whisky and what makes the tipple uniquely Japanese. However, I'm willing to bet that the second part is what most people would flip to instead. It details the major players in the market Suntory and Nikka, along with several rising stars and what the future of the industry holds. After the introduction to each brand, there is a set of tasting notes and scoring for a number of their whiskies by Japanese whisky blogger Kawasaki Yuji. These tastings include bottlings that are rare or might not even be available anymore, unless you've a spare arm or leg of course.

Although the pace of the first part is much slower than the second, it's far from dry, serving as a comprehensive guide to the Japanese whisky industry and showcasing how the culture of adaptability and flexibility has been present since its early years after first borrowing techniques from the Scottish. Additionally, Japan's drinking culture was explored, showcasing why whisky faced a decline for a period before its resurgence. Although beer still reigns supreme in Japan's drinking culture today due to its price, availability and how easy it is to pair with food, the guide also noted the places that sake, shochu and whisky had as well. The publication is a guide in every sense of the word, discussing the various steps of the production process and shedding light on native ingredients and materials that are used. Some of these include Japanese barley; which is already used to make beer and mizunara; a Japanese wood that's used to create casks that hold the whisky for aging and is reported to be notoriously difficult to work with.

For those of you who're strapped for time or are craving for a bottle or two already, I'm cutting to the chase, fret not. The highest scoring expressions on Suntory's end are The Yamazaki 1999 The Owner's Cask Mampei Hotel, with a whopping 98/100 and being mainly available at the Mampei Hotel in Karuizawa. Hibiki Deep Harmony comes in second at 97 points out of a possible 100 and like its cousin, is available only in Japan at bars across the country. For Nikka, its The Nikka 40 Years Old and 34 Years Old expressions all received a 98/100 but good luck finding a bottle of any of these. The latter expressions were bottled 19 and 20 years ago and as for the former, it's a limited edition, much like any other Japanese whisky these days actually.

Personally, one man's meat is another man's poison so just take the plunge and snag a bottle from any brand, you might just chance upon a hidden gem. Even Suntory's Kakubin and Nikka's Black Rich Blend hold their own against traditional whiskies that are geared towards mixing such as Johnnie Walker's Red Label or Jack Daniel's. These might even be your go-to whiskies after a long day, especially when paired with their best friends ice and soda water. However, as the industry continues to grow and with brands beginning to enter the fray, expect some duds in the coming years but for me, I'll be shrugging them off as experiments or as growing pains. The book ended up acting as an excellent introduction to the world of Japanese whisky and although several segments were bogged down by the technical aspects of whisky production, it was nonetheless a good read and a nice break from academic text, so cheers to that!

Written by ET

The Gardens by the Bay and Marina Bay were two of my most favorite attractions in Singapore. The plot of high value land siting at the Gardens by the Bay was previously the subject of Government dilemma - to build private condominiums and skyscrapers and collect revenue or to build a high cost garden for all citizens and tourists to enjoy. As we know, the final decision gave birth to the iconic Gardens by the Bay, which runs contrary to the principle of running a business; the ticket receipts which does not cover the high maintenance of running the two Domes and the entire repertoire of the Garden. Such is the sacrifice of the Singapore Government to give up revenue in exchange for a quality lifestyle to its citizens.

Kakichan The Oyster

Being familiar with these two attractions, I drew a Kakichan sea version of the attractions, beginning with a sketch.

The characters used for Gardens by the Bay (upper drawings) were pretty straightforward. The two Domes - Cloud Forest and Flower Dome are shells itself, just like Kakichan's shell. I used sea corals to replace the trees. Takorin, the dumbo octopus, one of my oc took over the Singapore Flyer.

As for the Marina Bay, I originally drew three large standing fishes but then I felt it didn't match the asethetics of the majestic Marina Bay Sands (MBS) Hotel. Then I remembered Hammerhead Sharks! The hammer-like appearance of the sharks, when joined side by side would form a nice bridge on the top. By the way, there is this awesome (and instagrammable) Infinity Pool over at the 57th storey of the MBS hotel which overlooks the panoramic city skyline of Marina Bay.

The two sea turtles depicts the shopping malls and Casino. The MBS museum features an orangy whale. Notice that for the Merlion, I added a touch of "Kakichan" by clipping some shells onto the lion's mane and tail.

It's easy to use our local fruit Durian (with an extreme pungent odour) to conjure the elegant musical theatre Esplanade but since this is a sea version, I thought why not use a bloated up Puffer Fish and reverse it, since the belly would produce the curve needed for the rather round shape.

If you like the kawaii look, you may save to your computer to be used as Desktop wallpapers. Please do not erase the credits on the bottom right.

Design Sketch by Max Wong
Illustrated by Shiriel

Do you like the two attractions as well? Which animal is your favorite? You can also write to us to request for a different background colour or orientation.

Hope you like the Gardens by the Bay and Marina Bay Kakichan sea version Wallpapers!

Written by Max Wong

For those of you who're avid players of Fate/Grand Order, you might have come across the chibi-fied versions of the heroic spirits during the 2017 and 2018 April Fool's Day events. Alternatively, you might have been reading the Learning with Manga! series by Riyo. The characters and their antics will put a smile on even the most bitter player's face; like me whenever I'm unable to snag the featured SSR servant even after spending all of my available Saint Quartz. Everyone's up to something silly in any given chapter, with the two main characters being too absorbed in romancing the many servants at their disposal and said heroic spirits having a ball of a time doing whatever catches their fancy in that particular chapter. Imagine my surprise when Good Smile Company actually announced a line of mini figurines featuring these 'Riyo-fied' characters. Hitting the pre-order button was a no-brainer, despite the protests from my wallet.

There are 6 figurines in each carton, with each box holding a different character. They're all displayed on the front and if your favourite one isn't in this 1st series of figurines or even the 2nd one released last month, you'll just have to wait for the 3rd one that'll be announced sooner or later. I'm surprised that the series isn't following a theme, such as characters from Fate/Extra, Fate/Stay Night or Fate/Apocrypha. They appear to be a mishmash of servants other than the female main character (known affectionately as Gudako) and Shielder (or Mashu Kyrielight). The rest include the ever-present Artoria Pendragon, idol-wannabe Elizabeth Bathory, Fate/Apocrypha's Jeanne D'Arc and Cu Chulainn's mentor Scathach. If you're worried about the figurines being too big, fret not. They're only around 3cm tall, perfect for your office cubicle or desk top.

