Chua Churam - Mid year figure haul part 8

Another HLJ box of goodies.

At last, a HLJ box, that means another goodies arrived. This shipment was actually delayed for almost a week, because there's something like public holiday in Japan, and HLJ did not process any order during that holiday. So i ended up getting this Chua Churam later than some other people.

Chua Churam by Alter.

This is it, Chua Churam, from an eroge (? dunno for sure) Chu X Chu Idol. From the writing on the box, it seems that Chua Churam is an idol and a vampire, talk about odd combination, but that's anime world for you, the weirder the combination, the more interesting it gets.

Anyway, this figure is the 8th haul of this mid year figure haul and it concludes my mid year haul. In this mid year haul, i actually cancelled one of my order, that is Alter's Mikuru maid cafe. I'm glad i cancelled this order because of financial reason, but i also have some regret about it. Chua Churam maybe the last haul of this mid year, but that doesn't mean that it's the last haul of my collection. There are still more to come.

A vampire idol? Who know vampire can be idol too?

I never knew about Chu X Chu Idol before, and i ordered Chua Churam not because i know her, but because i like her cute face and her dress very much after seeing the promotional photos. Usually i tend to get character figures whom i already knew about, but this time is different. I like Chua Churam's elegant dress, and this is the reason why i bought her in the first place.

There are no alternate parts or detachable parts other than the base.

Chua Churam doesn't have many parts with her, just her full body, a base, and another piece of base support. That's why i didn't do a parts photograph. I thought i can get her guitar off her hands, but it seems i was wrong, her guitar isn't a detachable parts.

Metal support for stand, just like inside Liu Meifeng right leg.

Some people may see this figure is a potential leaner, with a huge dress like that and legs going in that direction. But i think Alter has prepared for this. They used a metal support that connects to the base support. Since it's a metal, there's a very small and even smaller possibilty for the support to lean forward or backward because of imbalance.

My favorite part: the dress.

Look just how beautiful and elegant her dress is. From this view, you can see that her dress isn't just for sexiness but also elegance. This dress is the type where it goes short in the front and long in the back, if you know what i mean (it's hard to describe really). And also her twintailed hair is one of the deciding factor.

She's my favorite dude!

I think photographing this figure pose quite a challenge. While there are so many interesting parts, it is also hard to get nice angle and detail on those parts. Well, i guess this Chua Churam is also one of my favorite figure so far.

I also heard about the issue of this figure being small for a figure, and i think that's true. The dress may deceive your eyes, with its size and all. But her face and her hands can't deceive you. I have compared her head size with Elwing and figma Haruhi, and well, her head size is somewhat smaller than Elwing's but bigger than figma Haruhi's. I think this figure got a scale of 1/9 compared to Elwing's / Nanoha's real size.

So this post is the last part of Mid year figure haul. Next up will be normal haul just as always. so now, I have 2 photo sessions to catch up (Nanoha instructor uniform and Chua Churam) and some figma play i planned (like Hare hare dance, LS dance, yuri romance story, etc.). So as always, look forward to it.

ISML - Diamond winner

Haruhi won another necklace, consecutively.

This is the last necklace before elimination tournament begin, and Haruhi won this necklace. She won 2 consecutive necklaces and that's great. I think because of the last matches, Haruhi's opponents aren't that dangerous as before. Well, congratulation Haruhi!

Link:
http://www.internationalmoeleague.com/
http://www.saimoearena.com/vote.html

Nanoha Instructor Uniform - Mid year figure haul part 7

Nanoha instructor uniform by Good Smile Company.

Okay, this figure was released around June-July but i received this figure just 2 days ago. That's what i got if ordered things in figure local store. It's really cheap, without paying custom and shipment, but that cheapness costs you a whole 1-2 months of waiting this figure to arrived. In the other hand, you don't have to pay this when you first ordered, you pay when you got the item on the hand.

Released in June, but got it in August, pretty long wait.

Anyway, this figure haul still count as mid year haul because it was released in June and i received this in August. It's Nanoha in her instructor uniform done by Good Smile Company. I heard about reputation of this figure, and I'm glad i ordered this, it really has a great quality. Just as expected of Good Smile Company. GSC is the 2nd best figure manufacturer IMO.

Nanoha is sexy, and i think she needed more sexy figure treatment like bikini or something else.

When i first saw a preview of this figure, all i can think about is sexy pose. Hey, almost all of my figure never had a pose that can expose their panties clearly. With a pose like that, you can see Nanoha's yellow pantie without having to peek under the skirt / looking down below.

