Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Nendoroid Playsets
I was lucky enough to score the B set of the Japanese Life Nendoroid playset sealed from Mandarake and it arrived in the mail today so I immediately had to snap a few photographs. These playsets have become somewhat rare these days, they only pop up on Mandarake or AmiAmi's pre-owned section from time to time so I feel quite lucky to have picked this up. I also have the Culture Festival A set on the way. Hopefully I'll be able to complete both sets at some point in the future.
The Nendoroid playlets are the perfect companions for your happy little Nendoroids and they seem to come to life when placed into the tiny diorama-like scene. Each set comes with a bunch of accessories and extra hands for your Nendoroids to be able to hold onto said accessories. The Nendoroid playset boxes are the same size as a normal Nendoroid box which means the sets need to be assembled. The walls are held together with small plastic connectors and are very easy to assemble. The Japanese Life B is styled after a traditional Japanese room, the set comes with tatami flooring, a wall with a wall scroll and shelving and the final wall is almost completely taken up by a sliding door. The accessories include a metal basin, pot, katana with a display stand, floor pillow, teapot, teacup with saucer and a plate of dango. The set is sturdy, well designed and highly detailed. It photographs very well, which is exactly what I wanted it for.
Despite the fact that I haven't got a full set yet, I think it's safe to say that these sets are awesome and well worth hunting for. If you can find one for a decent price, then I think you should definitely go for it. They are a lot of fun and look great displayed as well. Everything is scaled perfectly for Nendoroids and every little detail is just right. The height of the room looks like it might even work well for Figmas as well.
The Nendoroid playlets are the perfect companions for your happy little Nendoroids and they seem to come to life when placed into the tiny diorama-like scene. Each set comes with a bunch of accessories and extra hands for your Nendoroids to be able to hold onto said accessories. The Nendoroid playset boxes are the same size as a normal Nendoroid box which means the sets need to be assembled. The walls are held together with small plastic connectors and are very easy to assemble. The Japanese Life B is styled after a traditional Japanese room, the set comes with tatami flooring, a wall with a wall scroll and shelving and the final wall is almost completely taken up by a sliding door. The accessories include a metal basin, pot, katana with a display stand, floor pillow, teapot, teacup with saucer and a plate of dango. The set is sturdy, well designed and highly detailed. It photographs very well, which is exactly what I wanted it for.
Despite the fact that I haven't got a full set yet, I think it's safe to say that these sets are awesome and well worth hunting for. If you can find one for a decent price, then I think you should definitely go for it. They are a lot of fun and look great displayed as well. Everything is scaled perfectly for Nendoroids and every little detail is just right. The height of the room looks like it might even work well for Figmas as well.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Review: Adelaide Himeji Garden
During a recent trip to Adelaide, South Australia, I took a break from shopping to visit the Adelaide Himeji Garden. Unfortunately it was a somewhat rushed visit, I didn't get to spend as much time there as I would have liked, but I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and I look forward to exploring the garden again during the different seasons.
The Adelaide Himeji Garden is a traditional Japanese garden situated on the edge of the city of Adelaide, South Australia. In April 1982, the city of Adelaide and the ancient city of Himeji became sister cities. The Adelaide Himeji Garden was a gift from the city of Himeji to symbolise the bond of friendship between the two cities.
The garden itself may be small, but it is still a beautiful example of Japanese garden design. You enter the garden through a gatehouse, modeled on a temple. Nearby is a water bowl so visitors may purify themselves by washing their hands and face before entering the garden. The garden is split into two classic styles. Firstly, the larger section of the garden, the senzui (lake and mountain garden) which reflects images of the Japanese countryside. Hills in the garden design represent the mountains of Japan and the body of water represents the lakes and ocean. A bubbling waterfall provides the soothing sounds of running water. A shishi-odoshi (deer scarer), a bamboo device provides a rhythmic clack against a rock every few moments. The back corner of the garden shows us a beautiful example of a kare senzui (dry garden), where raked sand represents areas of water and rocks take the place of islands. By the kare senzui is a teahouse, where you can sit and enjoy the peace and quiet and look across the carefully raked sand of the kare senzui. The teahouse is designed similarly to the porch of a Zen temple. The garden is completely fenced off and full of beautiful plants, so it is easy to relax and let yourself imagine that you have escaped on journey to Japan.
I took my Banpresto C.C. SQ prize figure with me to visit the garden for photographic reasons. Her outfit is the most suitable out of all the figures in my collection so it seemed fitting to photograph her there. I plan to visit the garden again in January and I will take the rerelease of Alter's Momohime figure (due for rerelease this month) with me then.