Compared to Nendoroids or Figmas, these collectibles are idiot-proof to assemble and display. Cleaning them is a breeze as well. On the flip side, the quality of the figures themselves do not reach the standards that Good Smile Company's Nendoroids, Figmas and scale figures have set. There are minor issues with paint and detailing but you do get what you pay for. Fortunately, it isn't something that you notice unless you're inspecting them up close. Do handle them gently as they're not the most sturdy toys around, with Mashu's shield breaking after she fell from the top of my PC's monitor one too many times. Again, it isn't a large problem and a dab of superglue should be able to fix it in a minute.

All in all, I'm happy with my purchase despite the minor problems that these figurines have. They make for a sight for sore eyes and my work desk at home is now a little more fun to be at. Now the only problem would be making space for the 2nd and 3rd series of figurines. But it's definitely a problem that I'm happy to deal with.

Written by ET

If you remember this as the Racing Miku that was delayed nearly a year, you're right. It's been quite some time since I received this figure but I've only find time to open this recently. The part that I love best about this figure is that she isn't sculpted to be viewed as looking at you, which is what most figures are meant to do. This makes her unique to me, and the main reason why I got her.

Now, let's look at other reasons why she is awesome.

Packaging

She comes with a full plastic window in front to allow you to view the whole figure, and it also shows the few important accessories that comes with her, such as the tires on the base and the weights, as well as the huge umbrella behind her. Having all these parts also means that she has quite a bit to be assembled.

Unlike the other Racing Miku Nendoroids, this follows an illustration and does not come with a race car. However, they placed a lot of emphasis onto the vibrancy of the colors used as well as the box design. There is a different design on each side of the box and the bottom of each side has a rainbow border which serves to make the colorful figure even more vibrant.

The blister itself is also very sturdy and there are several layers to it to hold the figure, weights and drinks, as well as the umbrella, plain base and tires separately so as to minimize damages during transport. The umbrella also comes with its own additional clear plastic support to help stabilize it within the blister.

Accessories

These are all the additional parts which the figure comes with (excluding the main figure herself, of course). Though Good Smile Company also comes with a detailed instruction sheet on how to position the accessories, I'll cover some of the basics here, and have a proper review on the quality control of the figure in a separate post.

Assembly

The first part to this is to either attach the tires to the base then attach Miku on the tires, or attach Miku to the tires then the whole thing to the base. I chose to perform the latter since my copy of Miku didn't have the best peg and peg-hole match up to the tires, but you can obviously choose to do either.

Miku is joined to the tires with a single peg, demarcated by the green arrow on the image above.

After putting her in place, make sure that her left foot is on the second tire and her right foot is on the bottom-most tire. If your Miku does not like up, you might have her feet dangling slightly above the tire, which may appear unnatural, so if you have no qualms against tight pegs, go on and wiggle her tighter in place. This peg is not that fragile.

Next would be joining the tires to the grey circular base. Something to note here is that the rightmost peg hole (the one closest to the yellow weight) is smaller than the rest, so you will have to match up the whole ensemble perfectly.

This might also be where it gets tricky if you have attached Miku to the tires first as it might interfere with your ease of pressing down the tires flush against the base. But think about it this way, having these different sized pegs also helps ensure that your Miku would be facing the way she is supposed to face!

The other next important accessory to put in would be the umbrella. And in case you haven't noticed, we only have two more to go: the umbrella and the energy drinks.

To slide the umbrella in place, simply unscrew the white part of the umbrella and this will allow it to slide in the gap between Miku's neck and shoulder. The white part also comes with a peg that would attach to her left knee to keep the umbrella in place as well. As the peg hole is difficult to capture well on camera, I'll leave that part out.

The last and final part to this assembly would be to attach the can to Miku's left hand, and the thin grey peg also helps give it a "floating" image. This is by far the hardest part of the assembly to me and of course, since the peg is so thin, you would have to be extremely careful when handling it.

Once the peg is in place, you can then rotate the accessory to have it facing Miku. Do ensure that the whole thicker white portion of the peg is in place before doing so though!

~ Reina-rin

As most of you know, this Miku is the pride and joy and the Racing Miku that I loved. I did not even own any other Racing Miku figures before ordering this one. One of the things that I loved about this Miku would be the range of accessories which she came with and the vibrant colors that she has.

It would probably remain a regret for me (forever) that I did not get her Nendoroid, but well, I might find it at a good price someday. Going back to the figure, I'll like to start the review off by talking about the base.

Base

I love how they kept the tires to the correct kind that are used for racing, and comes with the prints on them to add more detail to the figure. I could have seen them coming with a design that would match normal tires more (with better grip) to add an additional level of detail and dynamism to the figure but I am really glad that they kept to the theme.

The matte black paint used here ties in very well to the asphalt-like base, and since both are dark in colors, it helps the vibrant colors of Miku's costume and the pastel colors of the weights to really pop.

There are some markings on the tires that adds even more detail and seem more personalized as it isn't "printed"!

All the weights actually come with cute little faces and a corresponding weight as well. The faces also tie in very well with their positions. For instance, the green sleeping weight several images back is sitting on the lowest tire and hence the peaceful expression. On the other hand, this yellow weight appears to be struggling to prevent the middle tire from slipping out from under Miku.

The third and last weight in this figure would be this cute little red weight, whose role is to carry a can of red bull to Miku. The weight is shown as light, and perhaps the reason why it is able to fly (other than the obvious connection with Red Bull's slogan).

And the very last accessory we will look at before jumping into Miku's sculpt and painting would be the umbrella. The umbrella is essentially the next most colorful thing in this figure apart from Miku.

One thing that I really like about the handle would be how the colors seem to match the top half of Miku's gloves to a T when viewed from certain angles.

The colors running up the umbrella from red (top) to purple (edge) also contrasts well against her hair, which runs in the opposite way from purple to red. The adequate use of plain white portions as well as red with the white Goodsmile logo also aids in creating additional layers of contrast and depth.

Miku's pose is really relaxed in this figure and it looks as if she's caught in a picture unknowingly rather than the other Racing Miku figures which look more like they were posing specifically for the camera.

From the side we see plenty of colors that go on the underside of the umbrella as well as on Miku. Her hair comes with red stripes down which tangle around strands that grow into a rainbow gradient.