The base is big disappointment to me.

I kinda disappointed with the base. It's not about the shape of the base, it's about the material. If you look at the promotional photos (only at a glance), you'll notice that the base looks like a glass, an elegant glass with a glowing blue effect. But what i got here is a light plastic base. The weight itself is a problem because this base is supporting a heavier object.

Sexy pose without sexy body, still okay for me.

But i guess a base just a base, the main thing to watch here is the figure itself. I think this figure only has a sexy pose, not a sexy body. Elwing's breast is bigger than Nanoha's breast IMO. Despite all the downside, this figure is still a greatly sculpted figure, and i like it.

That's it for today, next will be Chua Churam which already on the way to my place now, and she will conclude my mid year figure hauls.

figma Fate - Mid year figure haul part 6

Nanoha : Fate-chaaaan!!! You came for me!!!
Haruhi : He.. Heyy!!! That's Nanoha's lover!

Okay, i don't know if this arrival still count as mid year haul, but i know this figure doesn't count as holiday haul. This item released in Play-Asia was delayed 1-2 weeks after Japan release. I can see figma Fate everywhere on the net, even in meronpan's blog.

Haruhi: Hey, hey! Calm down Nanoha!
Nanoha: Fate-chan! Fate-chaaan!!!

This is another Max Factory's masterpiece, figma Fate T. Harlaown, and this counts as my 3rd figma. With this, i can do more story, more pose, and everything that figma can do (especially those yuri photos). Everyone knows that figma choose the most favorite character from every anime. Haruhi's SOS-dan for the first set, Nanoha and Fate for 2nd set, and Lucky Star for next set. Max Factory really choose the best of the best characters, that's one of the factor why these figma are so popular.

Nanoha: Fate-chaan... I haven't seen you for a long time... You're so beautiful...
Haruhi: .... Na... Nanoha... If she's your lover, then what about me? Will you abandon me?

I don't know why, but i tend to avoid collecting SOS-dan set, even though Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu is my favorite anime. I think that's because of Yuki, released as the first figma from SOS-dan set. I don't really like Yuki and i missed her figma, so i only bought Haruhi and avoid Mikuru, because if i got Mikuru, then i would try to find Yuki desperately, in order to complete SOS-dan's girls.

So many parts for weaponry.

I think figma Fate has the most parts of all figma. That's because her Bardiche assault has the most forms of all devices, and this figma is still lacking 1 form: Riot Zanber form. Other than that, she has her Bardiche in normal form, Zanber form (giant sword), and Scythe form. As i remember, in the anime she normally uses her scythe form just for blade throw.

Nanoha: FAAATEEE-CHAAAAN!!! I missed you ssoooo muuuch!!!!
Fate: Ah.. Nanoha-chan! Me too, I'm glad to see you again after so long time.

Yeah, with this figma, i can do everything i want, starting from story making, yuri sex scene, random posing, or even Hare hare dance. I'm still unable to do Lucky Star dance, since the dance needs 4 people involved in it. It must be fun with Haruhi, Nanoha, and Fate. I think I'll do this in a while, so just look forward to it.

Nanoha: Fate-chan, at last i can be with you. With this, we can do whatever we want.
Fate: Yes Nanoha-chan. I too have been looking forward for this moment.

Another idea came up in my mind after seeing NanoFate wedding image. I tried to do the pose in the image using these 2 figmas. I now it's hard, but with a little effort, i did it. So next thing to do with figma is imitating artworks / fanart, but I'll focus in official artworks for now. And so once again, look forward to this.

I think I'll stick in Scythe form for awhile longer, since i already have Fate (Alter) with Zanber.

Well, that's it for this haul. Next 2 hauls will be Chua Churam which is still in shipment processing (waiting HLJ because there's public holiday in Japan), and Nanoha Instructor Uniform version which is already in stock in local store waiting for me to pick her up.

PS3 games personal reviews... sort of

Sophitia and Cassandra yuri cation FTW XD.

Almost 1 month after i bought my PS3, and new semester has just started this last week. So i decided to do a little reviews for my games I've played in the whole holiday. I already bought Soul Calibur 4 last week, took me around IDR 500000 (USD 55). And also Ridge Racer 7 The Best arrived at the day when i bought SC4, ordered it in PA for USD 37.