Please enjoy my photographs of C.C and my photographs of the garden itself. If you're ever in Adelaide, I highly recommend the Adelaide Himeji Garden as a must see spot to visit.
The Adelaide Himeji Garden is a traditional Japanese garden situated on the edge of the city of Adelaide, South Australia. In April 1982, the city of Adelaide and the ancient city of Himeji became sister cities. The Adelaide Himeji Garden was a gift from the city of Himeji to symbolise the bond of friendship between the two cities.
The garden itself may be small, but it is still a beautiful example of Japanese garden design. You enter the garden through a gatehouse, modeled on a temple. Nearby is a water bowl so visitors may purify themselves by washing their hands and face before entering the garden. The garden is split into two classic styles. Firstly, the larger section of the garden, the senzui (lake and mountain garden) which reflects images of the Japanese countryside. Hills in the garden design represent the mountains of Japan and the body of water represents the lakes and ocean. A bubbling waterfall provides the soothing sounds of running water. A shishi-odoshi (deer scarer), a bamboo device provides a rhythmic clack against a rock every few moments. The back corner of the garden shows us a beautiful example of a kare senzui (dry garden), where raked sand represents areas of water and rocks take the place of islands. By the kare senzui is a teahouse, where you can sit and enjoy the peace and quiet and look across the carefully raked sand of the kare senzui. The teahouse is designed similarly to the porch of a Zen temple. The garden is completely fenced off and full of beautiful plants, so it is easy to relax and let yourself imagine that you have escaped on journey to Japan.
I took my Banpresto C.C. SQ prize figure with me to visit the garden for photographic reasons. Her outfit is the most suitable out of all the figures in my collection so it seemed fitting to photograph her there. I plan to visit the garden again in January and I will take the rerelease of Alter's Momohime figure (due for rerelease this month) with me then.
Please enjoy my photographs of C.C and my photographs of the garden itself. If you're ever in Adelaide, I highly recommend the Adelaide Himeji Garden as a must see spot to visit.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Figure Reviews: Bandai's Chibi Arts C.C.
C.C. is the first of the Code Geass characters to have a figure in Bandai's Chibi Arts line. The chibi style certainly suits C.C. well. C.C. comes with quite a collection of accessories which include two extra faces, three alternate arms, Arthur the beloved car, Zero's helmet which can be held by C.C. in her lap or worn by Arthur to give a nod back to Code Geass and one of the anime's most amusing scenes. C.C. also comes with a pizza which is true to her character. Finally, she comes with a stand, two spare neck joints and some speech bubbles with their own separate plastic stand. Quite a list of accessories indeed!
Sculpting
Starting at the top and working our way down, C.C. has long green hair which flows freely behind her in a gentle V shape. The ends fan out into stands which are sculpted well. Two sections fall over her shoulders and her face is framed by long bangs. The bangs have sharp details. The seam that separates the front sections of her from the back to allow you to change her faces is very thin. There is another small seam behind each of her ears but it's barely worth mentioning.
Her clothing has creases in all the right places and has all the details a Code Geass would expect. Buckles and straps in all the right places. Arms and arm sockets are sculpted in a way that her arms don't merely attach with a noticeable seam, but her arms fit into a sculpted socket so the joins don't stand out as much. Her tiny hands and feet have just the right amount of detail. All of the joints and connections are very tight and feel very secure, there's no concern about her arms coming lose and her hair and extra faces fit on tightly.
Posing
Unfortunately C.C. is quite limited when it comes to posing. This is mostly due to the fact that she is seated. Her body and legs cannot be changed at all. The extra arms allow for some variety in her poses. Although another downfall in this category is her hair. Because of the length is gets in the way most of the time. C.C. is also quite unbalanced so getting her to sit flat is somewhat of a challenge. Her stands seems unnecessary at first because she is sitting, but depending on which pose you put her in, you may need to use the stand to stop her from tumbling over.
Painting
C.C.'s hair is another slight let down in this category as it is just painted a flat green with no shading. The sculpting of the hair allows for shadows and highlights to show with lighting but it would have been nice to see a little bit of shading. Her face is well painted with lots of crisp details. The paint work on her clothing is neat and tidy, with silver accents on the buckles and buttons. Her clothing has no shading much like her hair but the sculpt allows for shadows to add them.
