[ fig ] wonder festival preview : inori yuzuriha

among the many new figures unveiled at the recent winter wonfes [ wonder festival ] that caught our attention greatly were these elegantly beautiful 1/8 scale figure and a highly moedorable nendoroid of inori yuzuriha from the currently on-going sci-fi series guilty crown [ credit to mikatan for these lovely pics ]



finally, after months of waiting, our team can now sit back and relax knowing in full relief that the expectation we had for the 1/8 scale PVC inorin has been met to our utmost pleasant delight; looks like good smile company made a really good decision at their side by sticking with redjuice design for the figure, not to mention that it is really good to see how she's set to a flowing dynamic pose of which further adds in more beauty to her 1/8 scale figure.

all that's left now is to wait for the P/O [ for both figures ] to be made open soon :3

amagami ss+ plus : belated impression

AMAGAMI SS+ PLUS
studio : AIC
director : Tomoki Kobayashi
serial run : January 5, 2012 - ongoing
episode count : 12
hime's priority rank : 05

ERM~ DIE, JUNICHI ? :D

once again, it's been my pleasure to take my sip on the sequel to what i presume as one of the best romantic anime series i've seen of present time. and having grown [ closely ] fond of the entirety of its featured heroines, i am more and more excited to learn and experience more of what's waiting for these fun and adorable heroines following their decisive hookup with the despicable junichi [ so jelly ] [ at the closure of each their respective arcs in the first season ]; of whom has successfully completed his self-imposed 'amagami challenge' to the envy of many male watchers of the series. nishishishi ? nishishishi~ :D

as with the first season that was aired long before it, amagami ss+ plus as well took on the omnibus format of then, only reversed from how it went out last time [ instead of your ever-bubbly-senpai haruka love, amagami ss+ plus kicked off with the sweet-on-the-outside-but-spicy-on-the-inside tsukasa instead ]. and in relevance to the impression i had with its parent series prior, it's definitely a good choice for the series to be making use of such format since all of its heroines are going be treated equally - with each of them acquiring a piece of their well deserved happiness, thus pulling out the 'cruelty' of which is a staple feature for a harem series such as this.

[ thank god, justice finally served for our dearest rihocchi T^T)/ ]

moving on, despite the highly impressive visual execution previously seen on the start of the first season, amagami ss+ plus however inherited the shaky / mildly-decent quality thrown by AIC halfway through the initial series back then, which of course has left me mildly disappointed even until now. but overall the visuals are still good and catchy enough for the eyes, albeit they now lack the impact they once had previously. regardless of that however, amagami ss+ plus is still fun and entertaining to watch and follow this season.

zero no tsukaima f : belated impression

ZERO NO TSUKAIMA F
studio : J.C. Staff
director : Yoshiaki Iwasaki
serial run : January 7, 2012 - ongoing
episode count : 12
hime's priority rank : 07

ZERO STRIKES BACK

louise and her merry companions returns for a fourth and final season of zero no tsukaima, with same 'ol feel and look once felt and seen from the previous three seasons prior. sure it's a good thing of course that the series does not deviate much from how it was then, as if it does, it would probably alienated a handful portion of its fans / followers since years past.

anyway, one thing i would like to point out the most here is that, zero no tsukaima f went for a very good start compared to its spiritual sister shakugan no shana final, the latter of which has left me completely uninspired to continue further after having tasted the first two episodes back then [ frankly speaking shakugan no shana final currently sits on my on-hold list since episode 03 ]. generally speaking, i get the most fun and excitement from zerotuka f instead of shana final - despite having looking forward to the most at the latter, so to speak write.

plotwise, the fourth season expands its story directly from where the series had left with its third season before. the political drama is still there, and thankfully fillers has been set to run on minimal level this time around - well at least for the first half of the final season, at the time being. there's new intriguing party of antagonists being brought in, and hopefully the writer[s] would flesh them out well with the limited runtime left at this point of the winter season.