I found the lack of blending for both the rainbow colors and the highlights rather jarring at first, but after sometime of deliberation about ordering her, I actually got used to it. The seven different colors of a rainbow doesn't blend together perfectly as well, and the stark differences in borders of the colors actually grew on me. On hindsight, it's actually amazing how they managed to fit so many colors in such a small area and yet still have them all clean with no paint transfers and errors.

The only clear gradient effect that we see would be on her stockings that go from red at her thighs to yellow at her feet. This gradient is by no means gentle but since red and yellow are close on the color wheel, it actually matches up well together. (And on her knee, you see the peg hole that the umbrella is supposed to go into as well).

All the different words on Miku's outfit and red borders are very clean on my copy as well.

The ear accessory does appear rather chunky but I'm not sure if that's how it looks in real life.

The names of all the sponsors are on her back and all their logos are clean and pretty. The piapro semi-translucent straps running down are slightly flexible so don't worry too much about breaking them. They add a very good touch to the figure though, as they run and fit in a different way around the tires as opposed to Miku's hair.

Enjoyment 8/10

I'll probably get her again if I'm giving the choice. The amount of vibrant colors really adds a lot to a display and her different view (not looking directly at the person looking at the figure) helps to spin a story and give it a very different feel from most of the other figures which you, as a collector, may have. Personally, I'm all for these new aspects.

However, do note that if your display mainly encompasses darker colors, this piece might be a little too jarring for your collection. You may wish to consider placing her in a different location, or use it as a centerpiece in that case.

~ Reina-rin

When you love Japanese anime figure as much as I do, there's only one thing that you must do whenever you head to Japan. This time, I am there for a graduation trip and I've seized the opportunity to finish up all the half-completed figure series that I have!

In addition, I also took the chance to get a whole bunch of doujinshi that added up to above 20k yen, but that's a story for another day. Let's get started with the figure loot!

If you follow my figure review for Yuru Yuri, you should know that I have both the normal and the transparent Akari figures. With the addition of Yui, Kyoko and the exclusive Chinatsu, I have officially completed the whole Yuru Yuri nendoroid series!

Chinatsu went for about 6-7k yen as she is exclusive, while Kyoko and Yui were from 3-4k yen each.

Kuroyukihime was an impulse buy as I never planned to purchase her before the trip. She was going for about 2k yen which made her rather irresistible. She was also sealed and in mint condition, save for the fact that she had a ton of plasticiser due to the long period of time she was sealed up.

Thankfully, to remove plasticiser, you only need to use water, a small amount of gentle soap and a cloth, so I'll be taking the effort to clean her back up to pristine condition. After which, I'll post her unboxing and review, so look forward to that!

I recently got a friend into Kancolle, which is both a good and bad time to get into the fandom, as the fandom for the franchise is slowly deteriorating. While that means less goods of your waifu, it can also mean that the goods get cheaper as well!

For instance, currently, exclusive Akagi went for about 2k and Yamato for 5k when they originally went for 5k or more. With such a steal in plain sight, it's obvious that I'll go for it~ Both were sealed and/or in mint condition as well, but unfortunately the plane flight home left Akagi's box with slight damage at the corners.

Kongo and Haruna are my favorite two sisters and they were going for 2.5k and 2.2k yen respectively so I picked them up. Unfortunately, this Kongo is not the exclusive version, but it was simply too difficult to pass her up when the exclusive was going for 1k yen more instead...

Before we move on to the idol-related loot, let's look at my last non-idol figure, which is Celestia from Danganronpa! She is our favorite SHSL Gambler and is graced with a 1/7 figure from Myethos (Emontoys) and hence, I just had to get her.

A figure of Danganronpa? Check. Favorite company, Myethos? Check.

Her box is made of corrugated cardboard and came out of the plane trip completely unscathed, unlike the thinner boxes such as those for the Nendoroids and Shimamura Uzuki (next figure).

This Uzuki is my friend's best Uzuki figure so I had to pick up a copy! Personally, this isn't my favorite for her but each to their own. Thankfully, my friend is more than willing for me to use Uzuki for a review article so those Uzuki fans out there can keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming review!

Those who know me know that I'm more of a Love Live fan (other than for Amami Haruka) so I definitely had to pick up some Love Live goods while I was there. As expected, even with the declining popularity for our nine lovely girls, Minami Kotori's goods are still quite rare to find, Hence, I settled for collecting Kousaka Honoka's goods as she is my second best girl of the nine and of the series as well.

I never really liked the Good Smile Company rendition (left figure) but sometimes, you just want to collect everything you can get your hands on. I do wish that they completed the whole series of the nine of them in BokuIma outfits but well, I suppose it'll forever just remain as an unfulfilled wish.

The wish to collect all nine girls in a same outfit line still holds and since GSC wouldn't do that, I have to look for other alternatives. And that brings us to... the Birthday Figures! They are in their KiraKira sensation outfits and I especially like the off-shoulder style that Umi, Kotori and Eli have on :)

I'm not too huge on the exclusive, which contains a file and a printed autographed card, so I got the normal version for most of them. Umi is the only one I bought the exclusive for as I couldn't find a non-exclusive version anywhere.

I got most of these from Amiami's physical shop, Umi from Mandarake and Rin from Lashinban. The joke is that Umi later appeared in Suruga-ya's physical shop several days later, non-exclusive, and at a cheaper price.

I still need some time to get over that...

~ Reina-rin

Welcome to a post on Nendoroid Jibril, where I would be unboxing and reviewing her this time round! This Nendoroid has been out in the market for a while now and unlike her scale counterpart, she did not have an equivalent price peak. That being said, let's take a look at this beauty!

Packaging

The Nendoroid numbers have certainly increased a lot and very rapidly ever since I started collecting Nendoroids... For Jibril, I decided to get the exclusive version, which leads us to the normal box on the left of the image and the exclusives in the black pouch on the right.

The exclusives consist of a skull part, a hand to hold and a black halo. This is reminiscent of her back in the days when they were at war and also ties in perfectly with her scale figure if you decide to pose both with her dark side.

This is a non-exclusive part, but I would like to mention that she also comes with two stickers for you to paste onto her tablet screen. Matching this with her blushing and drooling expression would make it seem like she is incredibly excited over the Sora and Shiro Nendoroids.