Anyway, these games below are the games we (me and my bros) already played. I won't put Dynasty Warriors 6 and Metal Gear Solid 4 here. It's just that I'm too lazy to put it all here :P. Please be aware that you might stumble into some SPOILERS here.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma - Tecmo

Game : Ninja Gaiden Sigma
Genre : Action / Adventure
Status : still playing, haven't finished it yet.

After buying my PS3, i searched the whole Surabaya city to find this game. It went out of stock anywhere in Surabaya. But 1 week after i bought PS3, i found a pre-owned copy of this game. Still nice and clean, and i got it with great deal.

You can totally compare this game with DMC4 in term of gameplay system. As a ninja, Ryu Hayabusa has more nice and fast killing technique for his fight. You got more cool weapon here, but it's a normal weapon, unlike Dante's magical weapon in DMC3. Talk about technique, you won't see any magic around here (except ninpo), so basically you'll end up fighting the whole enemy with physical strength and technique only. If you're into adventure game, you might want to try this before entering the world Devil May Cry 4.

Score : 73 / 100

Folklore

Game : Folklore
Genre : Action RPG
Status : still playing (just watching for me)

I don't play this game, my 2nd bro does. He decided to get this as his game after reading ron~'s review about PS3 games. So my work here's just watching how he play this game and review this game WITHOUT playing it (just watching it).

You play 2 characters in this game. And both of them connected in the story. My brother has played this until Ellen get caught in Chapter 6, and now he has to proceed with Keat (forgot his name) to save Ellen. This game is an action RPG, where you fight with your enemy in real time battle, just like Kingdom Hearts. Except in this game, you fight using monster's (folk) power.

I don't know much of this game, but it looks like this game is more focused in the battle. Completing all the folks and maximize their power is your goal in this game. I think this is the downside of the game, you'll be drowned in the battle for around 80% of this game if you're trying to maximize folks' power.

Score : 61 / 100

Grand Theft Auto IV - Rockstar

Game : Grand Theft Auto IV
Genre : Action

This is the most popular game for now, just after MGS4 and before Soul Calibur 4. Once again, i don't play this game, my 1st bro does. And as for me, my role is just watching him play.

Everyone knows how GTA games works. It's just like a life simulation, you'll have your character roaming free in the city, making relation with gangs, and do their dirty jobs for money and life. GTA4 has more interesting features that make this game more realistic:
- Internet browsing in the computer, to get more girl, email, etc.
- Drinking alcohol can make you drunk.
- Playing MORE mini games like darts.
- Better strip club and "real" shaking cars.
- Car crash effects.
- More action in gunshot, like wall hide, blind shot, etc.
- and so on.
And GTA4 also has less features compared to GTA:San Andreas, like:
- No more stealth play.
- Weapon type reduced.
- Number of ammo reduced (no more unlimited / 9999 ammo).
- No more skill building (body, stamina, weapon, and driving).
With all these new features and lost of some old features, GTA4 still a great game to play. And if you're a PS3 owner, this game is a must have, even if you hate action game, you still can enjoy the craziness inside this game.

Score : 87 / 100

Ridge Racer 7 (The Best) - Namco

Game : Ridge Racer 7
Genre : Racing

I bought this game in PA, and this game arrived just 1 day before the new semester started, talk about bad timing :P. This is my first racing game in PS3, and I'm happy with this game.

Ridge Racer is a great racing series, just before modify-your-own-car illegal street racing games like NFS Underground appears. After a while, i never heard a very success circuit legal racing games except Gran Turismo 4. Ridge Racer 7 still continues with their circuit racing type with original cars (no real world cars), added with extra features like modifying engine and exteriors, and drifting. It seems after NFS Underground got a high popularity, people also like drifting action, so drift feature in racing game is a must nowadays. As expected of HD games, it has a very great and stunning graphics.

I can't enjoy this game to the fullest, since the most enjoyable feature of this game is online battle, and i can't enjoy online just yet.

Score : 85 / 100

Soul Calibur 4 - Bandai Namco Games

Game : Soul Calibur 4
Genre : Fighting

I bought this right at the day when Ridge Racer 7 arrived, so it means that i bought this game just before the new semester started, very bad timing. But i really enjoy this game.

