Bleach Dome Boobie Buster Kick!

I got most of these stuff in the beginning of Feb. Gunbuster was the last item that came in 2 weeks ago (a bit earlier than street date). I got Bleach vol.25 HK edition the 1st week of Feb along w/ Black Lagoon 6 HK iirc. So yeah, it'll be another 2 months before i get vol.26 HK as the Japanese tank was just recently released. Though i don't have Bleach Wii, i picked up the Bleach Wii FP DVD from my import store. They had it in the bargain bin for some reason for only 0.99 cents. Nothing special as the meat of DVD basically has 4 of the seiyuus having a tournament of the game. Though i don't usually post my JPN games purchases, The Ayumi Hamasaki Visual Dome Tour is there cuz her A Best 2 (Black & White) CDs come out today ('yesterday') officially. I also got this in the beginning of the month from PA since it was only 7 bucks US roughly. It's also somewhat of a rare item. If you're wondering why I didn't post these items earlier it's cuz i didn't want to 'steal' my AJ order's thunder :P.


As usual, i bring you the latest Famitsu scores

Virtua Tennis 3 [Power Smash 3] (PS3, Sega): 8 / 7 / 7 / 6 - (28/40) - wow, that's disappointing
Karous (DC, MileStone): 6 / 6 / 6 / 7 - (25/40)
Seiken Densetsu: Heroes of Mana (NDS, Square Enix): 9 / 8 / 8 / 7 - (32/40)
Doraemon: Nobita no Shin Makai Daibouken DS (NDS, Sega): 8 / 8 / 8 / 7 - (31/40)
Yoshi's Island DS (NDS, Nintendo): 9 / 7 / 8 / 8 - (32/40)
Kenka Banchou 2: Full Throttle (PS2, Spike): 7 / 8 / 7 / 7 - (29/40)
Amekoushi no Kan (PS2, Nippon Ichi): 7 / 8 / 8 / 8 - (31/40)
Bomberman Land Wii (Wii, Hudson): 7 / 6 / 7 / 7 - (27/40)

Looks like I was stupid w/ the My-HIME Destiny ~Ryu no Fujo/Miko~ novel as I had to carefully re-read the info. Never knew Novel Japan was a light novel mag and thus who knows when the full novel itself will be out. i'm tempted to get Novel Japan now just for those pages of Destiny. I don't think I will (yet) as Hisayuki isn't the main artist for the light novel, just the chara design (thus, only sketches/production art and maybe 1 promo art i expect from him). Though, I am a huge fan of Sankichi Meguro as well (artist for Teizokurei Daydream, which i love) and Meguro's adapts Hisayuki's style very nicely. So i'll see how long i'll hold out, prolly until May ^^.

finally, i'm sure y'all loved ep.116 last week ;).

Fully Loaded

So yeah, I got lucky as my AJ order arrived in 1 day, but i got charged w/ customs Orz. It's been about 3 months since I've had a R2 orgy and I probably won't have another one for another 3 months. Anyways, I already mentioned what i'd be getting in this post and i already mentioned my little dilemma yesterday about My-HIME Destiny ~Ryu no Fujo/Miko~ (rough trans. probably not even right). Yeah, they're all items that you know i'm a HUGE FAN of so no big surprises. I'll go into a bit of details w/ all the books.


The AJ items are Barrage Rei Hiroe Artworks, Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex Solid State Society Visual Book, My-HiME & My-ZHiME figure special, My-ZHiME Saga ~Ayane Kourin ♥ Hen~, My:Otome Zwei vol.2 Limited Edition w/ Arika fig, Change 123 tank vol.4 and Lives "Raibusu" vol.1 were added last minute. I got Black Lagoon vol.6 HK version in the beginning of the month (@ YA) but added it in the pic to coincide w/ Barrage :D.