Of course, you can use other stickers (even custom make your own) to use on her tablet to bring out her side that thirsts for knowledge, but I will be sticking with this sticker in this review.

The blister is secure and her limbs (bottom right) actually come with an additional piece of blister to keep it all in place even when you open the larger outer blister. Her faceplates are also rather varied and thus give a very high amount of poseability since you can match her with many different scenarios with Sora and Shiro Nendoroids, or even on her own.

However, she does come with minimal accessories, namely a tablet and book, and the skull if you bought the GSC exclusive instead.

Assembly

Not much to put in this aspect other than placing the sticker on the tablet. Do note that the back of the tablet comes with the cherry symbol and thus, the sticker should go onto the side that is completely white.

That same side also comes with a sculpted border to guide where the screen lies, and your sticker should fit flush against that same border. There is also a button at the bottom of the tablet, similar to iPads, for an additional touch in design.

There are two stickers provided in case you mess up, and as with most stickers, the oil from your fingers would make it less sticky so for most stickers involving small parts such as these, I prefer to rely on a clean pair of tweezers.

Simply grab a side and make sure it is aligned before pasting it on! Needless to say, re-pasting is not ideal :')

Figure

We shall look at her with the normal release parts first. One aspect of Jibril that I really love is how much she likes to read. As her expressions are varied but versatile, you can easily match all her three expressions with the book and still have all of them fit. For this, I tried matching her standard expression, which makes it look like she is looking up from her book.

I have no further pictures of her book, but it is completely white on the pages. I wished that GSC did print some writing on it, seeing as they took the extra effort to give stickers for the tablet that is held in the same manner.

Removing the book from her grip, we will next take a look at her outfit. Jibril is rather underdressed and GSC has taken the extra mile and effort to sculpt out the bottom of her ribs to give her a more shapely figure.

As usual the paint jobs of the purple hemlines and red patterns on her top is pristine and clean with no paint spillage and transfers. They have also kept her bottoms accurate to her design, especially her stockings which I would cover later.

Here, I'll like to mention that the yellow flaps of her bottoms are fitted with joints and can be moved to suit whatever pose you would like to put her in.

Jibril's wings are delicately sculpted and the chibi sculpt matched with the long white feathers make her wings look both cute and dainty! You can move her wings up and down to her expression and pose as well. Her ears are also sculpted in the same manner and comes in two tones, a lighter brown and a darker, more striking brown.

Something that all NGNL Nendoroids have is gradient in their hair and Jibril is definitely not an exception! The colors go from pink to blue and while the light gradient at the tips of her hair looks superb, I do wish that GSC had tired to blend her usual pink hair better with the lighter pinks and oranges. The abrupt switch in colors is rather jarring.

The sculpting of her stockings is accurate and clean for the purple side. The orange sock has a little blemish when it comes to the pink stripes (image below) but can be largely overlooked.

However, do note that by having two different feet like this would mean that interchanging the parts would be extremely obvious. She also only comes with straight and bent legs that gives her limited posing in this aspect.

Jibril's excited expression is one of my favorite expressions for her and I am so glad that they added that into the Nendoroid as well! But as I mentioned before, her expressions are easily interchangeable and I love how she can look so excited with a tablet here, but when you change the expression......

She looks so scheming!

And to bring it up to a higher level, I decided to use the exclusive parts which includes the black halo and skull! This really brings out the menacing aspect of her that leaves her fans quaking in their boots!

Enjoyment
Highly recommended for all Jibril fans as she can match really well with her scale figure.

For those who merely want this Nendoroid for interchangeable parts, she has at least two expressions that can be used to enhance other Nendoroids as well. She also comes with accessories such as the book and tablet that can be used as normal day items to match with other Nendoroids!

~ Reina-rin

Although it's not a Monday, Ai-chan is here to greet you on a train! This is an unboxing review for Ai-chan from Getsuyoubi no Tawawa :) She comes with several accessories (smartphone, school bag, clothes in bag, and a hand-puppet salaryman)! She also has a pre-order bonus exclusive to Good Smile Online Shop, which is the version I purchased.

Packaging

Unlike the feminine pink that I expected Ai-chan to come in, her box comes in blue instead. And strangely enough, it does suit her and even helps to bring out her blue-green tints in her eyes.

The exclusive pre-order bonus comes in a black sealed plastic and the bonus is one-half of a train door. This is actually quite a meaningful exclusive since there are many scenes that consist of Ai-chan and the train door so you can actually create many memorable scenes from the series with this!

Ai-chan's faceplates are actually rather plain and doesn't have much in the way of changing expressions. She comes with another upper body that has her brown vest that's soft to the touch. This might be exceptionally attractive to some collectors, but I'll stick with the usual Nendoroid body version instead. I'll still give a comparison of these two bodies later too.

Figure accessories

She comes with a brown paper bog that holds a change of clothes. The white and blue attire can be removed from the paper bag as well, and they white shirt is actually sculpted fully with a collar and buttons down the front of it!

In addition, it also comes with a white iPhone with a paused video. This phone can be placed on Ai-chan's chest to recreate the scene from the anime.

To keep it on her chest, the back of the phone is also fitted with unique ridges to hold it in place. It also fits into place better on the softer upper body as it is made of a more rubbery material that keeps the phone from potentially falling out of place. Do note that she doesn't come with any hand holding parts for the phone though.

Ai-chan also has a rather unique hairstyle which consists of braids going down past her ears. The rest of her hair is just a normal straight bob. I love how the ends are delicately shaded, though they could have added more loose strands to the back of her hair to make it look more dynamic and puffier.

Her school bag is sculpted well with all the different pouches you normally see on this style of Japanese school bags. There is only one extended band that you are supposed to sling over her shoulder. I found it rather troublesome to sling this into place so I opted to display her without the bag.

The hand-puppet salaryman is an additional part in the normal version of this Nendoroid, and I find that it's amazing that other than an additional upper body part, GSC actually also included this salaryman part as well! I do wish that they also included a faceless head part as well.

The slacks for this hand-puppet is cut off to match Ai-chan's height... The difference in body size for Ai-chan and the puppet is rather hilarious to behold, but it would definitely look more well-matched after you put the whole of Ai-chan's Nendoroid together.

The slacks portion of the puppet gives you space to fit your index and middle fingers to move it. In addition, this also helps him to stand on a flat surface.

