August 15, 2008

Fuan no Tane - Seeds of Anxiety

Fuan no Tane mangaTitle: Fuan no Tane
Story & Art: Nakayama Masaaki
Volumes: 3
Genre: Seinen

Fuan no Tane (Seeds of Anxiety) is a collection of stories that centers around urban legends, ghosts and supernatural stuff from Japan. I'm not really familiar with most of them, except that some of the ghost stories are pretty much what you hear from old people. (At the very least, we have our own versions of those stories...you get my drift.)

Most of the stories are short (2-pages long) so I got the feeling that there should be more to it than what I read. Although, that's what makes these kinds of stories enjoyable, right? They leave you hanging ^_^;

There isn't anything spectacular about the drawing style of Fuan no Tane. The characters look average - even unattractive. The ghosts and creatures aren't what we normally see in horror movies; they aren't gruesome or scary at all. Well, I didn't find them scary but they were way creepy. When I read pages that show the ghosts and their lot, I got goosebumps and the hairs on my nape were dancing up and down. But yeah, not scary at all. Just plain C-R-E-E-P-Y.

As I read through each story, I kinda got the feeling that those could happen to me at any given time, whether I was at home, at work or just walking around town. That thought made the whole manga-reading even creepier. Well they do happen to just about anyone, I guess. Good thing I never really sense anything beyond normal!

Fuan no Tane is a good read if you're into the supernatural stuff. Not as great as Junji Ito's works, but I guess I can't really compare it to that. They're under the same category but the whole atmosphere of the stories are different. Just don't read it at night (if you're anything like me, that is).

August 7, 2008

Invasion of the Cuties

...we're being taken over by Nendoroids. Everyone's enthralled by these really small and really cute SD versions of our favorite characters. If you still don't know what Nendoroids are, where have you been hiding? Eh..Here's a bit about Nendoroids.

Anyway, they've started to invade even video games now. Check out these screens of Virtua Fighters 5 where the Nendoroids are clearly visible.

virtua fighter 5 nendoroid
virtua fighter 5 nendoroid
virtua fighter 5 nendoroid
virtua fighter 5 nendoroid
virtua fighter 5 nendoroidNendoroids are actually cute accessories, right? I wish someone would make Nendoroid earrings!

Source

August 6, 2008

New Figures!

These are some of the new figures that will be released later this year. I heard that there will also be a re-issue of the POP3 Roronoa Zoro... I'm crossing my fingers that it will reach our shores! Anyway, the Ignis figure looks really nice but I think the base spoils it all so I'd have to pass on that, sadly.

Tears to Tiara Riannon Figure
[Kotobukiya] Riannon
From: Tears to Tiara
Scale: 1/8
Price: 7,140 Yen
Release Date: November 2008


Gurren Lagann Yoko Fraulein Revoltech
[Kaiyodo Fraulein Revoltech] Yoko
From: Gurren Lagann
Scale: None
Price: 2,300 Yen
Release Date: October 2008
Pre-Order


Gurren Lagann Yoko Figure
[Movic] Yoko
From: Gurren Lagann
Scale: 1/5
Price: 6,300 Yen
Release Date: October 2008
Pre-Order


Queen's Blade Nanael Figure
[Mega House] Nanael
From: Queen's Blade
Scale: 1/8
Price: 5,775 Yen
Release Date: November 2008
Pre-Order


Jingai Makyo Ignis Figure
[Yamato Creator's Labo] Ignis
From: Jingai Makyo
Scale: None
Price: 8,190 Yen
Release Date: November 2008
Pre-Order


Puchimon Melty Figure Puchimon Melty Figure
[Shueisha] Melty
From: Puchimon
Scale: 1/8
Price: 5,800 Yen
Release Date: December 2008


Comic Aun Lala Figure
[Orchid Seed] Lala
From: Comic Aun
Scale: 1/7
Price: 7,400 Yen
Release Date: November 2008


Lineage II Human Mage Figure
[Good Smile Co.] Human Mage
From: Lineage II
Scale: 1/8
Price: 6,800 Yen
Release Date: November 2008
Pre-Order


These are just "some" figures, I reiterate. With the recent WonderFest Winter 2008 convention, we see more and more figures coming to rob us. ^_^; Planning on getting any one of these?