It's my birthday, and I'll post if want to...

Figured I'd best get this posted today seeing as it's my birthday and all (not to mention I was a week behind in doing this anyway).

Nevertheless, I'm finally making some progress in clearing my anime and toku backlog as I've now finished watching the remaining episodes I had of Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai (a.k.a. AnoHana), Steins;Gate and Nichijou that have been outstanding for several months, and I'm currently going through Ao no Exorcist.

After that I can then get started on the first of the umpteen anime series from the summer season I picked up (provided there's no other distractions from things like visual novels along the way).

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The GoBot, The Bootleg and The Chaos Bringer

You may have noticed a few of the changes I've made to this blog (and to The Nerdsphere as well) in the last few weeks like the implemented jump break that can be seen in this very post (I'm planning on using this quite a bit from on), the new numbered page navigation, the use of LinkWithin for related posts (it gives more varied results than the previous method did) and the switching to dlvr.it for posting updates to both Twitter and Facebook (which saves me from needing to use Twitterfeed and RSS Graffiti to achieve the same result).

These changes should make the blog both easier to browse (especially if you're viewing this on a mobile as I've now enabled the template for it, but it currently lacks the options to customise it to my liking) and less problematic to maintain on the social networking front.

Other than that, I've played and completed Rin ga Utau, Mirai no Neiro and I'm currently working my way through Go! Go! Nippon! (which reuses BGM tracks and background images from Edelweiss and Kira☆Kira to a rather shocking degree). And I also have the fully translated YU-NO to play when I find the time (it might be a rather old game, but I've heard good things about it).

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Clearing another backlog of arrivals!

Welcome to yet another very delayed post from yours truly!

Again, I've been very engrossed in playing various visual novels such as Little Busters! (just waiting on the Rin2 and Refrain patch so I can finish this awesome game), We Love Master!, Princess Eris and MangaGamer's new re-translation of Edelweiss (I'm also replaying Edelweiss Eiden Fantasia for total completion sake).

And that's not counting the patches for Hanabira 5 (I haven't even finished Hanabira 3 and Hanabira 4 yet), Shikkoku no Sharnoth and Muv-Luv Alternative (I originally finished it using the leaked patch) which have been released and waiting to be played.

Hell, I even managed to play and complete the highly controversial R***Lay (it should be bloody obvious WHY I'm partially censoring the name of this particular game) in my spare time.


Friday (August 12th), newtownvideo, I received Angel Beats! Complete Collection.


Saturday (August 20th), HobbyLink Japan and junkshopu.s.a., I received...

• chibi-arts Eas
• Dark of the Moon EZ Collection Darkside Optimus Prime

Wednesday (August 31th), AmiAmi, I received...

• S.H.Figuarts Masked Rider Ixa
• S.H.Figuarts Cure Moonlight
• Revoltech Muv-Luv Alternative Takemikaduchi Type-00R
• Super Robot Chogokin GaoGaiGar (with bonus Overload Effect)
• Super Robot Chogokin Key Of Victory Set 1
  

Friday (September 2nd), envywolfe, I received Timelines Side Burn.


Tuesday (September 6th), the_unbelievable_store, I received Hunt for the Decepticons Tomahawk.


Saturday (September 10th), Yokatta Shipping Service, I received...

• Revoltech Muv-Luv Alternative Takemikaduchi Type-00F
• S.H.Figuarts Shinken Red Kaoru Shiba
• S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider OOO TaJaDol Combo Effect Parts Set

Nemmy is back with a backlog of arrivals!

It has been awhile since I last posted anything on this blog, and the reason for that was mostly a combination of laziness and getting distracted by other things like playing Koihime Musou (which I finally finished), Imouto Ijime (short, but fun) and Yukkuri Panic: Escalation (how the fuck do I get that last scenario unlocked on the 'Qix' based game? I completed the main story mode already!).

Other than that, I've been getting used to TheTF.Net's new forum (the old forum has now been locked and archived) that went live to the masses last week. It's a bit of a bummer having to start over from scratch again, but there is fun to had in doing that I think.

Oh, and I'm now on Google+ too (thanks to Fudgecrumpet sending me an invite).


