LOL, this sounds unbelievable but maybe not?
Category Archives: Otaku News
Blog 137 > Operation Rebox
Ah, my sad but necessary “Operation Rebox”…
Whoa, while I can’t beat the number of boxes in the earlier “Room O Boxes” post, I’m grateful too! Especially if I have to “rebox” all of my opened figures before my eventual house-move in the next few months. So, as a loose follow-up to the Triple Monitor post, here’s my 12-step “Operation Rebox“. Wish me luck! T_T;
P.S. Here’s the link to my DC Member News post, hehe.
Blog 135 > SOS Danny – A Wikipedia Tale
For the humble readers of DannyChoo.com, I’ve got a short-lived (March 2nd to April 9th) tale which I’d forgotten to tell till now… Several months back on March 2nd, I was writing a blog entry quoting Danny, and wanted to reference him without citing his blog. Instinctively, I searched Wikipedia. But nothing. No Danny Choo. So what did I do? I decided to create an entry for him.
From that point on, 95% of the credit goes to *DOSGuy* (thanx dude!) for developing the Danny Choo article to its fullest. However, despite attempts to reinforce the entry over its several-week history, the article was speedily deleted on April 9th for failing to meet the guidelines of “notability”. Which, I admit, is understandable. Self-advertised popularity doesn’t necessarily equal encyclopedic noteworthiness (and vice-versa).
Luckily and incredibly, *DOSGuy* saved a copy of the article and still hosts it under his user page here.
So months later, the question remains: Do we have anything to add to the article that might make it good enough (notable enough) for resubmission? Should we care about Wikipedia or “notability”? After all, if indeed we have something, we can still edit it. In other words, S.O.S. = Save Our Stormtrooper Danny. ^_^;
P.S. Thanx *Chun*, I hope I can borrow your “seal of shock”. ^_^;
Blog 134 > Blue-Haired Babes
Thanx *nomadicotaku* for the idea… Got a fave blue-haired babe? (Bad captions not included, lol.)
Here are pretty much all of the blues in my collection. Seems like anime has the monopoly on blue hair, lol… Though I’m not including Kaname (from FMP) since her hair is kinda aqua-turquoise green, or Hazuki (from Moon Phase) since her hair is kinda violet-purplish. I think? ^_^;
Blog 133 > Mirai’s Rival Akiko – Final
Yup, Mirai’s Rival *Akiko* is finally complete! Well, sorta, 1 of 4 is complete, lol… Compared to my previous *Akiko* post, I’ve added shading/lighting to the eyes, hair, arm, gun and body. Vector is so much more efficient and effective than conventional bitmap, especially at 1680 or 2400 pixels. Keep in mind, she’s only 1 of 4 pieces in an overall *Akiko* layout, hence the 25-percent (25-day) per piece estimate. But I’ll manage, lol. And as always, thanx to Danny for the inspiration and creation of the Mirai Universe. ^_^
BONUS – For an added bonus, here’s my *Akiko* fanfic below… Coincidentally, I too was a high school salutatorian (class rank #2 of 500+) with a crush on the tall pretty blonde athlete (rank #3)… EDIT – Added link above to 1680 x 1050 textless wallpaper.
Blog 132 > Triple Monitor Goodness
Yeah, why not? A photo of my *anime*-style workspace at home. Very little attempt to clean up. Just 48 of my 79-figure collection, plus lots of goodies (and bills, argh).
My setup: (1) Left. 15-inch laptop. About 2.5 years old. My main machine, hooked up to center monitor. Working on Akiko. (2) Center. 20-inch monitor. To watch anime, movies, and check Photoshop graphics. Akiko on top of Purple Mirai. (3) Right. 17-inch desktop. About 4.5 years old. For BitTorrent and Pandora to free up laptop resources. Shiro Otoko & Mirai.
P.S. Planning to buy a 24-inch iMac and 50-inch plasma after I sell my house. ^_^;
P.P.S. Wow, lots of international comments too, hahaha. ^_^;
Blog 131 > Mirai’s Tsundere Rival!
Got tsundere? Impressed by *Demi-Alucard*s and *ETERNAL*s brilliant suggestion last month to create a *dark-side tsundere rival* for Mirai, I decided to take yet another (my 3rd) fanart risk. (No guts, no glory, eh?)