I'll start off w/ the Otome items first. Zwei vol.2 LE is the same old DVD & CD (w/ new ending song [storm]) but we get a actual fig this time (screw that lame mikoto fig). It's also my first fig in more than half a year i think. Of course, i didn't really want it, i just buy everything LE that is HiME/ZHiME :P. The fig is your standard CM trading fig kind. Now most CM HiME/ZHiME figs are crap quality. This one isn't too bad, it's one of the better ones like the ones that came in MH vol.6-8 R2. It comes w/ two bases actually, a rubber one and your standard plastic. The plastic hooks and sticks are included as well of course. Here's a shot:

It was a quick setup as i was too lazy to get the hooks and poles set up

The My-HiME & My-Otome figure special book is basically a book to show me how much awesome and crappy HiME/ZHiME related figs I missed out on buying but also reminding me how much money i saved (but spent elsewhere :P). So every single HiME/ZHiME figure ever released up till Jan/Feb is covered in detail, with some in more detail than others. A couple of future releases are taken as well (show in one of my samples below). The book also contains production sketches from both HiME and ZHiME. These are nothing new if you own the R2 DVDS, 1st two HiME mooks (or some of the other books) as well as the Otome Perfect guide. It does contain some new sketches and art at the time of it's release (as vol.2 zwei's insert booklet has some of these sketches as well). The most interesting sketch is the character comparison chart as we see the fumi silhouette.

The Ayane Kourin novel is basically the same as the MH Side-A & Side-B novels that I have. So, like a novel, it's mostly all text & story. Maruto is not in charge of the art this time but the artist known as Tachibana Seven (the artist responsible for the Feb 28th manga, My-Ztome Saga ryu to otome no namida). Unlike the Side A & B novels, the artwork isn't presented at the chapter titles but spreadout through the chapters. Seven's art basically mimics Hisayuki's style but is far more simple and less detailed. Seven also doesn't draw any background art. However, because he mimics Hisayuki's art, I've decided to get the manga now. Other art in the novel includes the usual insert coloured art in the beginning. For this novel, it's a fold out. It features a Hisayuki drawn Ayane Hazakura on one side, w/ a Tachibana Seven art featuring Ayane, Nicola ("ni-ko-ra") & "Ku-ra-ri-ssa" (i'll just call her Carissa). Nicola and Carissa are the other two main charas in the story. The back of the novel features Hisayuki sketches of the main charas and minor charas. So we see Ayane in her meister robe, sketches of Erstin's ancestor Carissa Ho and Nichola Rei Fran (Ayane's 14 year old classmates), Pearl no.1 Sophia amongst others. These sketches are all available at the Otome Big Bang site if ya didn't know. I haven't attempted to read the story as i just got it and it will take a me awhile to get thru. The manga will probably make things easier when released.

The GitS SAC SSS visual book is essentially the same as the other visual books detailing on some of the story aspects of the movie as well as recapping the laughing man and individual 11 stories. production art is mostly from the movie but some old production art from the 1st two visual books are shown as well. There's a talk/interview w/ kamiyama and another one w/ ohtsuka & yamadera. a page of gits products is shown. a lot of detail on the nissan as expected. there's also the usual comic at the end. i'm glad that they had a textless version of the cover art from the first 2 visual books shown on one page each as they're awesome. Sadly, they didn't have the cover for this book shown in glory.

Barrage Rei Hiroe Artworks is a fantastic artbook. It collects most of the works he's done. You get all his Black Lagoon cover art (in textless form) as well as the coloured interiors of the manga shown originally in GX. You also get all promo art he's done for BL. A lot of his other works are shown like his other mangas (ie. Shook up), some comiket art; covers drawn for novels & other mangas; game artwork that he's done. It's all amazing stuff if you're a mega fan like i am. Sadly none of his adult doujin stuff shown. Meh, i have most of 'em anyways, but sux for others. The other half of the artbook is actually a reprint of this manga he did in 2000, which got a limited release in 2003. The manga is Phantom Bullet and it's pretty sweet as I was trying to track it down on YJA a couple of years ago (prices were a ripoff though).