Monday (three weeks ago), Zavvi.com, I received Claymore The Complete Series.


Thursday (three weeks ago), Argos (Lewes), I received Dark of the Moon Sentinel Prime.


Tuesday (two weeks ago), 276470, I received Dark of the Moon Shockwave.


Friday (two weeks ago), gzoop, I received Death Note Complete Series.


Friday (last week), Toyz And Gamez, I received Dark of the Moon Jetwing Optimus Prime


Friday, TFsource and figure_house, I received...

• Casuality Thundershred
• S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider Birth

Saturday, Yokatta Shopping Service, I received S.H.Figuarts Masked Rider Faiz Axel Form.

This is all I'm posting here for now, but I'll be further editing this post with better descriptions for the above items later.

Here's two more black repaints for the collection

I guess my visual novel habit has taken a firm hold of me once again cos for the last week or so I've been rather engrossed in playing Koihime Musou (I still have my anime and toku backlog to get through dammit!). I did try starting the game on my old PC originally, but unfortunately that was around the same time the damn thing was beginning to give me various problems.

We then had another long ass power cut on Tuesday that lasted for over six hours (you can probably imagine how pissed off I was at that) which delayed my write-up on posting about the following items.


Monday (last week), AmiAmi and Amazon.co.uk, I received...

• S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider OOO TaJaDol Combo
• S.H.Figuarts Cure Sunshine
• Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance

The TaJaDor Combo (I'm more used to seeing it spelt that way in the fansub I watch) was the one form of Kamen Rider OOO that made me want the Figuart after it made its début in the show. But having said that I do think it's bloody annoying that Bandai are selling the wings and other accessories as a Tamashii Web Store exclusive.

Cure Sunshine was the next PreCure to appear in HeartCatch PreCure after Cure Blossom and Cure Marine. Like I said when I got those two, I have the urge to get every character they release as a Figuart from this show (I already have Cure Moonlight on pre-order).

I've seen the second Rebuild of Evangelion movie a few times already thanks to it being fansubbed when it was released on Blu-ray in Japan (although I had to wait for a SD encode of the movie before I could watch it properly as that old PC of mine absolutely sucked when it came to watching stuff in HD), but I did plan on buying the DVD release of the film as soon as it was available for purchase in the UK anyway.


Tuesday (last week), HobbyLink Japan and BigBadToyStore.com, I received...

• S.H.Figuarts Masked Rider Black
  
• S.H.Figuarts Masked Rider Black RX
  
• S.H.Figuarts Shadow Moon
• Clear Protector

I do own the original Shouchaku Henshin figures of Kamen Rider Black, Kamen Rider Black RX and Shadow Moon, but these Figuarts don't really feel like much of an vast improvement when compared to them to be honest. Even so, they do look a hell of a lot better than before, but apart from their appearance there isn't that much of a drastic difference in the actual design of the figure.

I pre-ordered the Clear Protector (I don't get why they're calling it clear, its crystal dammit!) soon after it was announced as I feared at the time that might be as limited as Shadow Scythe, but from looks of things now that doesn't appear to the case.

Luckily I already had a Henkei Sons of Cybertron Rodimus ready to attach the armour onto before it arrived so I didn't need to face any unnecessary hassle in trying to obtain one now.


Saturday, ehobbybase, I received United Darkside Optimus Prime & Darkside Megatron.

War for Cybertron Optimus Prime getting a black repaint was something I had been wanting since I first got the toy, but I wasn't that interested in the black repaint of War for Cybertron Megatron until I saw images of the finalised product.

Darkside Optimus Prime has more of a Black Convoy colour scheme than the Nemesis Prime colour scheme Hasbro uses, but unlike a lot of Black Convoy repaints Takara-Tomy have done lately this one is actually a Decepticon instead of an Autobot.

As for Darkside Megatron, holy shit! The colour scheme here is pretty similar to that of Animated Shadow Blade Megatron and it looks bloody awesome.

Out with the old PC and in with the new PC

I made the decision last week to replace my 7 year old PC and I did just that as I'm now in procession of a brand new Acer Aspire M3400 (which cost me £400, but it had to be done really). Unlike my old PC this one is vastly more powerful and has no problem meeting my current computing requirements (another reason for choosing it was the fact it can play Blu-ray discs).