Next up, it's the softer body for Ai-chan where only the vest part is soft. Do note that the paint job for this part is less pristine than the usual Nendoroid body, especially for the blue blazer when it meets the white collar shirt and the vest.

The bottom of the vest is also not completely straight-cut, and it doesn't appear to be part of the design. Due to the softness of the material, it might be possible that there was slight chipping that occured. Do note that the bottom is also not completely attached to the blazer, so be careful when placing the skirt part in place, such that you do not damage the vest.

On the left side of the image, we have the usual Nendoroid body while the softer upper body part is on the right. As you can see, the usual body comes with a lot more creases and sculpting while the softer body appears to have fuller breasts instead. It also seems that the soft body part is much less resistant to dust and damage so you'd definitely want to take precious care for it if you choose to display the Nendoroid with it.

You can obviously choose which body you'd rather use.

The back of two bodies are identical and comes with a peg at the same area, so they are definitely interchangeable.

For starters, I put Ai-chan into a Nendoroid More: Office Lady wear to match the salaryman outfit. The 10cm height of Ai-chan's Nendoroid matches the salaryman well and illustrates how there is a height difference between them.

Putting Ai-chan back into her regular outfit and displaying her with the train door really does bring out the feel of the series. The background sheet included in the Nendoroid box also uses the interior of a train so you can definitely use it as part of your display if you did not get the exclusive door part :)

The window of the train door is clear and has a peg to join it to the base so you can definitely use it from the other side as well. Seeing as you can even match this door for other Nendoroids, it would definitely be a bonus to get the exclusive version of this Nendoroid!

Enjoyment

Other than the lack of variation in faceplates (which is justified as Ai-chan doesn't show that many expressions in the series anyway), this Nendoroid comes with a lot of different additional items that are rather unique, and would make it a good purchase, such as an additional upper body part and the salaryman hand-puppet.

The more common accessories such as the school bag and phone can be used as side accessories in diorama too, and the paper bag of clothes is actually rather versatile! For instance, it can be used for a scene in a mall, or you can even swap the clothes in it out for anything else you'd rather put in the bag. This is definitely one of the Nendoroids that's well justified to get just for the accessories and for mixing and matching with your other Nendoroids!

~ Reina-rin

I'm back for another visual artbook review and this time it's SHIROBAKO and the glorious thing is that this entire book is simply filled from start to end with glorious illustrations of the cast! The main focus of this book is of course the main five girls (or more specifically, Aoi, Ema and Rii-chan) but fret not because the other cast members also have their own share of screen time in this illustration book as well!

The cover has a very beautiful glittery shine that is on both the front and back covers. However, if you don't like it, this same illustration is present in a page inside of the book itself!

Firstly, the book treats us to a range of illustration featuring different cast members that worked together with the main five during the series, such as the artists, producers, directors as well as other members of the production team!

Following up, we have solo shots of the main five girls to act as part of a pre-introduction before we move on to the main bulk of the book, which would be the illustrations.

Most illustrations only take up a single page and while they are usually unique illustrations in the book, there are two instances where very similar artworks are used. One of them is seen in the image above, where the left has Aoi and Ema in more conservative clothing than the illustration on the right.

There are quite a few artworks which span two full pages and in many of such instances, the other cast members would have a cameo appearance as well!

There are actually quite a few illustrations featuring the female cast in hot springs and also at the beach (swimsuits) which shouldn't be that strange considering that the main cast members are all females :/ Otherwise, the other recurring theme in this book would include donuts, which is the favorite get-together food for the main five!

I totally love works like this where they feature everyone!!!

A little more than halfway through the book, we are rewarded with another set of solo shots. The main five girls are given two pages each and I've chosen to show the illustrations dedicated to Rii-chan.

The other female cast members that are essential to the series are given a single page each. I do wish that equal love was given to them though, as they grew on me quite a bit as well.

The males are typically grouped together into a single illustration though...

In addition, we also have several chibi to keep us company and while the left illustration of them in their usual outfit is quite normal, it's nice to have them in their yukata outfits! These look psyched up to be turned into merchandise so I hope we'll get rubber straps of these at some point.

One thing I really love about Shirobako is how they always take the extra step to showcase the behind the scenes of anime production. In the OVA, we even had the chance to watch the series that the Shirobako cast worked on, such as Aria, so being able to have illustrations of the Shirobako cast with characters in these works really help to increase the feels for the series!

Enjoyment

While some of the illustrations are repeated and can be found online, it's definitely fresh and good to have a physical copy of these illustrations as well as many more which are new. I love collecting artbooks and I think that this book definitely gave a very new outlook to what Shirobako had to offer.

I wished that there would be more artworks that encompassed the anime which the cast was working on throughout the series as I did find their storylines (in the OVA) to be interesting and the design of the characters were amazing as well. I would have loved to know and learn more about them.

~ Reina-rin

Here's a book review on another one of P.A. Works' anime, Sakura Quest. The cover of the book shows the main five girls in the series, although the artstyle for this cover is unlike that of the anime.

In Sakura Quest, the five girls come together to attempt to bring tourists and life back to a rural town, Manoyama, together with some of the influential people in the town itself. They are faced with many hurdles as some of the plans fail, while others seemingly succeed, and along the way they unearth the feelings of the townspeople who want to change the town for the better, and those who want things to remain as they are.

Koharu also battles with her own emotions as she grew up in a similar rural town and has always aspired to live in Tokyo, but is instead dragged into this debacle in Manoyama, a town similar to the one she grew up in. Here, she finds a new sense of belonging and pride for being born in a rural town, as well as meaning in her life that was lost in the hustle and bustle of repeated failed job interviews back in Tokyo.

The book begins with showcasing the different views and outfits that the main five girls wore throughout the series. This probably helps if you like a throwback or wish to draw them in their various outfits. As with most P.A. Works artbooks, they put a lot of emphasis on the main cast, but add the other cast members in later in the book as well.

Being in a rural area, there is a very special festival that happens in Manoyama. This festival was lost for a long time, and with Koharu's persistence, they decided to hold the festival again! This page in the artbook showcases the different objects that are used in the festival, especially the dragon which plays a huge role in their folktale.

Along with the map of Manoyama included, we also see several important locations highlighted in the town. This isn't something normally highlighted in other artbooks so I find it interesting and a nice addition!