[ a nod to ano natsu de matteru, i presume ? :D ]

as mentioned in my opening paragraph above, zerotuka f retained most of its production / execution qualities from its three predecessors before, and i was happy for that since i've already grown extremely fond over the taste, look and feel of the first three series that came long before it then. not to mention that it's plenty of fun to watch on, but of course for those who are well open to lighthearted entertainment such as this series :3

kill me baby : belated impression

KILL ME BABY
studio : J.C. Staff
director : Yoshiki Yamakawa
serial run : January 5, 2012 - ongoing
episode count : ?
hime's priority rank : 01
zange's priority rank : 01

WASA WASA CAMO CAMO

a mildly bizarre gag comedy which stood on a level of its own; kill me baby hands down is the best comedy this winter [ and definitely a winner for me ]; one that is potent enough to inflict 9998 lvl damage upon myself and my only companion zange-chan, the latter of whom kept telling me [ she's still on her extended leave, btw ] on just how much she loved the series week after week [ wait until you get bombarded with her constant 'wasa wasa camo camo' spams on skype - i wish she would stop. yes ].

moving on. a quick glimpse at the series might lead one into hastily mistaking kill me baby as yet another series produced by kyoto animation; but no, this particular one instead is being produced by your ever productive friends at j.c. staff. there is no mistaking that kill me baby bears huge resemblance to kyoani's lucky star of course - art and design wise, enough to fool casual anifans and newbies alike into believing that this one might indeed be the work of kyoani.

overall, kill me baby's presentation and execution are delightfully solid. the entirety of its characters bleeds much life in them [ whoever thought yasuna wasn't annoying enough deserved to be punched on the face twice - ed ] - with exceptionally grabbing personalities for each respective characters to our greatest delights. not to mention the jokes are so absurdly funny [ despite being overly random most of the time, as with kyoani's nichijou ] that we [ zange included ] kept failing at holding ourselves from laughing hysterically. also, both the character and background art themselves are fantastic - reminiscing the exact same style previously found in lucky star.

[ precise summary / description of the entire series in a single image ]

btw, we didn't mean to be sarcastic but both the OP and ED of the series are extremely fantastic, frankly speaking to us it is as if they were made to be listened to with some LSD in use / effect; randomly bizarre yet very trippy and addictive. +not to mention they [ the OP especially ] are very lively and expressive, much like the characters of the series were.

goodbye and rest in peace, hare menjou

[ click here for a fitting music to this post ]

i personally dedicate this post here to one of my standing favorite female character of guilty crown; the kind and ever-caring hare menjou.

she may have been an insignificant character to some fans / viewers of the series out there, but for me, her existence has given plenty of warmth to the otherwise cold and pessimistic atmosphere of guilty crown [ her unique / exceptional void was a perfect hint for this ]; something that is truly irreplaceable at this point of the series. and something that i would keep missing on further into the weeks / episodes that is to come.

her loss has left me completely heartbroken.

and though i still find it hard for me to accept her tragic departure from the series, still i would like to believe that she's finally away from the gloomy hell that is the present world of guilty crown, having sent off peacefully from within the embrace of the one she truly loves.



goodbye, and rest in peace, hare-chan

[ figure of interest ] naruko "anaru" anjou

character : Naruko "Anaru" Anjou
series : Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai
producer : Kotobukiya
official page : [ click ]

from kotobukiya comes this lovely 1/8 scaled figure of the uber-sexy tsundere anaru, clad in her fashionable white dress and a more relaxed expression than her usual tsuntsun-ness, while holding a mug in her right hand of which is removable if desired. also worthy of note is that both her twintails has been eased off, adding in a bit more sexual appeal onto her sculpted appearance here.

standing at 210 mm in approximate, anaru is slated for a june 2012 release, and is currently open for pre-orders at the price of 7140 yen - inclusive of tax.