Tuesday (last week), AmiAmi, I received...

• S.H.Figuarts Masked Rider Faiz Blaster Form
• figma Kamen Rider Onyx
• Revoltech Danboard Yoku Dekimashita Ver.
  

I do own the Shouchaku Henshin of Faiz in his Blaster Form, but the S.H.Figuarts release a vastly improved representation of it. One notable addition is the massive pink blade of doom that you can attach to his sword to make it look far more imposing.

figma Kamen Rider Onyx (a.k.a. Kamen Rider Ryuga) is a very nice figure in its own right (I'm a bit disappointed there was no changeable head with glowing red eyes though), but for me S.H.Figuarts is still the preferred choice when it comes these type of figures (if there's a S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider Ryuga on the horizon, I am so gonna get it). However, I do favour the figma stands over those from any of the S.H.Figuarts I've acquired.

This version of Revoltech Danboard is a re-release of the figure with a 'Very Well Done' mark slapped on both it and the base. I've had a fondness of this figure since it originally came out and even went to the trouble of getting the Amazon.co.jp and 7-Eleven versions of it too.

More robots should come with a trident

There's one thing I'm gonna have to consider real soon, and that's buying myself a new PC. My current PC has served me well these last 7 years (I originally got it in the tail-end of 2005), but it has now got to the point where it can't even handle what I usually do on it effectively as before without giving me some serious gripes.


Tuesday (last week), AmiAmi and biginjap, I received...

• S.H.Figuarts Masked Rider NEW Den-O Strike Form Trilogy Ver.
• S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider SkullCrystal
  

I've been wanting a figure of Kamen Rider NEW Den-O for quite some time (since his début appearance in fact), but the last S.H.Figuarts release of it was a Tamashii Web Store exclusive and as such commanded a high price on the secondary market.

Kamen Rider SkullCrystal is basically a re-release of Kamen Rider Skull with some minor differences and some new accessories (like the little plastic caps which aid to prevent you from scratching the paint on Skull's head when he's wearing his trademark fedora).


Thursday, kooldealz2005 and perfect_entertainment, I received...

• Hunt for the Decepticons Terradive
• Masked Rider The First

Terradive wasn't a Transformer I was too interested in getting at first, but the appeal of the trident had me looking for it on eBay and I think you can probably guess the rest.

I decided on buying Kamen Rider The First somewhat on a whim cos I saw it listed for £8.32 including shipping on Amazon, that is all.

A long awaited purchase is finally here!

I've near enough finished playing Kotori Love Ex P now (I only need to get the remaining CGs and scenes in D.C.P.C. when I can be arsed to do so). Although I do wish they added some more depth to Ayumi's involvement in KotoriPlus (I was hoping for one least one RAGE ending dammit!).

Anyway, time for this week's arrivals.


Tuesday (last week), figure_house, I received S.H.Figuarts GARO.

This Figuart of GARO really beings home the fact I've been in this collecting game for a good many years now.

The first GARO I got was the Souchaku Henshin pretty soon after I watched the series, and it was a good representation of GARO too. However, the armour pieces did have a tendency of falling off when you least wanted them to do so.


Wednesday, xxliloandstitchxx, I received Animated Blackout.

Like Lugnut before him, Blackout is a big Decepticon with a toy far smaller than he deserves. Even so, the only real let-down of it for me is the lack of outward poseability in the arms.


Friday, boomingisland, I received CLANNAD ~After Story~ Complete Collection.

The continuation of CLANNAD, and I was quite vocal about it too when the series was airing in Japan.

One thing about the set that baffles me though is they swapped the play order of the Summary Episode and Kyou Arc OVA, but the menu shows the two episodes in their correct Japanese release order.

The waiting for Eas has finally come to an end

Quite a few items arrived for me this week, a couple of which I wasn't expecting to see just yet.


Tuesday, AmiAmi, I (firstly) received S.H.Figuarts Shinken Gold (with Kuroko).