After MGS 4 and GTA 4, the next legendary game to be released is this game, Soul Calibur 4. It is said this game is the best fighting game ever. I played Soul Calibur series from Soul Calibur 2, and i came to like this game better than any other fighting game. Talk about features there's some changes in this game.
- Character creation mode: you can create characters and you can modify original characters. The new features are, personalized skill and HP Attack Defense parameters. With this, you can't modify character's equipment just for the looks, but also for their power and skill.
- Buying weapon works as usual, but you can't freely choose the weapons in VS Special mode, you have to create new characters, equipped with that weapon.
- No more RPG like mode (Chronicle of the sword), Tower of the Lost Souls as exchange. No more story, no more strategy, pure fighting.
- Collecting honor (medal / award) for completing equipment collection.
- Soul Crush, critical finish, and equipment break system in the fight.
I think there's less features in this game than SC3. But still, i think the whole enjoyment of this game is in the online play, and i still can't do this for now.

Moving on to the fight, it's harder to create more combo and combine one attack to another. And also about Soul gauge and Soul Crush, you won't be seeing much of Critical finish if you're playing against newbie who can't guard and keep spamming attacks blindly. I've tried fighting against hard CPU in training mode, and i ended up with empty Soul Gauge against it. The AI kept ramming me with rain of endless attacks, so i tried to block it all, and the result was that empty Soul Gauge. Anyway i'm still learning to connect these attacks and guard impacts.

Score : 90/100


Well, that's it for my games in holiday. Next game to look forward will be Disgaea 3, and I'm waiting for this. I've entered new semester, and my gameplay time will be drastically reduced compared to holiday session, so I'm going to lay low for a while.


Note : Games' box art images are taken from GameFAQs.

Elwing - Kotobukiya

Elwing - Kotobukiya.

This is the last photoshoot i did in my holiday. And with this, I've done photoshoot for all of my PVC figure. The last figure to arrive and to be photographed is this figure, Elwing from Shining Wind, made by Kotobukiya.

Elwing Shining Wind version.

Elwing sure is a pretty character, and she was my favorite character back in the Shining Tears game, and also my favorite character in Shining Tears X Wind anime. I like her new look in Shining Wind, it's somewhat sexy.

The only Elwing from Shining Wind version.

I know there was some Elwing's figures before this version. From President Japan, there's Elwing in Shining Tears version, and from Max Factory, there's Elwing in bikini. I think the best Elwing figure is MF version, with that bikini and good quality (as usual from Max Factory). But this is the only Elwing in Shining Wind version.

Something wrong on her face.

She actually has a pretty face but this figure can't really show her pretty face. I noticed that her front hair is quite long, enough to cover her eyebrows. You can't really guess what's her real emotion right now because her eyebrows are covered. Just because she's smiling doesn't mean she's really happy. Look closely at her eyes and you'll know what i mean.

The Angel Wings.

At the first time i played Shining Tears, i also played an online game: Ragnarok Online. And i still remember the most famous and expensive item at that time was Angel Wings. This Elwing reminded me of Angel Wings. So I'm gonna call these wings on her head Angel Wings. After seeing her Angel Wings, you'll notice that her Angel Wings aren't that white. I guess they put up too much shading on the Angel Wings.

Pointy ears, characteristic of elf.

I forgot to mention from the beginning. She is an elf, and an elf must have this elven ears. She has a really long pointy elven ears. Maybe some of you may say that these ears gave weird feeling for this figure, but Elwing's beauty also came from these ears.

My 3rd Shining Wind figure also came with a bow.

This is my 3rd figure of Shining Wind series, and this figure also has a bow. Kureha MF, Kureha Kotobukiya, and Elwing Kotobukiya, three of them have bow. That doesn't mean that I'm a bow fetish :P. It's just a coincidence, really it is...

Beautiful long blond hair, my favorite.

One of the reason why i like Elwing is her hair. She has a really beautiful blond long hair. It flows straightly and beautifully. I'm not just a twintail favorite, i'm also a long hair favorite (except for Haruhi). Most of my figure (and favorite character) have a twintailed hair or long hair, except Haruhi.

Judging by her arms and her hands i think she's doing a cute girl pose.

This Elwing tends to be cute. Look at her arms and her hands, and you'll know that she's doing a cute girl pose. Just get a school bag / fashion bag miniature and replace her bow with that bag. She'll look like a cute little girl, and asking you whether you want to go shopping with her or not.

The elven bow, hotter than Kureha's bow.

I never noticed in the anime that her bow is shaped like this. It has a unique shape and it's better than Kureha's bow in term of look. But i think Kureha's bow is longer than Elwing's bow. But in the anime, Kureha used her bow only once and she used it when she was still in school wearing her uniform, not that outfit.

A feather necktie (?).