Finally I'll just mention Lives 'Lives' The Monster's World. Those following my blog know that i read a bunch of manga unknown to most, and have been purchasing them. Lives is the new one this time. I got this one simply for the cover...i mean come on, how hawt is that chick?! However, i knew Lives was by Masayuki Taguchi, therefore if the story sucked, i knew at least the art will be great. For those who don't know, Taguchi is the artist for the Battle Royale mangas. Unlike BR, he does the art AND story. So yeah, the guy can draw some very hawt females and some good looking dudes, but also some really nasty looking dudes. Judging so far from vol.1, Lives isn't as gory as BR (though there is gore), nor does it contain any explicit sex (like BR). There is nudity though but not so much as BR (no crazy mitsuko chara currently :P). With BR being the last art i've seen from Taguchi (don't want to touch the older baron gong battle, unless i find the HK version), his artwork has greatly improved over the past 6 years. I'll probably be picking up the future tanks as i'm interested in seeing where this will go, also i want to see more Hatsuki (hottie on the cover) & Kyoka (other hottie in the book).

I have other stuff that i haven't shown yet, but i'll save it for later as i got pics to use for 'em ^_~.

'2-3' in '2' ep.2

Too many twos :D. This is a HiME/ZHiME rant if anyone cares. Anyways, checked out ep.2 of Zwei as I couldn't wait for my R2 DVD. My impressions, like last episode was that it's purely fanservice and I don't care for the thin plot that the show's heading into. Besides, it's only 4 episodes and sometimes you either can or can't develop a good story within that time frame. And in Otome's case, you can't due to the immense cast the show has. So yeah, the episode was basically like episode 1, where animation and art are not too different from a well animated episode from the TV series. Again, it's only slightly improved and you wouldn't notice that much of a difference. Though episode 2 seemed slightly better in both departments, slightly. Music-wise, same old Kajiura stuff. There's no new music from her, at least from what I heard. This episode you even get good ol' My-HiME music like the last episodes of My-Otome from the TV series. ED song is a new one once again. In the fanservice department, this was a treat to the Haruka, Chie, Yukino, Tomoe (yay me wuv) and Sara fans. Chie and her delta squad were interesting. Her magic (literally) powers looked dumb, though effective. Tomoe was hawt and crazee, yeah what a combo. Loved that kick she gave. Haruka had the most action, however, that isn't say too much as she threw like 3-4 moves :(. However, she did redeem herself by pulling a Suzushiro Haruka at the end...oh yeah, that's what expected of her from hard work and guts (you can guess what i rewatched ^^). Sara was a big disappointment. I was hoping to see more of her in action, however all she showed was a stealth camouflage power she had. Her transformation sequence wasn't all too special either. However, she did provide in the naughty fanservice department. Not really naughty but she won this department in this episode by giving us bouncing boobs in which Arika ruled in ep.1. Next episode will surely give us some Nao and Nina fanservice (and probably Sergay for the chicks :P) as they actually had lines this episode. The "next episode preview" showed some interesting sketches w/ what looks like to be a Royal Rumble as we see some of the other Meister Otomes in a wrestling ring. However, one shouldn't take this seriously yet. As ep.1's end preview didn't show any of the sketches in action in ep.2 (Haruka was in action but we didn't see her 'transformation pose' here). Thus, my hunch is that ep.1's end preview could perhaps be scenes from ep.3 and/or 4, same w/ episode 2's end preview (though that one could be the last episode as it looks more 'fun'). Then again, the sketches may mean nothing at all and are simply gags. Wouldn't surprise me if so since they look like it, in a way. However, I did love the underboobage service it gave w/ Akane and...ROSALIE's new outfit....hawt...yesh yesh.



Finally, I should be having a stuff pic soon. mainly stuff i got this week and in the beginning of feb. I talked w/ AJ and they don't know anything so far about the My-HiME Destiny ~龍の巫女~ as it's still not listed on (as of today) on their site. The book is supposed to be out Feb. 26 (28th for the manga). So I coudn't preorder it or the manga, though i'm not too sure if i want the manga. AJ is usually late w/ the novels when preordering. They usually have it listed a week or 3-5 days before it streets. I haven't seen the book listed on any of the big JPN book sites for the past couple of weeks either. So there may be a delay. I hope so, cuz I'm gonna be sort of pissed if they have it listed later today, tomorrow, on the weekend as i asked to have my order on hold. I should've just preordered something i didn't want to delay it. Reason I'd be pissed is cuz I have nothing I'm gonna order from AJ (or any other JPN import shops) until May 25 which is the release date for My-Otome Zwei vol.3 and I don't want to wait that long for the novel. Thus, my R2 order was shipped today and if i'm lucky, i'll get it tomorrow but the latest on Monday or Tuesday. Hopefully some store like YesAsia or Play-Asia will have it cuz I plan to order from them in the near future as shipping for a book is a ripoff by itself from AJ and other stores.