The next Super Sentai character to get a Figuart release after ShinkenRed was none other than ShinkenGold. However, I was not as blown away by him as I was with the aforementioned figure, but he does come with some cool pretty cool accessories like the Sakanamaru, DaiGoyou and the Ika and Ebi Origami.


Tuesday, Fan2Fan, I secondly received...

• Animated Optimus Prime Elite Guard Ver.
• S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider Joker
  

This is the Elite Guard version of Optimus Prime that required the purchasing of the Animated Encyclopedia (which I bought last year) in order to obtain it. I have yet to open it cos I'm weary after what happened to the tab on my Black Optimus Prime.

There's not much to say about Kamen Rider Joker (that I haven't already mentioned on different occasions). The figure is pretty much the same as the other uses of the mould barring a few minor differences like the Lost Driver and lack of the silver striping in the middle.


Wednesday, TFsource, I received...

• Causality CA-01 Warcry
• Causality CA-02 Flameblast
  

Even though I own Explorer and Munitioner, this'll be my first proper handling of these moulds outside of using them as limbs (cos they've remained that way since the day I got them). Although when I first heard these were getting repaints I was hoping they'd come with the combiner parts so I could have attached them to my Super Link Bruticus.


After opening them and having a bit of tinker with them, I've found they're quite pleasing as standalone toys. But if I had to pick one over the other, I'd probably say Flameblast is my favourite (the dude just looks menacing as hell).


Thursday, hiro_suri, I received S.H.Figuarts Eas.

I very nearly almost gave up on ever getting Eas cos it took so damn long to get here, but to be fair the seller wasn't really at fault (for some reason it got returned to him after he originally posted it out to me).

Nevertheless, this figure was worth waiting for as it gives me the villainous version of Setsuna before she became Cure Passion.


Saturday, I received Universe Classics War of the Waves.

Now these were given to me as an Easter present by a couple of friends who popped over briefly for a visit. And even though I have the original releases of these moulds, I'm still very happy to have them.

Another week's worth of DVDs and S.H.Figuarts

I seem to be getting later and later in writing these updates. I used to do them whenever an item arrived on that given day, but that soon dwindled down to once a week and now I'm struggling to get motivated to manage even that (I do actually like keeping a record of what I get like this).


Monday (last week), supermart_usa, I received GunBuster.

This should have been the prefect DVD release for one of my favourite anime series, but this is not the case here due to one very significant change to the music during the first episode's training scene. To some this might be considered minor, but to me this is taking something I have fond memories of and fucking with it for whatever reason (copyright apparently) they deemed appropriate.

Apart from that though, this set is very nice indeed. It has a real sturdy cardboard case which puts the one DieBuster had to shame for starters.


Wednesday, kcmanhk, I received S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider Double CycloneJoker.

Now this is what originally started my 'Figuarts Tuesday' plan back in the beginning of February, yet it ended up being the last to arrive because it somehow took over six weeks to make its way from Hong Kong to the UK (and trying to get information from the seller about it was a right pain in the ass).


Thursday, AmiAmi, I received S.H.Figuarts Shinken Red (with Kuroko).

ShinkenRed is the first Super Sentai character to get an S.H.Figuarts release and a brilliant one at that. This Figuart far surpasses any of the Power Rangers figures I own (including the Super Legends)! The detail on him is outstanding and he has all the articulation you'd expect from a Figuart (even with the new shoulder joint design).

He comes with a variety of accessories such as the Shodo Phone (in Brush Mode), Sisi Origami, Shinkenmaru and the big ass Rekka Daizantou. I currently have mine holding the Rekka Daizantou ready to cause some serious damage!


Saturday, AmiAmi and Amazon.co.uk, I received...

• S.H.Figuarts Cure Blossom
• S.H.Figuarts Cure Marine
• Summer Wars
  

Cure Blossom and Cure Marine quickly became a favourite of mine (Marine even more so) during the course of watching HeartCatch PreCure. The series was a real joy to watch (especially when compared to the rather boring Goseiger) and when I discovered these two were getting S.H.Figuarts, I just had to get them (the same can be said for the other Cures from this series).

Summer Wars, the film that made me seek out TokiKake after I watched it fansubbed last year (was it really long ago?). It was another one of those things I had seen mentioned, yet knew very little about at the time.