Miho's Parkour

That's pretty boss.

GeN's planning to make a full series review of Girls und Panzer once the final episode comes out. I can safely say that this anime is enjoyable to watch, just as much as I religiously watch The Idolm@ster on repeat. Check it out next week yo! To close this post:

 

 

Though rare in occurrence,  tank stand offs are freakin' nerve-rackin'

GeN gets some Idolm@ster Figures~! CHIBI STYLE!!!

 GeN gets three Ichiban Kuji Idolm@ster figures and he is pretty damn impressed by it. These was a gift from a friend of mine as he was busy spending his long holiday. He knows my deep love for the Idolm@ster franchise and decided to give something Idolm@ster related as he spends his holidays overseas. These are chibi figures that each contain their own stage that can lock onto each other. The idols themselves are wearing their new outfits that is present in The Idolm@ster Shiny Festa series. This set is pretty cool and I'm excited to get the rest of the idols and combine them together to make one big brilliant stage. Here are some more pics and a video review done by myself  if you want to have a deep look into it:

 

These are what the bozes for this figure and stage set looks like.

So, keep an eye out if ya wanna buy these. 

 

This is a shot on the front of the packaging.

 

Here's a close up shot of Chihaya. Each figure comes 

with a color coded microphones, unique for each idol.

 Here's one of Haruka. There's a slight articulation

on the neck that you can face the head left or right.

 

And then there's Miki. No mistake that they used

the updated IM@S designs.

 

Here's a view from the right. As you can see, the stages can be connected side by side 

and/or on top of each other. Now, imagine if you have all of the idols in 765 Pro...

Here's a shot from the left. You can see that these stages

can be connected together simply by using the conveniently

designed parts and the support poles given for each set.

And here's my video review

The Self Destructive Mahjong Player

GeN usually don't like self destructive behavior in characters. This trait is usually found in some main characters to interpret their own way of being heroic. But I think the types of characters that I usually see with this trait are found in supporting characters that try to deserve the spotlight. I find that really annoying sometimes in anime. It just make scenes feel stretched out more than it needed to be while it try to pull your heart strings and make you feel motivated to root for them. this makes me roll my eyes in boredom which then I'd try to sit through the rest of the episode riding from that feeling.There is this one character in particular who possesses this self destructive behavior but rubbed me off the right way and made the show much more entertaining (I'm not a sadist btw, I just like to be entertained). This character is non other than Toki Onjouji, the winner of Saimoe 2012.

 

Toki Onjouji, one of the most memorable characters in Saki.

(Spoilers for Saki Achiga-hen)
Toki Onjouji is a character from Saki Achiga-hen episode of Side-A. She's from Senriyama Girls High School's mahjong club who earned their spot in the nationals being held in Tokyo. Her body condition is physically weak and often takes naps whenever she gets the chance. Her mahjong play style is exceptional due to her special ability: the ability to see one turn ahead. Now, to include a supernatural ability into this down to earth world of mahjong instantly made me say "wtf is this shit?!". But from episodes 9 to 12 proved that this ability was absolutely necessary to stand a chance against the national champion, Teru Miyanaga. Toki, at first, tried to hold off Teru's winning streak by constantly using her ability with the assistance of Kirame Handa and Kuro Matsumi who was at a loss of not winning this entire game. The match went so long and Teru was winning with an overwhelming lead. In order to not have any body else to be 'busted out', Toki pulls off a forbidden ability to see two turns ahead. The first time she tried this, it caused her to black out. She was forced to promise not to use it ever again. But she already broke that promise by trying to practice using it at home just in case she needed it. So, she uses her ability, Double, seeing two turns ahead, in order to make Teru not win a few more rounds. As the match gets closer to the climax, Toki is drained of stamina and concentration. Forcing herself to use Double leaves more exhausted, to the point that lifting a tile proved to be more difficult. Teru decides to make the match longer in order to grab as much points as she can. Toki is then pulls off another ability, one step higher than Double, a Triple. This makes her see the next three turns. Realizing that all three of them have a very slim chance of winning against Teru, she bets it all on Kuro to make a comeback in points since she has quite a few doras. Toki uses her Triple for the second time, almost blacking out, to help Kuro realize her chances of winning. The match ends with Teru still with an overwhelming lead with the other three contenders have a fighting chance in the next matches.
(End  of spoilers)

