Yukikaze | Image from Google Search

“Lonely lack of humor. But amazing aerial effects!”

once again, finished another series… above is my speed-review for “yukikaze“… a very solemn 5-episode story centered on Lt. Rei Fukai, the quiet pilot of the highly-advanced artificially-intelligent jet-fighter “yukikaze” (“snow wind” in japanese), set amidst an interplanetary war with an alien species… while the lonely central characters and noticeable lack of humor fails to give the drama that extra depth, the CGI dogfight sequences and aerial views are breathtaking… 3 of 5 stars.

Air Gear | Image from Google Search

“DOUBLE WOW! Addictive air battles! Skywardly inspiring!”

yup, as written in my Anime Viewing List, that’s my speed-review for “air gear“… just finished another teenage story of an unknown underdog who transforms, one battle after another, into a battered but determined champion… however, in this case, the story follows 15-year-old Ikki, not with martial arts or swords or giant mecha, but with high-tech Air Trecks (ATs), or highly-advanced air-borne versions of in-line skates… skillfully, the various metaphors of flying towards the sky and growing wings, with the powerful accompaniment of both street-style and orchestral music, creates an uniquely inspiring world… despite the wildly drawn scenes of humor (which would typically lower a series to 4 stars), there are several breathtaking flashbacks and moments of personal realizations which are deeply moving, sometimes almost to tears… and the ending… was simply… spectacular… 5 of 5 stars!

Photo 21 by xJAYMANx | Click for all 40

Merged with Blog 008 > Part 1.

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Photo 1 by xJAYMANx | Click for all 40

WOW! Amazing photoshoot from Tuesday, Dec 5th!!! This time, I present the 8 1/2-inch 1/7-to-1/6-scale “Lara Croft in Wetsuit” figure (from the Tomb Raider II videogame). I took a total of 70 saved shots for 2 different poses, and again, it was tough just to narrow it down to 40. The photoshoots just seem to get better and better. And so, without further ado, here are the photos…

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Kanu from Ikki Tousen | Image from Hobby Search

whew, despite car-battery troubles all morning… picking up the new 1/7-scale gothic-lolita “Kanu” figure from the post office was a definite highlight of my day… here’s a product image, and just like “ignis” and “lara croft”, can’t wait to take real photos!

Kare Kano | Image from Google Search

ah, just finished another slice-of-life high-school dramedy… the profoundly insightful and timeless 1998-1999 series “kare kano” a.k.a. “his and her circumstances“… and widely regarded as one of the most-beloved love stories in anime history… revolving around a teenage girl named Yukino and teenage boy named Arima who both wear “model student” masks to hide their darker inner selves… but as a result of an accidental encounter, they realize in hesitation and shock that they can finally let go of their facades… while the second half of the series kind of lost momentum, the emotional depth and power of the first half more than makes up for it… as well as the fitting use of piano and stringed music… 5 of 5 stars!

Photo 1 by xJAYMANx | Click for all 25

Finally! I finally found the time to correctly batch-automate in Adobe Photoshop so that my photos all have “xJAYMANx_toybox” in the lower-left corner. This time, my most-recent photoshoot from November 18th. Here are 25 photos of 1/8-scale “Multi” (green) and “Akari” (red) from “To Heart“, a gentle slice-of-life high-school series with only the slightest of sci-fi elements (e.g. Multi the android). I also tried something different for the photoshoot background, a simple outdoor-style scene instead of a character-focused wallpaper. I think it turned out nicely!

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Grenadier | Image from Google Search

just a little anime update… a couple days ago, friday, finished the 12-episode action-comedy “grenadier“… centered on a blond-haired full-figured sharp-shooting wanderer of the wild-western retro-futuristic japanese empire… not bad (3 of 5 stars), but a nice heart-warming conclusion… meanwhile, i’m keeping active with “air gear” (almost done, 20 of 25), “kare kano” (almost done, 23 of 26), and “naruto” (just started, up to 9)… also just started “nanaka 6/17” (2 of 12), a cute yet touching series about a bright but cold girl who loses her 17-year-old memories and reverts to her former bubbly 6-year-old self!… hence the title!… what will those anime/manga creators think of next? lol ^_^

Image from dannychoo.com

while i’m not hyped about it, for those who are, here are some photos from the “wii tokyo launch” at dannychoo.com… danny’s the superblogger in the stormtrooper outfit, LOL ^_^