One of the cast members is a famous artist that specializes in tribal art. This page showcases some of his works and the colorful image in the middle is actually his design for the rebuilding of the castle (that never really happened in the end) but it was still one of the girls' plans for their Manoyama revival strategy.

We then get a lot more character based art with the main five girls in even more outfits. This is becoming akin to a fashion magazine at this point...

Thankfully some love is given to the other characters as well, though unlike the main five, they do not have a full page dedicated to them.

Props are something that is highly valued in the series. This includes the bags the girls use, and the "Excalibur" sword ploy that they did to try to convince Koharu to stay in Manoyama. The Chukakabura manjuu is also a recurring item that appears throughout the series so it's definitely heartwarming to see them add it in here!

Next up is the art board where we get to see the different background art and architecture drawn and shaded in great detail. I love the use of colors and light here! It makes it look like pretty backgrounds that you're likely to find in high-end visual novels :)

Other than these, there is also an interview corner which is completely in Japanese. If you can't read Japanese, fret not, because there are translations online. Besides, this interview only takes up several pages, so you are definitely not missing out too much in terms of material, even if you skip this section!

The last part of the book is actually a contribution corner which you can see many different art styles displayed as many different artists draw the cast members. There are quite a number of hilarious as well as pretty art in this section so be sure not to miss it when you flip through the book!

Enjoyment
Personally, I like how the book focuses on background art and fleshing out the different aspects of Manoyama. It really helps create a better image of Manoyama when you have a map and famous spots indicated clearly on it! Besides, the backgrounds are of even higher quality than the anime which makes it miles better as a keepsake!

That being said, I think too much emphasis was put into highlighting the different outfits each girl has and all the different angles and views of them. I find that those pages can be put to even better use. It feels slightly lackluster for the price of 2,500 yen and this is even more so if you are not a hyped fan of the series.

~ Reina-rin

Sakai Wakana is the main protagonist of Tari Tari and is one of the members to join the 'Choir and Sometimes Badminton Club' with the other main characters. After her mother's death, she lives with her father and her cat, Dora. To fit in different aspects of Wakana's life, Dora, as well as a piano and a singing faceplate are included.

Packaging

Wakana is one of the older Nendoroids and comes with a different design on the box. Back then, each box has a different design and this soft bubbly look suits the nostalgic and relaxing feel that the series brings.

The blister showcases all the different parts that this Nendoroid contains. Despite only having two faceplates, she comes with quite a bit of accessories including a piano and chair, a stool, Dora, a scoop and cat food, as well as her school bag.

Wakana's school uniform is also different from most other female Nendoroids as she comes in a pinafore and not a usual blouse and skirt. Hence, instead of coming with a separate sitting down skirt part, she actually comes with a whole separate body!

Cat

Dora comes with a red collar and uniquely placed black spots. There are no paint flaws with regards to how the collar and the spots meet the white cat's body. Other than that, we will also look at the various other accessories this Nendoroid comes with and how they fit with her, as well as the sculpting and painting on Wakana herself.

Figure

First up is a pose of Wakana with her school bag and Dora with a bowl of cat food. The bowl is light green, which contrasts well against the dry texture of the brown chunks of cat food. In addition, the pinafore that Wakana wears is adequately creased around her waist and these creases are also mirrored on the back of her outfit.

Her ponytail is also sculpted and painted well, and these details help to give the impression that her hair is tied back tightly, which forms her trademark hairstyle.

Her schoolbag also comes with a properly sculpted and painted metal zip as well as a soft-looking plushie strap. It isn't difficult to slide the bag into place but there is only one plausible way to display her holding the bag.

To display her seated on the piano chair, you would need to join her sitting parts to the chair. There is a peg hole on these two parts that can be securely joined with a plastic peg to hold them together (image below). Good Smile Company gave two different plastic pegs (one longer and one shorter) to use with her sitting body.

After placing her on the chair, you will have to insert the Nendoroid head and hands to give her the pose you would like her to have. Personally, I love how the skirt flares out at the sides as it meets the chair!

By using the other plastic peg you are able to join her to this "stool" sitting part as well. The logic is the same as with the piano chair.

The miniature Nendoroid piano is very beautifully detailed. I love how it is quite an accurate reflection of a piano and the bright gold accents inside of the piano helps to add a more elegant feel to this Nendoroid as well.

However, the piano does seem slightly small in comparison when you match the Nendoroid together with it.

Enjoyment
This Nendoroid comes with many different accessories that you can display with other Nendoroids as well, which makes this a very good purchase. With this being an old Nendoroid and hence a slightly lower price, I would say that this is a very good purchase for any collector who wants to use her accessories, and especially for fans of her and the series!

~ Reina-rin

Haqua from Kami Nomi Shiru zo Sekai is another old-version Nendoroid which I picked up. As with most of these older Nendoroids, their neckplates do not match up entirely with the newer ones so be sure to take note of this if you are planning to use her parts with other newer Nendoroids.

Packaging

Being an older Nendoroid, her box follows a very different design from the newer ones and actually has their own backgrounds. She comes with a mass of purple and pink with slight yellow accents, which matches her purple color scheme and feminine charm.

Haqua doesn't come with many accessories that can be matched with other Nendoroids, but has her two most important ones: her scythe and a special detention bottle! She also has three different faceplates that give the Nendoroid a very good variation in expressions as well as showcase her different sides (blushing and embarrassed, and angry sides).

Figure

Her base is not the same as the usual square Nendoroid base and this smaller base makes her much more compact and easier to display among your other figures. The side ponytails sticking out are connected by pegs so you can twist and turn them to match the direction you want to use when posing her. Also, her outfit comprises mainly of red and white and a lot of frills at her collar, and the ruffles are very delicately sculpted and painted. On the flipside, there isn't much shading and creases around her outfit.

The blush on her cheeks for this faceplate doesn't show well on camera but it definitely can pass as a cute flustered expression even when matched with other Nendoroids.

As this was a second hand Nendoroid from Mandarake, she actually came with a damaged part. There is a broken peg in the peghole on the back of her hair. This peghole is used to insert a part to hold up her raiment. Thankfully, even without the peg in place, the raiment is still able to be held up simply by placing it in the space between her arms and body.