Famitsu

Gundam Musou (PS3, Bandai Namco): 9 / 8 / 8 / 8 - (33/40) - good score, then again most Musou games reviewed by Famitsu have gotten good scores...how odd :P ^^
Bakegyamon: Ayakashi Fighting (NDS, Takara Tomy): 4 / 4 / 4 / 3 - (15/40) - ahahha, saw the CM laughed my ass off
Unou no Tatsuhin! Soukai! Machigai Museum 2 (NDS, Bandai Namco): 8 / 7 / 7 / 8 - (30/40)
Super Robot Taisen W (NDS, Banpresto): 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 - (32/40) - not a big SRT fan but good stuff as usual
Akudaikan 3 (PS2, Global A): 7 / 6 / 6 / 6 - (25/40)

yesh Kallen yeeesssh

Dengeki PS

Gundam Musou (PS3, Bandai Namco): 95 / 90 / 85 / 85
Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom (PS3, Sony): 70 / 80 / 70 / 85
Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (PSP, Capcom): 85 / 90 / 95 / 85
Akudaikan Manyuuki: Seigi no Yaiba (PSP, Global A): 75 / 80 / 65 / 65
Kenka Banchou 2: Full Throttle (PS2, Spike): 80 / 70 / 65 / 80

Life's goal: Be Healthwii & Wiialthy

That's everyone's goal isn't it? Anyways, this is the main post today as the new T6 trailer took me by surprise. Rarely do i ever post twice in a day. I want KoFXII trailer soon! So anyways, i finally picked up my Wii Play w/ wiimote as it's been on hold for me at EB since Monday. I only bought for the extra remote. I should even sell it cuz Wiimotes (and nunchuks) are very scarce in Canada still, thus making this game already hard to find. I probably won't play these crap ass demos until next week as i'm heading home for Chinese New Year. I've also started going back to the gym again due to laziness and school. Thus i lost all my tone and def. Need to get my six pack going again as well. That is why i sorta included this month's Men's Health mag (which i purchase almost every month) :D, as this is my 'Health' post and playing the Wii does make you healthy...sort of, for a bit. I've had quite a few games, mangas, dvds arrive over the past weeks. i haven't posted them as i'm saving for a bigger orgasmic post and a theme i plan on doing. So Wii Play is nuthin really, just an excuse for 'health' ^^.

Anyways, don't feel like getting pics for Chinese New Year, so I'll end off w/ the hottest (and my fave) Chinese video game chick ever, drawn by the awesome Alvin Lee, coloured by Monk. My fave CHN anime chick would be Sei from BakuTen (she's from CHN heritage though her name doesn't sound like it :P). She better be in the OVA next month or i'll be filled w/ RAGE!!! Have a happy Chinese New Year for those who celebrate it! YAY for RED POCKET MONEY!!!!

Hot Shiizzaat

New Tekken 6 charas announced from AOU 07. Check out the usual JPN pages (Impress, Famitsu, Dengeki etc.) for news. Check IGN, Gamespot, Siliconera, Joystiq etc. for english news when they appear. Leo sure looks like an effeminate Rock Howard 0_o. Zafina is the new hawt chick and i'm looking forward to learning her. Check out the official site for shots and pics. Here's a quick link to Dengeki who covers most of the stuff already along w/ asuka shot and Jack's new look. Most of the aforementioned sites has the trailer for download.

leave u? if i value my life? hell's no!

anyways, i'll have my another post today but i had to post this as regulars would know how hardcore i am about tekken ^^. other arcade games like silent hill arcade and konami's otomedius (part of the '-dius' gangs) look cool, dig the miine art. where's my SF4 dammit! don't tell i got to wait for the 20th birthday!!

Good ol' Chocolate & Roses day

Been busy today setting up for valentine's but it's wed. and as usual, i bring you the latest famitsu scores (even though i'm sorta late as i post 'em in da morning) for those who care.