Seeing how this match played out was an absolute treat to see the potential in Toki against a demon like Teru. Her voice actress, Yui Ogura, portayed her really well as a sickly but strong will mahjong player. But what really impressed me is how visual state Toki was during her match. Every time she uses her different levels of her foresight, the screen shows how she sees the next turn/s slowly, almost like a motion blur. Her vision of using Double included another overlay of screen tearing and glass crackling as it portrayed her condition to be between life and death. On the real world, how you actually see Toki, she looks obviously worn out, tired and exhausted. You can slowly see the color leaving her face as the match goes on. Her body posture slouches either forwards as she plays a tile, or backwards as she tries to take a few breaths. The most lasting impression that you'll see throughout her struggle is her vacant and weary eyes. She would weakly try to glance the other players on the table and returns to herself, not even blinking. Seeing Toki like this felt similar to Kana Ikeda's reaction when she was reduced down to zero points, but only Kana was revived later in her match and yet Toki was instead spiraling downwards. It was interesting feeling seeing her constantly use her skill like that since both her and myself know it was for the greater good, to hold out from Teru. Her play in the match wasn't too impressive but it was definitely a memorable match, one of the best highlights in Saki. It was worth while sitting through the few highs and the many lows that makes this series so god-like.

 

 Her stamina slowly escapes her during her match as 

the first player for her school in the semi finals.

 

 Exhausted.

 She manages to play in this state.

 

 She still finds confidence in a state that 

she can't look directly at any other player on the table.

Girls und Panzer episode 11 preview!

The preview of the next episode of Girls und Panzer. (contains spoilers!!) I am ABSOLUTELY FUCKIN' PUMPED!!!!!

34 episodes of Puchimas! later...

.... we finally see Io. 

S-So cute!



Aww, she's adorable~!

She's my Puchidol~!


Amazing!



Isn't she~? She takes after me, Super Idol Iori-chan~!




Yep yep! I can tell! Just look at that forehead!



Hey!

Yukiho in a sundress.

 Why did I waste a post just for a picture of Yukiho in a sundress?
Because, it's Yukiho in a sundress.

Can you feel that love?

Well --

-- can you?

Little Match Girl by Yukiho Hagiwara and Chihaya Kisaragi


     

GeN gets Gertrud Barkhorn AGP figure

 

GeN's waifu finally arrives today~! This is the Strike Witches figure of Gertrud Barkhorn by Armor Girls Project. I got it from ebay for a fair price. I was cautious when buying this because I might end up buying a cheap knock off version instead. The moment I laid my eyes on it, I instantnly tell that this is legit. So anyway, let's get down into the details off this figure of Trudy.

 

The contents of the package. 

This figure set contains: The figure itself, comes with three changeable facial expressions, hair+dog ears and tail, the Striker Unit, two neutral propellers, two thighs that works with the Striker Unit, ten extra hands including has to hold the guns to a pair of hands that's made to connect with other Strike Witch Figures, and two MG42s. It also contains a opaque base stand inscribed in katakana, Gertrud Barkhorn. With the base has a poseable stand with four hinges.

 

A shot of Gertrud fitted with her Strike Unit and familiar ears and tail.

This figure is similar to Figmas when it comes to changing between parts. You have to take off her forelocks to change with the one with dog ears. There was a trick to inserting her tail, it had to be applied upside down and be pressed until it firmly locks in. Her hands are connected to to a ball joint that's fixed with her forearms. Sometimes I feel that if I'm not careful, I may end up breaking the joints. the lower half of her body is removable. It's like that because it lets you change her legs to the pair of thighs that goes with the Striker Units. The Striker units isn't flexible at all so you have to rely on the ball joints at the hip to make limited poses. Her back can only bend around 40 degrees backwards. This is as much as you can bend her if you want to make poses of her flying. If you over flex her back, the lower half of her body detach, this got me frustrated then made me more careful posing it. The pair of MG42s' magazines can be removed. If you want Trudy to swing around the machine gun like a club, you can have either the magazine on or off. The belt that's attached tot he MG42 is actually a brown ribbon so that you can easily place the gun around her shoulder.

 

Trudy under a cloudy day, natural lighting.

Overall. This is a pretty decent purchase. Having a physical representation of my waifu that i can make her do awesome action poses. The expressions could have been better, I would preferred of her smiling instead of a neutral face. This figure is slightly smaller than a regular Figma but I think it is a fine product that you can proudly place on your shelf of anime figures.

Here are some other pics I took with my waifu, Trudy:

Dual weilding MG42s, son! That's hype!

 Gertrud swinging her machine gun. 

You can see her propellers spinning, which is really

a clear, specially opaqued discs to make it look like it's spinning.

 A Strike Witch and Black Rock Shooter showdown!

 Kirino Kousaka with a machine gun. 

 Just like in the anime, Gertrud always found

 telling off a fellow Strike Witch member.

 

 

 All three figures posing next to each other.

I think Trudy is shy around Kyousuke Kousaka

 I think Trudy is shy around Kamen Rider V3 as well.