Iron Miku 2+

I thought I'd try out another stop motion with Iron Miku. It's good timing too that the home video release of Iron Man 2 is coming out in 3 more days over here. Good timing, right? ...Well to be honest, I've been working on this since the beginning of this month and I got really lazy to finish it up until now. Oh and I did have that shoulder pain around Labor Day, so I have a part of an excuse to not be able to work on this.

However, I realized that I should finish this, especially for today, since today is my second Blogday. Yep, I've been blogging for 2 years now. Time flies. Last year I did a custom Gundam project, same with the first year I started. I don't have much time this year unfortunately, but I did work on this project... I guess I'll use it to celebrate this second year ^^;

Unlike the first Iron Miku "stop-motion" project, I wanted to somehow fit the transformation into the 4koma comic. I realize that I don't have the coding skills to do that, so I did whatever's close... So I don't want to delay this anymore and let you have a go at it...

The Melancholy of Saber Lily Part 39

 

Ironically I didn't realize myself that I put Miku in the 39th Melancholy of Saber Lily 4koma... What a coincidence! Everything just seems to fall into place, hahaha. Anyway... I'm planning to do a full video for this particular part just to make it flow better, but I have no time yet...

You can read the rest of the 4koma on the Melancholy of Saber Lily site.

Just let me say that I was way too ambitious again to do this... I don't think I was able to make everything work the way it should've work in my mind. I was still too lazy to move the figures slightly to make an actual stop motion, so I let all the Photoshop editing do all the work this time. Maybe if I had more time...

A deleted scene. It's Miku reaching in, but I think it looks like she just fell on to the book ^^;

Right about now I feel like doing what Miku is doing in the above picture... Just slam myself down and get some rest... But I still got that one more video to make. I did have a retrospect post for my first year of blogging... I don't know if I'll be doing one or not this year. I'm completely tuckered out. The only thing that kept me sane while creating this project was the new Netflix Canada, and I watched a lot of Mythbusters for almost the whole time I was working on this. Oh and if anyone's curious how long I did this... I have no idea... I didn't keep track of how long I did this, lol. It's only 20 seconds after all, but it felt like 20 days worth of work with what I got.

EDIT: Here's the video version of the 4koma comic.

Finally finished it after a lot of procrastination. Found quite a lot of challenge with it, mostly I had to re-edit the original transformation so it looks better. I added sound effects and added more music since it's longer. This was actually quite fun when I almost finished the video. I'm surprised it worked out... The timing is a little off, but it's not too bad... Phew!

Anyhoo, in case I don't do an annual blog retrospect... Thank you very much everyone who supported, commented, contributed, read, wrote about, visited my blog! It's been a hell of a year, and I couldn't do a lot of these without you who are out there reading this. I'd list my blog stats and all, but that's not very interesting even if there are almost 92,000 visitors and over 150,000 page views...... Thank you! I hope I'll still be here for the third year ^^;

2 Girls 1 Hentai

Uhh... I mean... "hen tie". This is my backlog blog loot post from Akihabaka. I told him before Otakuthon in Montreal started that I was interested in the Fakku shirt with the hen tie and he offered to get me one since he knows Jacob. He offered it for $20 and will ship it for free. Though later on he surprised me and told me that I won the Taito Lucky Star figures from his giveaway! What a surprise! And a coincidence XD

I like to keep the original plastic wrapping on anything so it's not dusty ^^;

I wonder what those plastic ring things on the side of the boxes? For the crane?

Looks like it's pretty accurate with Tsukasa being taller than Konata... By an ahoge at least.

I'm not too keen on the face though. Konata's eyes seem a bit too big.

Tsukasa's face is a bit long. I tried to take an angle where they look as good as possible. They do look good at certain angles.

The box in Tsukasa's hands are very well detailed! I should take a look at the original, curious what they look like. Umm... I think the camera's too good. It took a picture of that green whatever on top of the box. What is that? ^^;

Face complains aside, everything else is meticulously well done! You can read everything on that ticket on such a small piece of plastic.