Famitsu Scores:

Fire Emblem: Akatsuki no Megami (Wii, Nintendo): 8 / 8 / 8 / 9 - (33/40) - Good news, though i've never been a fan of the series
Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (PSP, Capcom): 9 / 8 / 9 / 8 - (34/40) - SICK GUY SICK!
Sim City DS (NDS, EA): 7 / 8 / 8 / 8 - (31/40)
Riot Act [Crackdown] (Xbox 360, Microsoft): 9 / 8 / 8 / 9 - (34/40)
Splinter Cell: Nijuu Spy (Xbox 360, Ubisoft): 7 / 8 / 8 / 9 - (32/40)
Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom (PS3, Sony): 7 / 8 / 8 / 8 - (31/40)
Trigger Heart Exelica (DC, Warashi): 7 / 6 / 6 / 6 - (25/40)
Naruto Shippuuden: Gekitou Ninja Taisen EX (Wii, Takara Tomy): 6 / 6 / 6 / 7 - (25/40) - that fucking sux
Boku wa Koukuu Kanseikan DS (NDS, Interchannel): 7 / 6 / 7 / 7 - (27/40)
Nova Usagi no Game de Ryuugaku!? DS (NDS, Konami): 6 / 7 / 7 / 6 - (26/40)
Keroro Gunsou: Enshuu da Yo! Zenin Shuugou Part 2 (NDS, Bandai Namco): 7 / 6 / 7 / 6 - (26/40)
Akudaikan Manyuuki: Seigi no Yaiba (PSP, Global A): 5 / 4 / 7 / 6 - (22/40)
WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2007 (PSP, THQ): 5 / 7 / 6 / 6 - (24/40)
Simple 2500 Series Portable Vol. 9: The My Taxi! (PSP, D3): 6 / 5 / 7 / 5 - (23/40)
Higurashi no Naku Kei ni Matsuri (PS2, Alchemist): 9 / 8 / 8 / 6 - (31/40)
Shoujo Mahou Gaku Little Witch Romanesque (PS2, Success): 6 / 7 / 6 / 5 - (24/40)
Destroy All Humans! (PS2, Sega): 8 / 9 / 7 / 7 - (31/40)
Soukou Kihei Armodyne (PS2, Sony): 8 / 8 / 7 / 6 - (29/40)
Simple 2000 Series Vol. 113: The Tairyou Jigoku (PS2, D3): 4 / 5 / 5 / 4 - (18/40)
Reijou Tantei: Office Love Jiken (PS2, D3): 6 / 6 / 6 / 5 - (23/40)
Aoi Sora no Neosphere: Nanoka Franka no Hatsumei Koubouki 2 (PS2, Nippon Ichi): 7 / 7 / 8 / 5 - (27/40)
Lupin III: Lupin ni wa Shi o, Zenigata ni wa Koi o (PS2, Banpresto): 7 / 5 / 8 / 5 - (25/40) -
The Jokouppichi Torimonochou - Oanechan Go Go Go! (PS2, D3): 4 / 5 / 4 / 6 - (19/40) - i'm contemplating this one as the chick is loli-looking...but w/ big boobs, thus me no like. still i'm a sucker for DW type games and having played through the previous Oanechan ('cept vortex of course), might as well give it a go.
Ah megami-Sama (PS2, Marvelous): 5 / 6 / 6 / 7 - (24/40) - i might check it out simply for the rarity of AMG games

I also want to note that VF5 for EVO!!!!! man i wish i could go. i hope there'll be a good turn out for that game. also for those who have wii, there's a new 'everyone vote channel' that went up yesterday, in which my 'blue wii' got today. some interesting polls to vote on. like best gifts on valentines: roses or chocolates. there's also a world one like do you like cats or dogs. not really a fun channel but interesting i guess, especially the valentine's poll. anyways, to all those w/ lady friends or guy friends, i hope you enjoy the most romantic day of the year. i know i will ^^.

