Blog 105 > Vader Versus Haruhi!

Double damn, it’s been 7 busy weeks since my Ghost in the Shell photoshoot. Busy with work, friends, and my Mirai project, lol. But finally, this month, we welcome my 1/7-scale “Darth Vader” (Kotobukiya, July 2005) and 1/6-scale “Bunny Girl Haruhi” (Atelier Sai, December 2006) figures!

For this Canon photoshoot, I saved 38 shots, then narrowed it down to these 28 shots. I must admit, with the huge 13-inch ultra-black figure, the lighting and lack of screen background made the raw shots horrible. Hence the delay in salvaging the shots via Photoshop. Luckily, the final results aren’t half bad. Enjoy!


Otakurl it! >>
My Anime Figure List >>
Click for Full Photoshoot (28) >>

Blog 094 > Ghost in the Figure!

Konnichiwa! For this massive 92-shot photoshoot, we step away from our Gothic Lolita Girls, and welcome the 1/7-scale “Purple Motoko” and approx-1/10-scale “Blue Tachikoma” figures released earlier this year!

Sculpted by Tuyoshi Takahashi, manufactured by a Vice & Alter collaboration, and released in January-February 2007, this faithful 1/7-scale PVC rendition of Motoko — from the long-running cyberpunk epic series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex — portrays her standing coolly and calmly in her gray combat suit with a black pistol hanging loosely from her gloved hand. Just as the Major should be, lol… Meanwhile, manufactured by Art Storm, and released in May 2007, this excellent approx-1/10-scale Soft Vinyl version of the blue Tachikoma — also from the same Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series — depicts the bubbly Artificially Intelligent spider-like mini-tank in a joint-poseable bright blue armor. Just as slick as its animated counterpart!

For this Canon photoshoot, I saved 117 shots, then narrowed it down to these 92 shots. While I used Photoshop to clean up an annoying dust particle which reappeared in Motoko’s hair for many of the shots, no color or lighting adjustments were made. Now, without further delay, enjoy the photoshoot!


P.S. Internet Explorer has now officially pissed me off. If Firefox can handle 90-100 images (4-10 MB total) per page without breaking, then why can’t IE? For instance, (1) both IE6 and IE7 erratically interprets pure black (#000000) in these images as transparent pixels, which results in white dots popping up through these holes (even if I change the [img] background color to black!), and (2) when using [div] tags, IE also fails to display the [div] content as the total number of images approaches 100. Ridiculous. So from this point onward, I can no longer promise my support of IE. Sorry.


Otakurl it! >>
My Anime Figure List >>
Click for Full Photoshoot (92) >>

Blog 084 > Shana & Himekuri Girl, Finally!

A-ha! Finally! Sorry about the last two teasers, but no more! After more than a month since my last photoshoot, here’s the full photoshoot of my 1/8-scale “Gothloli Shana” and 1/7-scale “Himekuri Girl” figures!

Manufactured by Toys Works, this flaming-haired blazing-eyed gothic-lolita PVC version of Shana — from the anime Shakugan no Shana (4 of 5 stars) — features her smiling in a white short-sleeved top with a black skirt and stockings. She bends forward with her orange-wrapped sword behind her, and her trusty companion Alastor hanging as a pendant from her neck. Fiery yet proper, haha!… Meanwhile, designed by Yoshizaki Mine — of Sgt. Frog (Keroro Gunso) fame — for the cover of the Japanese magazine Comic Himekuri, sculpted by Tomohide Enoki, and manufactured by Kaiyodo, this purple-and-black gothic-lolita PVC version of this cute cover girl portrays her kneeling in a skimpier top, a more-colorful and elaborate hair adornment, and a longer more-flowing skirt. On top of that, while not apparent in the photos, the intriguing paint scheme is embedded with tiny dust-sized sparkles, like a glistening sheen of rainbow mist. Wow, glad I got her!

For this Canon photoshoot, I saved 73 shots, then narrowed it down to these 60 shots. (For 10 of the 60, I Photoshop-enhanced the poor lighting by duplicating the image layer and applying a “Screen” blend at 50% opacity). Now, without further ado, enjoy the photoshoot!