Tsukasa's bag includes radio and headset in her bag.

The headset looks pretty good too. You can even see her name on the nametag... I can't get a good shot of it unfortunately.

Love the bag. So I guess the staff actually has this bag on their persons?

Konata is a staff member.

Tsukasa's charm point: the ribbon.

From the back... Konata is all hair, lol. I swear they gave a lot of details on Tsukasa more, haha.

Knee pits?

It's hard to read here, but I think you can actually read the text inside the box.

Close-up of the base.
No, I'm not trying to get an upskirt shot from the reflection of the base

his one I'm trying to get an upskirt shot... But I think they wear shorts underneath. Thanks again Akihabaka! I love the figures and the shirt ^_^

Reunion at Torarenbo

At the planning stages, my 2 college friends and I never thought of it as a reunion, just a gathering. We occasionally meet up and have dinner together to catch up. It was always hard for us to decide where to eat. It takes at least a few emails before we decided. Fortunately I was browsing Chun's blog at the time and saw her new favourite sushi restaurant, Torarenbo. So since I haven't had sushi for a while and was craving it, I tossed the idea in the air and... well... It landed there.

So logically, I will warn you that this contains food photos, not as many, but enough to make you hungry or craving for sushi... Blame Chun for this :P

I didn't take many photos because we realized that it was actually our 10 year reunion from college. Man, if we thought about it further, we could've gone to somewhere more fancy, lol. But the food was great, though I still think it was a bit pricey. I like my sushi to be all-you-can-eat, I guess. This time I brought TakoLuka and Rider... Rider's visor doesn't fit well on TakoLuka though ^^;

Rider looks happy looking at my mango California roll

We talked quite a lot. Work, life and projects in general. My friend who has the same first name and initials as I do, were researching about Lorreta Lynn who apparently lived in Vancouver. Very interesting story that he hopes to write. Hopefully he's made some progress.

TakoRider does not approve of the Tiger Eyes roll which contains squid in it.

My other friend is working on car decals/car wrap at his work. I'm very interested in that because it's something I'd like to know more about to make an itasha. He's also looking for Christmas decorations for a Christmas card cover... Unfortunately he doesn't have any, so hopefully he's found some good ideas with what we lent him.

The other roll I ordered was the rainbow roll. Very tasty with a lot of variety.

While my work is still the same, but a little bit more progress than the last time we met. I really didn't have much personal projects aside from my blog. Sometimes I feel like I'm in my own world ^^;

Anyhoo, it was a great dinner with friends. The food is good, but my friends and I don't usually do 2 restaurant visits in a row... So maybe I'll go with another friend or my brother. There were lots of other ones I wanted to try. The parking is a bit of a challenge since it was crowded all the time. I was lucky to find one after my second run around the lot. I wonder where we'll go next time...

♥ Koshinaka

Ryeain:

Koshinaka's Madame Red is the first that attracts me to take a look deeper into her gallery.

The feel that she bring out is really looks in Madame Red in posses!

Anyway, after a look through her gallery. Her cosplay are quite amusing!

Then, I saw her Beast from Kuroshitsuji and Paine from Final Fantasy XII cosplay

.. OMG total look a like.. *speachless.

I'm really glad that I'm able to future and interview her!



(DEVIANTART:GALLERY)

















✩✩ INTERVIEW SECTION ✩✩



Ryea: What is COSPLAY to you?

K : Cosplay is a very important hobby to me!

I cannot imagine how my life would be like if I never cosplayed! XD





Ryea : When do you first started to cosplay?

K : My first cosplay was at Fantasia 2003. It was the end of year event at Singapore Expo.





Ryea : How many characters have you cosplayed so far ?

K : Haha, oh gosh, I don't even know if I can remember but let's see.



