Blog 011 > Artificial Flight!

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Yukikaze
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.

Blog 010 > Aerial Odyssey!

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Ikki from Air Gear
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!

Blog 008 > Lara Croft in Wetsuit! Part 1 of 2

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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…

Click for all 40 >>

Blog 006 > Slice Of Their Life

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Yukino and Arima from Kare Kano
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!

Blog 005 > Heartfelt Figures

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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!

Click for all 25 >>

Blog 004 > Wild-West Meets Wild-East

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xjaymanx_grenadier_01sm.jpg
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 ^_^

post 426 ~ thanksgiving weekend (test post)

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Tsubasa & Hikaru from Figure 17
Figure 17 ~ Tsubasa & Hikaru | Image from Google Search

on late-thursday, very-early-friday, finished the rarely-known yet unexpectedly powerful and heartfelt slice-of-life drama “figure 17” (5 stars), in which a shy 10-year-old girl moves from the city to the country with her widowed dad, grows accustomed to her new life and new school, and one night, something falls from the sky which thrusts her into a secret high-tech life of fighting and killing deadly creatures… all while living the country life of a 10-year-old schoolgirl, with both uplifting daydreams and tearful tragedies, as best as she can with her newly-created “twin sister”… in fact, this series affected me so much that my depression returned temporarily since that day… my chat with anna helped me to smile… on saturday, also finished the hilarious high-school-meets-yakuza comedy “gokusen” (4 stars)… in addition to these, i’ve been actively watching “air gear” (13 of 25 so far; 4 stars), “eureka seven” (36 of 50 so far; 5 stars), and “kare kano (his and her circumstances)” (20 of 26 so far; 5 stars)… TONS of emotions in these… or rather, perhaps my situation has made me more sensitive to feeling these emotions…

oh yeah, on friday, received my “lara croft in wet suit” figure (from my post 424)… NICE! ;)))

post 424 ~ tomb raider phase! again?

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Lara Croft in Wetsuit
Lara Croft in Wetsuit (TR2) | Image from ActionFigures.About.com

post 424 ~ yup, before i knew it, i’m in my “tomb raider” phase again!

i remember finishing the classic TR1 and TR2 games (for PC) in the mid-to-late 90s, and even worked halfway into TR3 as late as 2000-2001… (before “The Matrix” saga consumed me)… last month, i added “TR: Legend” (XP) to my wish list, and this week, for my x-mas wish list, it re-ignited my interest once again… today, i even purchased a 1/6-scale 9-inch “Lara Croft in Wetsuit (TR2)” figure on ebay!

BUT yesterday, my ex told me she planned on getting (or telling someone to get) “TR: Legend” for x-mas, for her recently-purchased XBOX 360!… whoa, at first, i was jealous (well, maybe i still am, lol)… but then, hey– i could play it for free, and maybe the controls won’t be as familiar as a computer keyboard… who knows?… in any case, today i decided to flash back and install my old pre-XP TR3 once more, but some of the audio and video sequences skip and repeat like a broken record, gah!… fortunately, the XP-compatible TR2, TR3, and TR4 versions are less than $9 each (including shipping) on ebay, hehehe ;)))

p.s. other than the “jedi knight” and “enter the matrix” games, “tomb raider” is the only other title i’ve felt strongly enough to actually FINISH!… ah, the good old days ;)

post 421 ~ newest article ;)

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post 421 ~ ah, my newest article for LVO.org… enjoy! ;)))

Eclair and Lumiere from Kiddy Grade
Photo 1 by xJAYMANx | Click for more

Making the Grade!

To be or not to be elegant? That’s the difference between Eclair and Lumiere from the sci-fi-mystery action series Kiddy Grade. But together as a team, this dynamic duo packs a powerful cybernetically-enhanced punch!

Released in January 2006 as a combination package, both 1/7-scale PVC figures were intricately sculpted by the world-famous Monsieur Bome and just-as-finely manufactured by Kaiyodo. At a height of 8 1/2 inches, the more-voluptuous gun-toting Eclair poses playfully in her skimpy-yet-stylish blood-red dress. Meanwhile, at just over 7 inches, the more-childlike more-refined Lumiere stands gracefully with her wineglass in hand. Both renditions are incredibly detailed from their colorful bows to their unique hair curls to their hand-held accessories.

With matching G.O.T.T. (Galactic Organization of Trade and Tariffs) bases, these two are nearly flawless when stacked against other figures at the same scale. Even the price is nothing to whine about — an extremely affordable $30-35 USD for the pair — at such a high level of quality. So do Eclair and Lumiere make the grade? Without question, they pass with beverage-bubbling lipstick-flying colors!

To peek at more photos, click here.