Shopping w/ the Amazon

An advertising post here today one could say. so if anyone is into games and lives in Canada, you might want to take a look at the clearance games Amazon.ca has. There's some future rare games here that's on sale and you might not want to miss out. I purchased like 2 games but since i'm on a budget, i combined it for a future order. thus, it won't arrive for another couple of months. i'm in no hurry as i'm slowly chugging along my backlog every now and then.

Good deals i'd say for PS2 are: Shin Megami Tensei Raidou vs. Souless Army, only cuz it's Atlus and all Atlus/Atlus released games become rare afterwards. It's only 20 bucks CDN. Next is Socom Combined Assault for 24 bucks CDN. This is a good deal only cuz it's a fairly new game. I own all 3 SOCOM games but I'll get it later on when the price drops to 20 bucks as it's a given seeing that it's a Sony game and all Socoms have become Greatest Hits. But if you're one who can't wait another 3-5 months, a very good buy. Then you got FFXII RE (of course, as the CE is a EB/Gamespot exclusive) for only 25.99 CDN. Hopefully for those who got this on release date finished the game already, unlike me, who just finished it sometime last month. If you haven't i laugh at you :P, for paying so much and not waiting for this deal. Of course who would've known. It's so not worth 59.99 CDN, though that's the same price i paid for the CE, so good deal 4 me ^^. Lastly it's Lego Star Wars (2) the Original Trilogy. A short game like the first but damn fun. I rented this when it came out and this is the only PS2 one i ordered as it's only 20 bucks CDN. A GH version will come out but 3rd party GHs are usually 24.99-29.99.
edit: they upped the price for FFXII to 53.99 now. my rant is now pointless. If you purchased it at 25.99 before the hike, good job.

Next up is PS3: well, almost all games at launch are priced at 49.99 CDN instead of the usual 69.99. However, all the games at launch were pretty shat, thus, i don't recommend any games here. There's no Resistance, the only worthy game to buy of the launch titles. However, personally, i have no interest in it even if it were included and i had a PS3.

The PSP's only good deal is Pursuit Force for 19.99 CDN. The rest aren't great or that much of a bargain. This is the other game that i got as i have had some play time w/ it. The game has glitches, a bit of control issues and can be a bit hard but it's a very fun game w/ awesome production values. Thus, it's a deal for me. I'm sure this will be a future GH as PF 2 has already been announced for PSP and PS2.

PC games: i don't play much but there's a lot of good deals for the widely known games like Neverwinter Nights 2, WoW (u don't want to get into that), Gothic 3 and RS: Vegas.

The Wii only has Trauma Center worth buying at 39.99 CDN. I didn't lose too much seeing as i paid 49.99 CDN and finished the game 2 weeks after I got my Wii. However, for those holding out, this is a great buy right now. The other games are ho hum. Maybe Marvel UA and Red Steel, but i suggest getting these mediocre titles later and cheaper.

No good deals i can recommend in the NGC page.

Nothing on the DS page as well.

On the GBA page: The GBA has some great games on clearance. Summon Night 1 & 2 for 21.99 CDN. These will undoubtedly become rare. FFIV Advance for 19.99 CDN and Gunstar Super Heroes for 18.99.
edit: those sneaky bastards at Amazon Canada changed FFIV Advance to the french version for 20 bucks and upped the price of Summon Night 1 to 26.99.

X360: Undoubtedly the best deal is Gears of War for only 39.99 CDN. Call of Duty 3 would be next which is also priced at 39.99 CDN. If you want your (crappy) Japanese fix on the 360 you got the shat game of Phantasy Star Universe for 20 bucks. And If you want to get lower than that, there's the softcore polygon 'porn' of DOAX2 for 39.99...sad.
edit: once again those sneaky bastards changed GoW to a French version, usually french versions in canada just include french instructions but w/ the game in Eng. so i'm not totally sure if AC does have french version.

Xbox: Sadly, there's nothing i could recommend on the Xbox page except for Capcom Classics v.2 for only 13.99 CDN. It's a great retro game if you don't have the PS2 or PSP versions. The rest are mainly inferior ports. Lego Star Wars 2 isn't a good deal either as you can get the PS2 one for 10 bucks cheaper and graphically, it's not that much better.

I'll end off w/ a chick who's actually hot & suits my title ^^.