A Megas Haul Nyoro~

The massive spending before the end of the year continues with $750 worth of goods to show off this time around. Honestly, it surprises even me that I have any money at all let alone enough to spend crazy like this!

I’ll make this short and sweet; this time around I found myself with FREEING’s Tsuruya-san from Haruhi, Alter’s Tsuruya-san from Haruhi, MegaHouse’s Clare from Claymore, Good Smile Company’s Nanoha from Nanoha, and Kotobukiya’s Xecty from Shining Wind x Tear. And yes, Freeing’s Tsuruya-san’s box is huge!

Believe it or not, yes I still get DVDs as well. How I Met Your Mother Season 2, Superbad, and Animelo Summer 2007 Live end up being some of my last DVD related purchases for the year that actually made it in time (see other entries for the rest).

I won’t talk about How I Met Your Mother nor Superbad since they won’t interest the average reader much, but do check them out if you have time. How I Met Your Mother can actually be watched for free on their official TV page and is a definite laugh riot. Superbad is a great late teen-early 20s targeted comedy movie that any hot blooded male should watch; the toilet humor is awesome and just so true of American high school life!

Animelo Summer 2007 Live I can only blame the guys over at seiyuu3 as I initially was not going to buy it. But after reading their review and seeing parts of the concert, I gave up and just ordered the darn thing! Overall not too bad and I think a lot better than last year’s where they showed two versions of the concert which were basically the same except for 1-2 songs; confused the hell out of me when I was watching it since it took awhile for me to figure this out. On this year’s concert, definite highlights easily had to be the Nana-chan duets (see seiyuu3) and Minorin

Other honorable mentions go to JAM Project for really getting the crowd worked up, the Kuribayashi Minami and Momoi Haruko duet, and the behind the scenes look at the various artists getting ready for the concert. I know there are a few more honorable mentions of other artists that performed, but there were just so many that I can’t think of any others off the top of my head. Least to say, it’s a concert fans of anime songs or the artists should check out!

All the figures un-boxed and assembled. And yes, they do take up a lot of room! My quick commentaries on the figures from left to right:

Kotobukiya’s Xecty: The second character release from Kotobukiya from the Shining Wind series, Xecty looks nice in all the right places. I’m probably a little biased since she’s one of my favorite character from series (VA Houko Kuwashima!) but one can rarely go wrong with the elf + minimum clothing formula and Xecty is a perfect example of it done right. On cast-off options, only the skirt looks easily removable as is the norm with these type of figures though if one doesn’t mind breaking part of it, Xecty’s upper wear probably hides a nice secret or two

Good Smile Company’s Nanoha: Man finally got the right figure after the craziness I talked about last time. Definitely the better and more “aggressive” looking out of the two Nanohas, GSC’s version seems ready to kick some arse and take names anytime anywhere. Way better than Alter’s that, while nice, is rather “boring” with Nanoha simply getting ready to using Raising Heart. Funny thing though, both versions still show some panties action for those interested in the under-aged kind -_-;;

FREEing’s Tsuruya-san: “Large and in charge” is the first thing I think of when looking at the figure. I thought FREEing’s Haruhi was huge, but Tsuruya-san easily overtakes Haruhi being almost double in size! As with Haruhi, the fishnet stockings are real with Tsuruya-san giving an eyeful for all those interested. The pose isn’t bad but personally like Haruhi’s a bit better, and while Tsuruya-san feels pretty stable I’m still slightly worried about eventual leaning and/or warping. Still, a great addition for any Haruhi fans out there or lovers of green haired females!

Alter’s Tsuruya-san: Cute but now with Max Factory’s superior version coming out in a few weeks(?), nothing too special. I will say two things though, one it is very durable as I dropped the figure 2-3 times yet it remained undamaged. And second, it’s most likely a leaner given how Tsuruya-san is bending forward for the “extra fanservice”; this actually being the cause of why I dropped it once or twice ^^;;

Orchid Seed’s Fantaz Moon Eclipse: One without a broken head! Okay figure overall and well worth the wait after what happened before. Really nothing bad to say about the figure other than it takes up a lot of space due to its stand to keep it balanced. Couldn’t they make the cresent moon base just a *tad* smaller?!

MegaHouse’s Clare: Simply very cool, period. I will say, however, that the shine only really comes out when taking photos with flash or having a good light source as otherwise the “silver” tone is more a dull gray color. Still, a definite buy for any fans of the series and/or swordwomen.

Last but not least, I bought Rockband the Special Edition for PS3. About 200 bones down the drain for it but man, I got addicted to it while playing it in WI so I just had to get it when I got back home. The special edition gives you the game, one guitar, one drum set, and one microphone. Not liking the included guitar much as I got use to XBox’s version in which stringing is easier while the one included you really have to press down for it to register. Not good for songs where you’re constantly stringing. That being said, really like the drumming a lot although it takes some time to get used to the pad work; sadly I may be the best drummer out of my group of friends so far as everyone else who has played doesn’t do so hot on drums. Singing… well, let’s just not go there ok ^^;;

Overall, Rockband is a must have game if you’re into those simulated reality type of games like DDR, Guitar Heroes, etc. Great party game as you make a ragtag band trying to play the popular US songs of the past 50 years. Guitar Hero players will definitely find themselves at home as the game is pretty much the same while new instruments like the drums and microphone open up the gateway for new wannabe musicians to come aboard. Honestly there is nothing more fun than getting a group of friends together and trying to rock out to some song you don’t know; especially more so after convincing someone to sing the darn thing as well!