Although she’s still a rough 14% (14-day) draft, I finally present Mirai Suenaga’s tsundere rival — Akiko *Lucky* Yoshikawa — Class Rank #2 after Mirai’s Rank #1 at the Sorunian TimeSpy Academy. Her slick blue-haired look is based on my Facebook friend Jennie in May 2008, lol. Not bad for my very-first vector-art anime piece, huh? I hope to finish Akiko and her gun’s shading/lighting in the next few weeks. ^_^; Till next update!
P.S. Heartfelt thoughts and wishes to the victims of the Akihabara tragedy. Thanx for the coverage, Danny.
P.P.S. When you click the pic, don’t forget to check out my little sketch-script at the bottom. ^_^
Blog 130 > Mirai in Battle Mode!
Better late than never… ^_^;
Blog 128 > Downfall of Anime
Nahhh, I don’t think anime itself is falling or failing, but perhaps my ongoing time and energy (and thus need) for anime is fading into my own personal “downfall of anime”. Let me explain…
Blog 123 > Frumpy Orange Photoshoot
Frumpy! Yep, that’s what Lisa called herself, haha… Hey, remember my Blog 120 > Orange Christmas photo-post? Well, back in early December, due to various circumstances, my ex’s sister Lisa asked to move in with me as a housemate. Actually, I’ve known Lisa since she was a 12-year-old brat in 1994, so she’s not totally unfamiliar. But after a full 5 weeks of moving and assembling her stuff from 2 or 3 other places, and fulfilling her first-month’s rent to me, last night (Wednesday the 16th) was her first night staying over. Which somehow included an impromptu photoshoot in her new orange bedroom and “frumpy” stay-at-home outfit!… Consequently, here are 13 of the better shots. For more of Lisa, she can also be found at MySpace > EvieVanCovet. Enjoy the odd and orange frumpiness!
Blog 119 > Sepia Death Girls!
Finally! Full photoshoot is finally ready! As I teased in my previous Blog 118 > The Joy of Sepia, this month we welcome my latest “Death Girls” — 1/6-scale “Morte from Noir et Blanc” (Toranoana, June-July 2007) obtained in August 2007, and 1/6-scale “Misa from Death Note” (Jun Planning, June 2007) obtained in September 2007.
For this Canon photoshoot, I ended up with 65 shots, taken with the backdrop of a Japanese cemetery. And for the first time, I experimented with sepia! May not sound like much, but as my brother observed, anime and sepia aren’t usually associated with each other, right? In any case, I really like the Gothic atmosphere created with a simple change in color and contrast. I hope you do too. Enjoy the rest!
Warning > I recommend Firefox or Safari since IE 6/7 tends to break under the photo pressure, argh.
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My Anime Figure List >>
Click for Full Photoshoot (65) >>
Blog 118 > The Joy of Sepia!
Sepia! When I saw my friend Lena‘s “Mad Elephants” sepia photos in her LiveJournal, I had to do it too, lol. So I tried it with my “Death Girls” photoshoot taken earlier this month — my 1/6-scale “Morte from Noir et Blanc” (Toranoana, June-July 2007) obtained in August 2007, and 1/6-scale “Misa from Death Note” (Jun Planning, June 2007) obtained in September 2007. Hmmmm, I think their gothic outfits match the sepia style quite nicely! Their full photoshoot coming soon!
Blog 113 > Shadows of Time, Final Day
WOW, I’m finally finished! After 38 random days over the last 5 months — maybe about 77 total hours — I finally completed my “Shadows of Time” art piece featuring my interpretation of the shadowy Shiro Otoko (Man in White) and Mirai Suenaga in her Meisai Gear battle suit!… Haha, I let Megan take a peek before my post, and she thought it was “absolutely gorgeous”. She’s a graphic designer, but she still can’t believe I did it all in Photoshop (Version 7.0). Yup, just PS7, my laptop, and my thumb-side trackball mouse. But most of all, thanx to Danny for the inspiration, and especially your infinite patience, lol. And now, here was my progress during these last 5 months…
Blog 112 > Rebuild of Gothloli Asuka!