The other faceplate looks very cute alone, but the mouth seems a tad too huge when you fit it with the Nendoroid. In this new pose, I have Haqua in the air, holding a special detention jar. The scythe is also accurate to the design and can be balanced even when she holds it with a single hand.

Another way to pose Haqua with the scythe would be her sitting on it, and this is also the most difficult pose to put her into since you have to space her hands apart wide enough so as to keep her shoulders in place.

The length of the handle is also resting in the gap between the back of her skirt and behind her bottom so Haqua is technically not "sitting" on it. At some angles, this become increasingly apparent as well...

Enjoyment
Unless you are a diehard fan of Haqua or the series, this isn't a Nendoroid that I would recommend getting due to the difficulty in placing her into some of her more memorable poses. The number of accessories that comes with her is also limited and wouldn't mesh well with other Nendoroids that are not of the same series.

~ Reina-rin

Otherwise known as "Aru Zombie Shoujo no Sainan", this ONA is a total of 79 minutes long and consists of a lot of gore and violence, and the occasional nudity. Please be warned that this post is picture-heavy and there might be some NSFW content and spoilers below so proceed at your own risk!

Characters 5/10
There are three main groups of characters in this show.

First, the zombies: Euphrosyne Studion (left, a rich young lady from the esteemed Studion family) voiced by Hayama Saori, and her maid, Alma V (right), voiced by Ogata Yui.

The second group of characters would be the teacher Takanashi Shuichiro voiced by Sugita Tomokazu, and his younger sister, Takanashi Mako, voiced by Shiraishi Ryoko.

The last group in the main cast would be the five students of the Occult Research Club staying on campus during summer break:

Kamoshida Sayaka voiced by Sawashiro Miyuki

Abe Masahiro voiced by Suzuki Tatsuhisa

Minagawa Yui voiced by Ichimichi Mao

Sudo Noriko voiced by Kubo Yurika

Azuma Hiroshi voiced by Miwa Takahiro

There is limited character development throughout the episode. In addition, characters were killed left and right, and most of these instances were due to their own and/or a result of another character's stupidity. This made it a little frustrating to watch.

A good point about the characters, however, were that they were all twisted in their own way and all had a clear motive for doing what they did. For instance, Sayaka loves the teacher, Shuichiro, and is willing to go to any lengths just to get on his good side. On the other hand, Abe is a selfish coward and would do anything in order to stay alive, even at the expense of the other club members. The zombies want to retrieve their Stone of Life (which Sayaka stole and passed to Shuichiro),

Plot and Pacing 6/10
Putting the whole story into chronological perspective, Sayaka was in love with Shuichiro and wanted to help him further his research. On the other hand, Shuichiro is in an incestuous relationship with his psychotic younger sister, Mako. Shuichiro is also a scientist interested in zombies and the Stone of Life which appears to be able to keep corpses moving, and hence staged a plan together with Sayaka to retrieve the Stone from the unmoving undead Euphrosyne Studion, which is a coffin placed in the warehouse on campus.

She spread rumors on a site about the Tokugawa Buried Treasure being in the same warehouse, to get the President of the Occult Research Club, Abe, as well as the other members interested and participate in the raid. Shuichiro's role during the raid was to keep the janitor away, as well as to set off fireworks as a distraction. Sayaka managed to get the Stone, which she later passed to Shuichiro, while the rest of the club returned empty-handed and grouchily settled back in their own rooms.

Meanwhile, Alma and Euphrosyne awakens after the Stone was stolen and made plans to retrieve it as it was a "gift" from Euphrosyne's beloved father.

Here we get introduced to Euphrosyne's durable body and supernatural strength...

... as well as Alma's metamorphosis abilities as she transformed into the janitor after eating a small amount of his brain matter.

Their target was to find out which of the students had the stone, but as the zombies delve into the matter, and in the process, killed many of the students...

They realized that the mastermind of the whole debacle was Shuichiro, who is a descendant of the Studion family and the next rightful owner of the Stone. Unlike the previous heirs, Shuichiro only wanted the Stone and had no wish to keep the zombies alive. For this purpose, he transplanted the Stone into Mako to turn her into a weapon to kill off Euphrosyne, as well as killed Alma.

However, he miscalculated the depth of the love yandere Mako had for him and this oversight resulted in his death as Mako wrenched his heart out from his chest and ate it, believing that this would mean that they would stay together forever.

His corpse is later shown to be useful in helping Alma heal from her injuries, so at least his death wasn't in vain...?

Following Mako's murder of her brother, she then launched an all-out attack on Euphrosyne who was at a disadvantage due to the depleting amounts of energy left in her body. Mako showed immense skill at using the powers of the Stone, and even managed to corner and injure her (tearing off her head and bashing her skull in).

However, the lesser amount of experience turned the tables as Euphrosyne was able to keep Mako stuck to the ground by penetrating Mako's stomach with the same baseball bat and drop a church bell on her, thus severing Mako's body into two.

She retrieved the stone from Mako's abdominal area and regained enough energy to easily overpower Mako when she tried a last, albeit futile, attack against Euphrosyne.

Frankly, the plot on a whole does make sense, but the execution in the ONA does leave a lot to be desired. My main gripe would be the pacing, as it was terribly slow in the beginning and lead-up to the climax, but the ending was rather abrupt. This was probably due to their attempt to expand on the characters during the first one-third of the show, but that failed terribly as the characters still appeared one-dimensional. Also. the animation was not always smooth, though still tolerable.

Possible improvements

The whole plot ties back to the Stone of Life, which Sayaka stole from Euphrosyne and passed to Shuichiro to aid him in furthering his research. This Stone was made by the first Baron of the Studions (Euphrosyne's father), and upon its removal, resurrects the zombies. With the unfolding of the plot, we understand that the Stone acts like a sort of powerhouse where Euphrosyne (and likely, Alma) draws energy from to move. Even after the removal of the stone, Euphrosyne is seen to still be able to move well for a period of time due to the residual energy of the stone left in her body. However, she feels her body steadily getting heavier as time goes on.

Unfortunately, this is also a jarring plothole. The story does not cover further about how the Stone came about and what it actually is, other than suggesting it has some magical origin, as the Baron dabbled in magic, and Euphrosyne's body would perish without it.

