An Unexpected Gift

A Japanese friend with his family recently arrived here for a vacation. Me, my sister, my parents and my aunt got an unexpected gift from him...here's what's inside the bag labeled as mine:

I forgot to take a picture of it still in its package, but that sign was inside the plastic bag.

Slippers!

They're quite comfortable, despite them being wood.

My nanny holding the yukata. It's quite big XD

I couldn't fold it back to how I originally got it.

Oh Nostalgia! Series: Fushigi Yuugi

I'm very sure a lot of people remember this, even when they're embarrassed to say so XD

Well I'm not! Fushigi Yuugi's my all-time favorite anime; it's what really started the whole I'm-an-anime-fan phase for me.

I'm still crushing on Hotohori until now, btw ~<3

A Song of Ice and Fire Busts

I recently got addicted to A Song of Ice and Fire: Game of Thrones after watching the series. The books are next on my reading list too.

I tried to see if there are any figures for the characters that have been made, and lo and behold! There are 3 and one of them's my favorite: Daenerys Targaryen XD

The busts are made by Valyrian Resin and they come in two runs: standard and exclusive. They're at 8" tall, quite big for a bust ^^

Character: Eddard Stark

Run: Standard

Release:

Price: $54.99

Buy Here

Character: Eddard Stark

Run: Exclusive

Price: $64.99

Buy Here

Character: Sandor Clegane

Run: Standard

Price: $54.99

Buy Here

Character: Sandor Clegane

Run: Exclusive

Price: $64.99

Buy Here

Character: Daenerys Targaryen

Run: Standard

Price: $54.99

Buy Here

Character: Daenerys Targaryen

Run: Exclusive

Price: $64.99

Buy Here

On the Shinsengumi hotties

The boyfriend came by Saturday morning and gave me this:

Okay, this isn't the actual photo of my figure. This is from MFC.

Yep, that's Hijikata Toshizo and I'm 1/3 away from completing what has been released so far, with no news of any other figures from Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan coming soon. Okita Souji's just waiting to be shipped and I've already asked a contact to proceed with ordering Saito Hajime.

Best of all, I pretty much get them at SRP. I've seen Saito go as high as Y15,000 in Mandarake, Okita and Hijikata are Y9,000 and Y6,000 respectively. Very happy, I was.

Until I saw this:

Picture from Ponytale in LalaParadise.

Do I want them? Yes.

Will I get them? Depends.

If they're another hard-to-come-by exclusives, then no. I will already have the original versions and them in the exact same poses only with the hair and eye color different is just pushing it. I would've been 100% sure in wanting to get them if they're, at the very least, posed differently and with different outfits.

My guess would be that they'd be another set of exclusives that would torture Hakuouki fans when they come out XD

Hooray for Cheap Artbooks

I was finally able to get a copy of the Tenjou Tenge: Animation The Great! artbook. Lucky for me, my friend was selling his for a mere Php800 - less than $20.

That's already quite cheap, considering artbooks usually cost double when you buy them from bookstores. You don't have that much of a selection when it comes to the available titles, even from stores who specialize in comics.

This book is in pristine condition, covered in plastic wrapper with no creases at all. I've always been a fan of Tenjou Tenge, Maya especially, so the artbook's a great piece for me.

Moving on, this is what I got for the boyfriend as a gift.

The Art of The Matrix.

It was at 50% off, slashing the price from Php757.50 to Php378.75 only. For a hardbound book that's still in its shrink-wrap, I'd say this was a very good deal.

I've never been a fan of The Matrix, mostly because the first time I watched it, I felt like I was watching Serial Experiments Lain. Now don't take me wrong: I find Lain good -- after I watched it the second time, so maybe I should re-watch The Matrix again, just to see if I can finally understand the plot :D

Old anime titles and hard drives.

I finally got around to sorting through the old anime cds that I have -- in VCD format. Prehistoric, I know, but some of them are quite hard to find in the internet these days *coughTORRENTcough*, so I've undertaken the tedious task of copying them into my hard drive.

Progress: In about an hour, I've already copied roughly 10 episodes, with file sizes at an average of 300mb each.

Coming from VCDs, the quality isn't comparable to the newer anime that can be downloaded (720p, yeah?), but I'm not gonna nitpick. Just the fact that I have them is enough to make me happy. Unfortunately, some of the cds that would make a series complete got lost, so I still have the task of finding the missing episodes as well.

I have a bunch of series and movies, and I'm estimating that I'll need another hard drive soon. All my anime series and movies are in my 1TB hard drive (named Anakin) and all the Western movies and series are in my 2TB hard drive (named Zizes -- yep, Glee fan here!). I might just get myself another hard drive for my birthday!

Ayashi no Ceres, anyone? :)

The pile of toys two (?) years ago

And I think I have another pile waiting to happen.

Berserk Trailer

So I can't believe I only got to watch this now ;_; Loser, I know, right?

Berserk in 3 movies, first one coming out January 2012. The animation looks good so far; I'm hoping it'd be better than the anime (which I didn't get to finish for a reason or another).

I. Cannot. Wait!

GATTSU! (Griffith is hot too!)