Packaging
The Chibi Arts packaging is very visually appealing, with a large window in the front and crisp photographs of the figure itself. It's a pretty simple box but it is a very nice box and it is also a small box, which is always a bonus when it comes to shipping.
Conclusion
Bandai have done a fine job with their Chibi Arts C.C. They have done a great job of including all the right accessories for any C.C. fan to enjoy. Her possibility may be limited, but she still looks very nice sitting on a shelf and it is a lot of fun to swap her around.
Starting at the top and working our way down, C.C. has long green hair which flows freely behind her in a gentle V shape. The ends fan out into stands which are sculpted well. Two sections fall over her shoulders and her face is framed by long bangs. The bangs have sharp details. The seam that separates the front sections of her from the back to allow you to change her faces is very thin. There is another small seam behind each of her ears but it's barely worth mentioning.
Her clothing has creases in all the right places and has all the details a Code Geass would expect. Buckles and straps in all the right places. Arms and arm sockets are sculpted in a way that her arms don't merely attach with a noticeable seam, but her arms fit into a sculpted socket so the joins don't stand out as much. Her tiny hands and feet have just the right amount of detail. All of the joints and connections are very tight and feel very secure, there's no concern about her arms coming lose and her hair and extra faces fit on tightly.
Posing
Unfortunately C.C. is quite limited when it comes to posing. This is mostly due to the fact that she is seated. Her body and legs cannot be changed at all. The extra arms allow for some variety in her poses. Although another downfall in this category is her hair. Because of the length is gets in the way most of the time. C.C. is also quite unbalanced so getting her to sit flat is somewhat of a challenge. Her stands seems unnecessary at first because she is sitting, but depending on which pose you put her in, you may need to use the stand to stop her from tumbling over.
Painting
C.C.'s hair is another slight let down in this category as it is just painted a flat green with no shading. The sculpting of the hair allows for shadows and highlights to show with lighting but it would have been nice to see a little bit of shading. Her face is well painted with lots of crisp details. The paint work on her clothing is neat and tidy, with silver accents on the buckles and buttons. Her clothing has no shading much like her hair but the sculpt allows for shadows to add them.
Packaging
The Chibi Arts packaging is very visually appealing, with a large window in the front and crisp photographs of the figure itself. It's a pretty simple box but it is a very nice box and it is also a small box, which is always a bonus when it comes to shipping.
Conclusion
Bandai have done a fine job with their Chibi Arts C.C. They have done a great job of including all the right accessories for any C.C. fan to enjoy. Her possibility may be limited, but she still looks very nice sitting on a shelf and it is a lot of fun to swap her around.
Anime reviews - K - Episodes 01-03
K - Episodes 01-03
My rating: ☆☆☆☆ 4 stars (out of 5)
K is a 2012 anime series that follows the story of a 17-year-old school boy who has been accused of murder, which ultimately places him in the middle of a war.
The story so far has revolved heavily around three main characters:
The animation is the high point of the anime so far, the artwork is beautiful but it is quite easy to become absorbed in beautiful animation and forget that the story needs substance as well. The first three episodes of K have held my interest, although it's a challenge to understand who all the characters and their intentions. There is a perfect mix of drama, action, supernatural themes and even humour. I found myself laughing out loud several times during episodes 2 and 3.
If you enjoyed Durarara!! I think you should enjoy K. There is even a character that looks like he could be Heiwajima Shizuo's long lost twin brother.
My rating: ☆☆☆☆ 4 stars (out of 5)
K is a 2012 anime series that follows the story of a 17-year-old school boy who has been accused of murder, which ultimately places him in the middle of a war.
The story so far has revolved heavily around three main characters:
- Yashiro Isana aka Shiro, a student being accused of murdering a member of the Red Clan, Homura.
- Neko, Shiro's pet cat who has the ability to transform from her cat form into the form of a naked human girl. She also possesses the ability to use illusions.
- Kuroh Yatogami, also known as the Black Dog or Kuro. He is mysterious and highly skilled with a sword and some form of magic. He is on a mission to hunt down Yashiro on behalf of his late King and master, Ichigen Miwa.
The animation is the high point of the anime so far, the artwork is beautiful but it is quite easy to become absorbed in beautiful animation and forget that the story needs substance as well. The first three episodes of K have held my interest, although it's a challenge to understand who all the characters and their intentions. There is a perfect mix of drama, action, supernatural themes and even humour. I found myself laughing out loud several times during episodes 2 and 3.
If you enjoyed Durarara!! I think you should enjoy K. There is even a character that looks like he could be Heiwajima Shizuo's long lost twin brother.