Otakurl it! >>
My Anime Figure List >>
Click for Full Photoshoot (60) >>

Blog 066 > Ikki Lolitas!

Finally, a new figure photoshoot! Nearly a month since my last photoshoot! This time, I’m presenting my 1/7-scale gothic-lolita “Ryomou” (standing) delivered back on January 1st, 2007, and my 1/7-scale gothic-lolita “Kanu” (kneeling) delivered back on December 5th, 2006. Both characters appear in the sexy martial-arts anime series Ikki Tousen (4 of 5 stars, my maximum for half-season!).

While the 9-inch-standing Ryomou was sculpted by Hiroman, and the 4.5-inch-kneeling Kanu by Satoshi Ishiyama, both PVC figures were manufactured by Orchid Seed in the frilly black-and-white “Gothic Lolita” style. (Additional recolored versions are available in the pink or striped “Alice Lolita” style.) As an added bonus, Kanu’s white top is detachable to reveal her fullness. I haven’t detached it yet, lol. For this Canon photoshoot, I saved 50 shots, then narrowed it down to these 35 shots. Enjoy!

Otakurl it! >>
My Anime Figure List >>
Click for Full Photoshoot (35) >>

Blog 054 > Colorfully Cute!

Damn! Almost a full month since my last photoshoot! But I’m back with the green-haired 1/8-scale “Solty Revant” and golden-haired 1/8-scale “Rose Anderson” from the colorful retro-sci-fi anime series Solty Rei (5 of 5 stars!). Both sculpted by Kouichi Katsushima (Mine) and manufactured by Organic, Solty kneels to a modest 5-inch height, while Rose smiles at a playful 7-inch height. As an added bonus, Solty’s red top is removable to reveal her black skin-tight undershirt, while both Rose’s pistol and skirt are removable to fully reveal her white cotton panties.

As of this post, Rose is still readily available, while Solty is a bit more difficult to find outside of eBay. In this Canon photoshoot, I saved 31 shots, then narrowed it down to these 25 shots. On April 22nd, decided to take 5 more, narrowed it down to 3 more shots.

Otakurl it!

Click for all 28 >>

Blog 045 > Sexy Cyberpunks!

Okay, enough with the high-school childishness, lol. Bring on the full-figured women of cyberpunk sci-fi! For this post, I introduce one of my newest and rarest pieces, the raven-haired 1/6-scale “Motoko Kusanagi Hard Disk” (in resin) based on the original 1991 sci-fi manga Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow. Sculpted by Yoshimasa Nakao and released by ALPHA, Motoko stretches to a towering 13-inches tall.

In addition, I welcome the return of one of my earliest pieces in May 2006, the lavender-haired 1/8-scale “Galhound” (in PVC) from the 2002 poster series Galgrease, also by Masamune Shirow. Released by Yamato, Galhound stands about 7 inches tall. One background note: While Galhound wasn’t the first figure I acquired, she was the first figure that caught my eye before I ever thought of starting a collection. You could even say she planted the idea in my head!

As of this post, both figures are pretty rare on eBay or otherwise. Furthermore, it’s interesting to note Masamune’s fascination with black, silver, and purple color schemes. Not that I mind. LOL!… In this Canon photoshoot, I saved 45 shots, then narrowed it down to 35 shots.

Otakurl it!

Click for all 35 >>

Blog 044 > Fateful Circumstances!

Ah, springtime! Quite fitting for another sunny light-hearted photoshoot! This time, from another top-favorite romantic-comedy series, and one of the most-beloved love stories in anime history, Kare Kano (or His & Her Circumstances; here’s my review), we introduce the unforgettable boy-and-girl 1/8-scale “Arima & Yukino” (in resin), released by the now-defunct Tsukuda Hobby back in the late ’90s.

In January 2007, by sheer luck in the Amazon Marketplace, I stumbled upon this rare figure! After several months of waiting for the right time, I finally used three Amazon gift certificates to reduce the price enough to get it! Clearly, the rarest piece of my collection!

