Birthday of Ayanami 2012

Once again it's March 30th, Ayanami Rei's birthday. Which is also Hayashibara Megumi's birthday, who voices Rei. To celebrate I've finally opened up a few of my Ayanami Rei figures. Unfortunately no Ayanami Rei Shrine update this year since there are really not much room left in there ^^;

The first up is Christmas Ayanami Rei from the Puchi Eva collection by Banpresto. There are 4 in the set... But I only got Rei of course :P

I was surprised how big she is actually and quite heavy. The head size is about the size of a nendoroid. And yes I can probably place her on a nendoroid body :D

Yes, it's kinda out of season, but at least I've got a decoration for this year's Christmas :D

There's also a background for it. It connects to the other characters, which tempts me to get the rest of the set ^^;

The next one is from a relatively new comer in the figure making business, Sentinel. I like the art that this figure is based on so I picked her up rather quickly. Unfortunately she's not that popular... I do like her though. The face in the box art doesn't look like her at all, really ^^; The first thing I noticed when I opened the box, was this really enticing sent. It smelled like shampoo. I wonder if the smell of plastic was too much that they decided to spray the figure with something to get rid of the smell... Not that I'm complaining.

The figure itself is quite lovely. I like the face which is my main pull for getting figures. The hair looks kinda funny though.

Her disheveled uniform makes a nice figure though perhaps she was made to be too slender. The seams are barely there, especially in the hair.

The base is nice with the blanket. Though I'd think checkerboard base is kinda overused these days, no?

Her feet looks lovely ^^

Unfortunately there seems to be some defect in her left hand. It doesn't seem to lay flat on the base properly.

I know I'm not supposed to look underneath but her legs are super flat. They look like they're from a horror movie ^^;

I still like this figure despite the flaws. Hopefully Sentinel will keep improving because they have quite nice ideas for figures.

Lastly, I've finally opened my Rei figma ^^;;; She was released quite a while ago, wasn't she?

Oh it is also Kawasumi Ayako's birthday, who voices Saber. I had a nice idea where I put in Rei's head in Saber's body but lots of problem because Rei's neck and Saber's body are just not compatible ^^; For this photo above, Saber's head is kinda just in the hole and her head is a bit bigger than the body XD

Oh it is early, but Sakamoto Maaya's birthday is on March 31st, so maybe it's nice to have Lunamaria with the plugsuit too, lol.

Here's a side by side comparison of Rei and Saber. Rei is a little bit smaller and skinnier than Saber, but still got bigger breasts ^^;

And well since this is a figma of Ayanami Rei...... Here's a new 4koma strip!

The Melancholy of Saber Lily Part 69

Well... I guess no happy ending this time... -_- The "Blue Vs. Blue" title refers to why I like these two in the first place. Kinda like their primary colours and I like blue ^^ Oh and to be fair Saber isn't really my first figma. I think Nagato or one of the special edition figmas was my first :P What a disappointing 69th comic... Nothing ecchi... *sigh*... Next time...

Guess I'll have to enjoy Rei in another form...

Top 10 secrets of Nefertari Vivi Cosplay

Photo Source: Cosplay of Nefertari Vivi Cosplay CosplayFU.com

What the world would look like if Serah Farron Cosplay disappeared tomorrow

Photo Source: Cosplay of Serah Farron Cosplay CosplayFU.com

New Camera and Sakura Con Trip

I've been meaning to get a new camera for a while. I wasn't really looking for a DSLR, but the opportunity came up to get one. Of course, the reason I'm getting one is because I am going to Sakura-Con 2012 in Seattle in a week's time (April 6-8, 2012).

I took these photos with the old point and shoot Canon Powershot. Which I thought would be sufficient for my trip, but I somehow got myself a press pass for Sakura-Con and suddenly I felt naked just using a point and shoot for a camera.

This camera is bought used from a friend in the BJD Meet Group. It's a Lumix DMC-G2, or just G2 for short. It's definitely a step up from what I was using. The photos look great but there's only one lens for it at the moment.

The LCD is a touch screen, but you can just use the controls on the side. It helps too that the display screen is rotatable. I tend to be taller than most cosplayers so I tend to get an upper angle of them instead.