I also never noticed of this necktie (or whatever you called it). A choker with feather as the pendant. It does look unique and nice. I think this feather is a complementary part of her Angel Wings. It IS a feather anyway.

She looks sexy in that outfit, especially this part.

And now, let's start with POI section. This figure's POI is.... her vest (whatever you called it). First thing first, she has a new vest in Shining Wind version, and it's better than Shining Tears version IMO. Next, these vest doesn't have any button at ALL, and it only has ONE and ONLY ONE ribbon to tie her vest up. You can just pull her ribbon and her breast will be wide open and ready to be rubbed for good. That must be delicious.

This is the upper vest, mainly covers her arms.

Still going on in POI section. Her vest really gave her a daring look. Her center body from neck, cleavage, chest, and stomach aren't covered by this vest. This is why i gave this vest a POI award. Elwing's sexiness came from this vest, combined with her sexy body.

Anyway, i divided this vest into 2 parts, the first part is this upper vest the darker one, and the second part is the lower vest with the lighter green and white color. The upper vest mainly covers the arms and shoulders.

Part of the upper vest, long sleeves.

This long sleeves are also the part of her upper vest. From this photo above, you'll see not only her arms but also her breast. It DOES look big from this angle. There are small details on this sleeves, like that circle thing (it's the same as on the neck) on the upper arms, and a little leave mark on the shoulder.

The lower vest done its job to make Elwing's sexy.

What's make Elwing really sexy is her lower vest. This part covers the breasts, stomach, and skirts. But this vest NEVER cover the center part of them. There are some nice details on this lower vest, like golden edge, the leaves, and a golden drawing on it. It also has a nice color combination of white and light green.

Overall view of this figure's POI: the vest.

This is overall view of her whole vest. I'm still wondering how her lower vest and upper vest connected, and also where's the lower vest hanged on. If you look carefully, you can only see her lower vest up to her breast. How did she hang her lower vest so it does not fall off? Is this lower vest works like a tank top (hanged on the shoulder)? It's still a mystery to me.

Elven mini skirt, looks great on her.

Moving out of POI section, there's still some interesting points from this figure. One of them is this skirt. Yeah, i like girl wearing mini skirt, and Elwing's also in my liking. Her lower vest is even longer (lower) than this skirt, that means this skirt is really a REAL mini skirt. After seeing some Xecty reviews, i noticed that she wear (almost) the same skirt and belt as Xecty. I think because they shared the same race, elves.

Another little detail i missed in the anime.

I already encountered this circle things 3 times, 1 on her neck and 2 on her upper arms. I think this is just a normal accessories, just to make her prettier. Well, the setting of the story is in the another world where people lived side by side with "intelligence" beasts. No wonder they can design such an outfit like this freely.

This is what i called Elven boots.

When you played an RPG, chance that you would encounter an item called Elven boots. I think these boots can be called Elven boots. Normally, Elven boots item is equipable for archer character. I never bother to look at the mythology, but most of the elves I've encountered in games used bow as their weapons.

Nice butt, i like that.

You can remove her skirt, but i never bother doing that. She has a white pantie and a nice butt. It's a good view from down here.

Well, that's it for now. I don't have any figure left to photoshoot (for now). It's just a waiting period for figma Fate, and Chua Churam. Just wait and look forward to it.

ISML - Ruby winner : Suzumiya Haruhi

Ruby necklace winner : Suzumiya Haruhi.

Suzumiya Haruhi is my most favorite character, and she deserves at least a necklace. Eventhough she has a high position in overall standing, she never get a necklace. Now she got the chance she used the chance well. Ruby necklace won by Haruhi, and i'm very glad about this.

Link:
http://www.internationalmoeleague.com/
http://www.saimoearena.com/vote.html

ISML - Ruby final

Ruby period finalist.

It's been awhile after last ISML update, and i almost forgot to post this today, resulting late post (5-6 hours before vote closed). This is Ruby final, and it's the 6th necklace of ISML. In this Ruby session i saw a light of hope. I feel relieved after seeing this picture. The finalists, except Shana, are characters who haven't got any necklace yet.

Ruby standing.

But after looking at this Ruby standing i knew i can't put my hope high yet. Shana is still in number one and there's a high possibility that she'll win Ruby necklace again. Still, i put all my hope for Haruhi and Fate Testarossa for this Ruby necklace. Anyway, don't forget to vote.

Link:
http://www.internationalmoeleague.com/
http://www.saimoearena.com/vote.html