Also, we welcome back, from Fate Stay Night and Fate Hollow Ataraxia, the blonde-haired 1/8-scale “Saber in Brown Dress” (in PVC), released by Alter. She’s the first-ever figure to arrive at my doorstep last year in May 2006! In fact, after checking all of my favorite figure sites plus eBay, she’s pretty rare herself, LOL!

For this Canon photoshoot, I saved 50 shots, then narrowed it down to 47 shots, 4 of which I used Photoshop to increase the lighting by 10 and contrast by 10. I tried to create some interaction between the blonde Saber and the black-haired Arima, along the lines of a random attraction. Did it work? Hehehe ^_^

Otakurl it!

Click for all 47 >>

Blog 043 > More Twins Please!

From one of my favorite romantic-comedy series Please Twins!, comes the unforgettable 1/8-scale “Karen” and “Miina”, released in January 2006. Both the green-haired Karen and red-haired Miina were sculpted by Zero-Clamzi Craft and manufactured by Yamato with an affordable PVC price-tag of $25-30 USD.

For this Canon photoshoot, I saved 60 shots, then narrowed it down to 40 shots. Finally, some of you may notice that the background is an actual shot of Lake Kizaki, the beautiful setting for the anime series. Nice, huh?

Otakurl it!

Click for all 40 >>

Blog 042 > Evangelion Lolitas!

Ah, finally, an Evangelion gothic-lolita figure photoshoot! Here, we welcome 1/6-scale “Gothloli Rei” and 1/7-scale “Gothloli Asuka” from the psychological post-apocalyptic classic Neon Genesis Evangelion. While the blue-haired Rei Ayanami was sculpted by Suzu (Atomic-bom) and manufactured by Amie-Grand with a polystone-resin price-tag of $110-120 USD, the red-haired Asuka Langley was sculpted by Naoki Nishimura and manufactured by Kotobukiya with a PVC price-tag of $30-40 USD.

Note that resin is harder heavier less-deformable and more-detailable, but also less-flexible more-brittle and more-expensive than PVC. Luckily, you can’t tell that both of Rei’s index fingers were superglued back on, lol. So for this two-hour photoshoot, I saved about 65 shots, then narrowed it down to the 50 shots you see here. Enjoy!

Otakurl it!

Click for all 50 >>

Blog 036 > Gateway to Chaos! Part 1 of 4

Remember when I first received her back on November 30th? Well, I finally took my photoshoot on Jan 7th and 8th! And they keep getting bigger and bigger! Even larger than my previous “Cosplaying Genshiken” or “Bloody Hell” sets, here’s my largest photoshoot thus far, taken of 1/7-scale “Igunis” from the Chaos Gate Jingai Makyo hentai/erotic videogame. With just over 150 shots, I surprisingly managed to narrow it down to the best 100 shots (hopefully, my maximum limit from now on, lol), which also keeps it down to four posts (of 25 shots each). So enjoy the photos!

Otakurl it! | See Danny’s Photoshoot

Click for all 100 >>

Blog 027 > Bloody Hell! Part 1 of 4

That’s right, BLOODY HELL, mwah-hahaha!!! Even larger than my previous “Genshiken” set, here is my most-complex most-ambitious photoshoot to date, taken Dec 31st and Jan 1st! Once again, improving upon my original HP-digicam photoshoots in Sept 2006, I’ve combined my 3 favorite anime vampires — 1/8-scale “Saya & Hagi” (from Blood+) and 1/7-scale “Seras Victoria” (from Hellsing) — into a single scene before a nighttime London intersection (both anime series have scenes in London). With this first set of 2007, I stopped myself at a total of 100 Canon shots, and could only trim it down to the best 90 shots. Damn, with each photo session, it keeps rising from 50% to 70% and now at 90% showability, I’ll need FOUR posts! But to make the fun last, I’ll spread them out every other post, hehe! And now, without further ado, here are the photos!

Click for all 90 >>