If the Stone was a source of energy for the zombies, why did they only awaken after the energy source was removed? Besides, when Sayaka removed the Stone from Euphrosyne, we see that the maid was the first to awaken instead of Euphrosyne, who had the Stone in her initially. On the contrary, at the end of the movie, after Euphrosyne claimed the Stone back from Mako, they do not go back to sleep and instead, seem to be planning on living in modern Japan. This doesn't add up with the idea that the Stone is the cause of their resurrecting/sleeping cycles.

Also, Euphrosyne said the line in the image above, suggesting that while Alma is a mummy while she is a zombie. However, the ONA didn't delve into the specific differences between the two beings other than the obvious difference in strength and durability.

Overall rating 5/10
The poor pacing and lack of character development was definitely a blow to the show. This is definitely not a show that I would recommend if you are expecting something crazily good, however if you want to watch something where the zombies are shown as the good guys, this is one of them in the small proportion of shows which you can consider watching.

The amount of gore and occasional badly-placed comedy also makes it a very good show you can check out on a movie night with your friends, just be sure that they are alright with unclothed female breasts before you press the play button!

~ Reina-rin

I'm finally back with another episode summary for Mahou Shoujo Site! This show definitely has most of its main cast psychotic in one way or another and this time, we really get to see Shizukume, Nijimin and even Yatsumura's insane sides.

The episode begins by delving into Yatsumura's past. She was part of a happy family, but a burglar that broke into their house one fine night murdered her parents. He intentionally left child Yatsumura alive as he thinks that she'll grow up to be a great beauty and he'll love to come back to "play" with her then.

Yatsumura was living in fear of when he'll return until the day she was granted a stick by the admins and since then she has been setting up the stage for the day he'll come back for her, waiting...

We see the extent of Yatsumura's insanity as she holds the man captive in her room, strapped down in chains and buckles. It is also implied that she has been keeping him drugged up, though it wasn't mentioned where the drugs were obtained from.

It is also suggested that she tortured him tremendously, though only one frame consisting of his body parts (extracted teeth) were shown.

Strangely, although Aya is suddenly exposed to this side of her friend, she seems to accept it rather easily and was even saying encouraging things to Yatsumura, for instance, of how great of a friend Yatsumura has been to her and how she hopes to be with her from now on as well.

However, this moment is abruptly cut short with Shizukume's arrival.

She announces that she has gotten powers as a magical girl and brandishes her yo-yo (stick) at Aya. With Yatsumura immobile from the side effects of over-using her stick, Aya is now tasked with the job of protecting her from Shizukume.

At the same time, Nijimin arrives at the hospital which Shioi is hospitalized in, thanks to a tip from Shizukume, and finds her lifelong enemy in the ward.

Unfortunately, Yatsumura has anticipated this and protected Shioi with the powers of Mikado's stick. Mikado was a victim of Shioi's indiscriminate killing and her stick had the ability to form a barrier against all magical and physical attacks. In fact, the reason why Yatsumura over-exerted herself was because she was using Mikado's stick along with another stick that allowed her to propagate her magic (the barrier) at a distance away from the caster (at Shioi's ward).

This turn of events enrages Nijimin and she angrily stomps out of the ward after giving Shizukume a call and screaming about how things were not supposed to go like this as per Shizukume's plans.

Shizukume is frustrated at being outwitted by Yatsumura and enters a crazy spree of relentlessly destroying things with her yo-yo. This results in the man being sliced into half, leading Yatsumura to go unstable about not having taken her revenge yet, before passing out.

Knowing that she is no match for Shizukume's brutality and speed, Aya seizes the chance to enclose herself and Yatsumura in a barrier made with Mikado's stick. She spends some screen time yelling about her need and desire to protect her friend, while Shizukume calls her a hypocrite for saying that as she killed her best friend (in Episode 1).

They delve into deeper talk about depression and death but before either of them could accept the other's explanation, the building begins to collapse.

Being the sweet girl Aya is, she decided to teleport Shizukume back to the classroom so she wouldn't die here. When Shizukume awakens, she appears to be touched by Aya's actions but she still feels that that isn't sufficient to call off her revenge plans, which further instils the belief in me that Aya should have just left her to be crushed by the falling debris...

With the protagonists having plot armor, they were safe from the debris and were found and swiftly taken to the hospital. While Aya suffered only superficial injuries, Yatsumura's condition was far more severe due to the over-exertion, but both managed to survive.

The scene then changes to Nijimin realizing that Aya and Yatsumura were likely accomplices to Shioi and were trying to keep her alive. This leads her to believe that Aya and Yatsumura are on Shioi's side. She visits Aya's house attempting to find her but. On the way there, she brushes past one of her fans who shadows her to Aya's house.

However. as Aya is hospitalized and her parents are at the hospital, only her brother, Kaname, answers the door. Her fan then sees Kaname inviting her into the house and misunderstands the situation.

The last few minutes of Episode 5 also introduces us to a new character, a white haired girl with an eyepatch over her left eye. She proceeds on to Shioi's ward and pulls out a penknife.

Is she another person after Shioi's life, or...?

~ Reina-rin

「Ani-summary」Mahou Shoujo Site - Episode 3

「Ani-summary」Mahou Shoujo Site - Episode 4

Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii

Figure Unboxing and Review: Magical Mirai Hatsune Miku 2017 (Vocaloid)

Figure Unboxing and Review: Nendoroid Fairy Racing Miku 2017 (Vocaloid)

Tachibanakan To Lie Angle

Book Review: Japanese Whisky The Ultimate Guide to the World's Most Desirable Spirit by Brian Ashcraft

Gardens by the Bay and Marina Bay Kakichan sea version Wallpapers

Figure Unboxing and Review: Learning with Manga! Fate/Grand Order Collectible Figures

Figure Unboxing and Review: Racing Miku 2016 version Scale Figure (Assembly)

Figure Unboxing and Review: Racing Miku 2016 version Scale Figure

Loot post for Figures from Japan (Summer 2018!)

Figure Unboxing and Review: Nendoroid Jibril (No Game No Life)

Figure Unboxing and Review: Ai-chan (Tawawa on Monday)

「Book Review」Shirobako: Artworks

「Book Review」Sakura Quest: Official Memorial Book

Figure Unboxing and Review: Nendoroid Sakai Wakana (Tari Tari)

Figure Unboxing and Review: Nendoroid Haqua (The World God Only Knows)

Calamity of a Zombie Girl

「Ani-summary」Mahou Shoujo Site: Episode 5