Anime/Manga:

Angel Sanctuary, Barbelo (Private Shoot)

Peacemaker Kurogane, Okita (Cosfest 2004)

Peacemaker Kurogane, Hijikata (Osaka 2009)

Bleach, Renji (Cosfest 2005)

Trinity Blood, Mary Spencer (EOY 2005)

Prince of Tennis, Niou Masaharu (Private Shoot)

Prince of Tennis, Fuji Syusuke (Private Shoot)

Rurouni Kenshin, Battousai/Kenshin (Private Shoot)

Soul Eater, Tsubaki (Private)

Soul Eater, Giriko (Private)

Slam Dunk, Rukawa Kaede (Comic Fiesta @ Malaysia 2008)

Kuroshitsuji, Madam Red (SOY 2009 & Private)

Kuroshitsuji, Beast (Private)

Kuroshitsuji, Sebastian (Private)

Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo, Makoto Konno (Private)

Ouran High School Host Club, Hikaru Hitachiin (Cosfest 2009)

Samurai Deeper Kyo, Shinrei (Cosfest 2009)

Gundam Wing, Trowa (Private)

Code Geass, Suzaku (AFA 2009)

Code Geass, Lelouch (Code Geass event, Tokyo)

Ookiku Furikabutte, Abe Takaya (Private)

Nodame Cantabile, Masumi (AFA 2008)



Game:

Final Fantasy X-2, Paine Warrior Ver. (Fantasia 2003)

Final Fantasy X-2, Paine Matsuri Ver. (Summer Tonacos Event 2010, Tokyo)

Final Fantasy X-2, Yuna (Private Shoot)

Final Fantasy 8, Seifer (Private Shoot)

Final Fantasy 12, Ashe (EOY 2004)

Final Fantasy 10, Lulu (Streetfest 2005)

Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children, Sephiroth (Cosfest 2006)

Final Fantasy 7, Tifa Lockhart (AFA 2009)

Final Fantasy 13 Agito, Girl with the Scythe (Private Shoot)

Final Fantasy 7 Dirge of Cerberus, Rosso (EOY 2006)

Final Fantasy 4, Rydia (EOY 2008)

Final Fantasy 2, Ingus default (Private)

Final Fantasy Dissidia, Tina Bradford

Hakuoki, Harada Sanosuke (Winter Tonacos Event 2009, Tokyo & Private)



Jrock/VK:

Dir En Grey, Toshiya Myaku Ver. (Streetfest 2004)

Gazette, Ruki (Private Shoot)

Alice Nine, Shou Akatsuki Ver. (Streetfest 2006)



yep, I THINK that is about it~





Ryea : Which is your favorite character that you've cosplayed?

K: Do I have to choose one or can I choose a few?

I really love most of my Final Fantasy cosplays especially Paine, Tina and Ingus!





Ryea : Which is your first character?

K: Paine's warrior image from Final Fantasy X-2





Ryea : Which characters is in your future cosplay list?

K: haha it's going to be never ending, but for now..

- Final Fantasy 13, Fang

- Kingdom Hearts Birth by sleep, Terra

- Final Fantasy 8, Shiva

- Chaos Rings: Escher or Ayuta

- Final Fantasy 4, Edge

- Final Fantasy 6, Amano Tina





Ryea: Do you make your own costume & props ?

K: I make all my props but as for costumes, some are tailored.

There are too many to list so I'll list some of the memorable costumes and/or props that I've made (due to lots of time and effort spent):



- FFX-2, Paine warrior :

first time working with wood as well. (look at my dA description for costume/prop details)

- FF7DC, Rosso :

Imported fur from the states, had to remake weapon cos it was too heavy that it broke into 2.

- FF3, Ingus:

Another memorable one. Armour was a killer but it was worth it! <3

- FF Dissidia:

Made it in a night! Shoes, costume, weapon & wig! Received lots of help from Cvy & Kanasaiii.