The one thing I miss about the old point and shoot is the macro focus. This camera does macro as well, but only up to 30cm. For now I'll experiment with this and if I really need a super close-up macro shot then I'll just dust off the point and shoot.

Currently I have no idea about the settings and just use the Auto mode for everything. It works, but I would like to know how to properly use it one day. I'll have to download a new manual since my friend's manual is all in Japanese.

And now to show off some of the camera's capabilities:

Super cute Helen! All these photos were taken from when we visited an injured friend who was stuck at home for weeks and weeks. The set can be seen on Flickr, but I realize only the photo looks great. My framing still sucks.

Kamen Rider MEIKO! Using Faiz's belt. Finally get a chance to show this off. The lighting in the room wasn't that great, so my point and shoot would suffer horribly trying to take this photo.

That's so Raven!

So one of the reasons (or perhaps the main reason) I'm going to Sakura-Con is that Obitsu, the company that created the bodies for Helen and Raven, is coming. Not just the company, but the head honcho, Obitsu Saburo-san! When I applied for a press pass I just randomly filled in the "interview request" field, not knowing the chances of my pass being approved. Now that it has been approved, I started panicking, "will I really be able to interview him??" Something I'll have to think about some more after I finish this post. Of course there will be other guests at Sakura-Con, but right now I can't help but be excited with just Obitsu because of my experience with them last year at Anime Expo.

Nuriko Cosplay by the numbers

Photo Source: Cosplay Costumes of Nuriko Cosplay from CosplayFU.com

8 horrible lessons about Choun Cosplay that Hollywood teaches kids

Photo Source: Cosplay Costumes of Choun Cosplay from CosplayFU.com

If Ace Cosplay had a love child with Satan it would look like this

Photo Source: Cosplay of Ace Cosplay CosplayFU.com

St. Patty's and Patty's Meet

It's two. Two. TWO MEETS IN ONE! Yes, we had two doll meets within days of each other. Well to be fair they were two small meets so they were much more manageable :) The first one occurred on St. Patrick's Day on Saturday. We expected almost 20 people... Then realized that most of the attendees on the Facebook page were dolls ^^;;; Anyhoo! We still had lots of fun!

Lots of dolls and lots of Dollfie Dreams too!

New girl Ameria (in red, a Luts Senior Delf) looks stunning! I especially love her outfit.

After a quick outdoor shoot we heard bagpipes playing all of a sudden. I think they're having practice. It was a nice day outside for it.

Lots of tinies! Yo-SDs are so dang dilly doo dah cute!

My Pureneemos also came along :D Saber has a nice green dress so she came too ^^ Flamebyrd's bunny is super cute and so is... Kyuubey... ^^;

On the left is Hikari giving the peace sign and on the right Helen is pointing at you! Raven just taking it easy this time around.

Then we have our group photo... The doll group photos, of course.

I asked mom to bake pandan cake which was perfect for St. Patrick's Day meet ^^ There were 20 pieces in the beginning and six left afterwards! This time around I uploaded the meet pictures on Flickr.

And then on Monday we had a meet at Urban Tea Merchant to meet up with Archangeli from Toronto! She was here for work but had the time to meet all of us in Van ^^ This is Archangeli's Médée in the picture above. Since it was on Monday there were only nine of us for the meet... Why aren't these people at work? XD LoL well some of us did have the day off or in my case, I have the night shift.

Wanted to try this perspective shot with my new camera.

Group photo! We even had Taiga come along :D

Erio being cute sitting in the teacup ^^

This here is my lunch: Signature Cobb Salad. Some of the leaves were a bit sharp ^^; But I loved the grape tomatoes and the avocado. I've never had avocado in salads before.

I kinda wanted to try this brunch special but it seemed a bit expensive XD

Archangeli's Mr. Snuggles, the Siamese cat ^^ So kyuut! Kyuuter when posing with Kyuubey! :P

It was also interesting that the manager(?) of Urban Tea Merchant asked us if we can send some pictures to them and suggested to come in spring because the sakura trees outside their dining area would be blooming by then. The first time we had a big meet here we were kinda kicked out, but maybe because we took up too much space ^^;

Thank you for dropping by Archangeli! It was very nice to meet you and also showing the cupcake store in downtown, lol. I live here yet I don't know this place ^^; Hope to meet you again soon :D

There's also another set for this meet on my Flickr :)