Sugoi! Asuka finally came! Haha, no, not what you’re thinking, but close enough, haha!… During my routine anime figure sweeps, I found the matching 1/6-scale “Gothloli Asuka” (Dec 2007) figure for my 1/6-scale “Gothloli Rei” (Dec 2006) figure, both preassembled in polystone, sculpted by Suzu (Atomic-bom) and manufactured by Amie-Grand. Yes! So I ordered her immediately! Unfortunately, Asuka is likewise in the $120 USD range, which means more ramen for dinner, lol. Both who cares? The figure looks fantastic! Plus, by the time she’s released in mid-December, she’ll easily be sold out in the midst of the new “Rebuild of Evangelion” movies. I won’t regret missing this chance… By the way, did I mention Asuka’s detachable skirt? =)
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Blog 020 > Going All the Rei! >>
Blog 042 > Evangelion Lolitas! >>
Blog 085 > Does Faking It Matter? >>
Blog 108 > Figures of Air, Snow & Death
Photo 2292 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge
Can’t wait for her photoshoot, lol.
Wow, more than two months since my last collection update! Unfortunately, my 17 boxed figures have grown to 23. Argh, too busy for photoshoots! Nevertheless, here are my latest 7 of those 23 still-boxed figures, including Morte the Death Bringer (Noir et Blanc), Misa (Death Note), and the genuine-not-fake Gothloli Asuka (Evangelion), as well as characters from the breathtaking Kanon and Air series. Enjoy the rest of the photos!
Blog 106 > My Eye on Mirai, Day 30
Hey, Danny, inspiration! Because I’m flying from Vegas to New York soon (I’ll be away for a week for my brother’s wedding on September 1st), I’ve summoned fantastic progress in the last 10 days for this surprise! But I still estimate just 60% completed.
Now hitting 30 random days in the last 90 days (since May 28th), here’s the latest 750×500 teaser of the full-size 1800×1200 scene so far. At last, for the first time, I reveal my interpretation of the elusive Shiro Otoko (Man in White). Hmmm, is it a coincidence he resembles my blonde-curled Kako? Hahaha, my personal plot theories! In any case, things are looking awesome; I think I’m finally past the halfway mark. But as always, still lots of further cleaning, shading and lighting to do when I return!
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Mirai Suenaga, Past Progress >>
Mirai Suenaga Fanart at DannyChoo.com >>
Blog 104 > My Eye on Mirai, Day 25
Actual progress! Since my last Mirai update over a month ago — My Eye on Mirai, Day 16 — found only 9 more random days to push forward my Mirai Suenaga battle piece, for a mere total of 25 random days since May 28th. Yet again, here’s a 750×500 draft of the full 1800×1200 battle scene so far. This time, added some preliminary coloring to the draft. Looking much better! But still tons of cleaning up, shading and lighting to do, as well as other cool elements to add. For the sake of numbers, let’s estimate 33% (about 1/3rd) completed.
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My Eye on Mirai, Day 16 >>
My Eye on Mirai, Day 10 >>
Mirai Suenaga Fanart at DannyChoo.com >>
Blog 102 > Black Angel of Death!
Whew, a frackin’ made it! Back in my Blog 030 > Half-Naked Death (January 2007), I remember seeing “Morte” when she was a 1/7-scale “Morte the Death Bringer” resin figure (HobbyFan.com; purple image below). Yeah, she was definitely a Gothic Lolita with a cute-yet-corrupt edge of Sex and Death! And still is! So while I procrastinated past both the pre-order and order periods for the larger-but-cheaper 1/6-scale “Morte” PVC figure (ToysLogic.com; red image above), I finally found her at AnimeCornerStore.com, smashed away the financial guilt, and snatched her before I could lose her again, forever! Whew!
Blog 099 > Weapons in the Wind
Whoa! When I first saw her, I virtually fell in love with her! In fact, it’s been a while since I ordered a figure BEFORE seeing an anime portraying her. In this case, she’s 1/7-scale “Fumie” from the Edelweiss eroge (Japanese erotic videogame) with her long raven-black hair, white windblown dress, and old-style pistol and shotgun. There’s just something gothic yet classical, stoic yet carefree, angelic and demonic, about her! So yeah, I ordered her with a target release of November-December 2007. For those interested, the videogame story site is provided with the image below.
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My Anime Figure List >>