Actually all of my Final Fantasy costumes and props are made with lots of love! ^0^

Yikes am I going out of topic?





Ryea: What is your favorite part when cosplay?

K: The sense of satisfaction from completing the cosplay outfit and definitely meeting fellow fans!!





Ryea: Any good/funny/memorable experience when you cosplay?

K: oh wow. Plenty!



I mean I've made so many friends from Cosplay, learnt how to sew, take pictures, pose and a lot more!



I remembered my first Cosplay event very well. It was much smaller as compared to the events nowadays. The community was very much warmer and welcoming as well.



I went dressed to Fantasia 2003 and was warmly welcomed by fellow fans shouting and fangirling over my character! I was really happy and at the same time relieved that my character was recognizable! It was an amazing virgin experience!



Private shoots are a whole lot of fun as well, especially when done with a bunch of good friends! My first overseas photo shoot was at Cameron Highlands with Cvy, elpheal and gk-reiko. We had A LOT of fun being in character and enjoying the scenery! We didn't have a photographer with us and had to rely on Cvy's tripod and remote!







I also experienced my very first night shoot when Shiroin from Taiwan came to Singapore! Night shoots are difficult because of the lack of light but we still managed to complete it!

What happened during the night shoot is explained under the description.







Finally, I think my most memorable shoot would be last year's Hakuouki shoot done at Edo Village, Nikko, Tokyo. It was winter, snowing and freezing as we did the shoot!









Ryeain: Do you salute/idolize any cosplayer?

K: Definitely!!



- Kanata

- Kanasaiii

I really admire and respect the time and effort she puts into her props and costume.

AND it always turns out perfect!

- Cvy

I don't think I need to say more, just look at her site!

- Drefano

- Amatasu

cos his sephiroth is brilliant!





Ryea: Any tips to share ?

K: Practice makes perfect. No one is perfect the first time round.

Be open to criticism because it helps one to improve.



But most important of all, enjoy what you do. Do not Cosplay for the sake of gaining recognition or to be popular. Cosplay because you love the character & the hobby!







and 3 super-random questions :



1) Do you have any obsession?

Haha YES! Λucifer（リュシフェル), especially the vocalist Makoto Koshinaka (thus my nick >_<). Everything about them! They were a band that was created for the anime Kaikan Phrase. They have disbanded but recently had their 10th Anniversary live tour (one time only T__T) last week at Akasaka Blitz in Tokyo! <3<3<3



2) Which is your favorite Anime?

K: Ok this is difficult. Can I list a few again? >_<

Slam Dunk, Rurouni Kenshin, The girl who leapt through time, Ghibli animes, Flame of Recca, K: Kimi ni Todoke & Angel Santuary



3) What language of songs do you listen most?

K: I listen to an equal number of English and Japanese songs.





Ryea: And lastly, what do you think about Let's Cosplay~?

K: I think it's awesome! Good to see the site back up again! It is a good way to introduce Cosplayers from all over the world! Keep up the great job!





Thanks to Koshinaka !!

Yuri Mania 34

Gokigenyou minna. Oh wow, look at that. Two Yuri Mania posts in a row. What a rarity! Well this week is actually a pretty big update. There's an actual movie trailer for the live action Maria-sama ga Miteru movie! Thanks to Ai via Facebook for the head's up on this trailer.

Uhhh... I honestly am getting discouraged about this movie. Yes, Sei Satou look good, but after seeing the trailer, I feel a little bit taken aback. I should've known that live action movies of what was an anime will be like this. Ok, I have to admit that Yumi actually has her goofy looks like in the anime, but I don't know if it actually looks good in live action. Looks like I have to lower my expectations if I watch this. The movie will be released in Japan on November 6th, 2010.

While I have some live action yuri here, I'll add some more from this season's Moyashimon Drama. It's not the anime, but it's somewhat watchable even if some of it doesn't have basis in realism... Anyway, enjoy!