kannagi -crazy shrine maidens- ova

KANNAGI -CRAZY SHRINE MAIDENS- OVA
studio : A-1 Pictures
director : Yutaka Yamamoto
serial run : May 27, 2009
total episode : 1
score : ***1/2

MI-MI-MI-RAKURU MI- WAIT- WRONG SERIES :3

first of all, who the hell would leave such a huge pile of cash roadside unattended ? and takako sure does have one friggin lady luck by her side damn i want one too DX

back to the topic, i just happen to notice this one out while checking on zange's profile on /mal/, not long after which i went scouting for the special episode and walla, before i knew it i'm already on watch of it around half an hour earlier. there's nothing special on this one, and if you were hoping to see a befitting sequel to the cliffhanger seen in the proper final episode then be ready to get really disappointed as this one took off on a completely different route.

anyway, that doesn't mean that this is one unsightly watch. just like its parent series, the dvd special is as hilariously entertaining as ever, especially if you're in for some antics by takako [ +she looks really great wif her hair down ! ]. basically the story premise for this one is quite simple, the art club [ or more precisely, its president takako ] suddenly decides to produce a short film [ a-la sos-dan ] from the money she had found earlier, with akiba-san being shoved the role of both script / screen writer and director [ you know him, he'll tend to go to the extreme with his ideas ]. a typical haruhi met kannagi slice of life follows soon as the party went to face a number of trial and difficulties while filming their [ amateurish ] debut film, that includes a sudden typhoon and a huge flash flood which later adds up to the film's uncanny plot.

there's two things which i really enjoy from the show, the returning rivalry between zange and tsugumi and the winning swimsuit get which greatly emphasize the heavenliness of my dear waifu zange >///> *slapped*, okay... aside from the swimsuit get there's the usual tummy-stabbing jab / comedy the show is well known for, other than that its the organic interaction between the characters which also serve as the main highlight for this dvd special; some of its characters sticks on being deliciously interesting, especially zange, tsugumi and most prominently the sick minded takako. there's also a few of conceptual / visual similarities between this ova and certain episodes from suzumiya haruhi no yuutsu first season.

the art style remains consistent throughout the entire episode, with the exact same feel and look from the parent series [ sleek animation ensues ]... well obviously it should be that way. the camera works really went on great for this one and most of its frames were executed almost spectacularly that i came to [ once again ] greatly appreciate the director's tasteful style and vision. it is not without flaws, however yet the overall handsome execution, [ absolutely ] interesting character portrayal, heart-poking comedy and the apparent nod to suzumiya haruhi no yuutsu somehow made up for what is lacking [ the ova does not answer nor elaborate on the questions left in tv series finale ],

hime's choice : selected k-on ! covers from youtube

o hai peeps sorry for the recent lack of updates, been lurking around youtube more often lately, scouting for some nice musical cover videos i could find in order to help me understand more of the songs which i'm about to cover wif my band later on. and since i am such a lazy person to figure the chords out through listening i decided to make full use of youtube in order to achieve this goal of mine, and nicely enough there've been tons of useful [ and even more awesome ] material for me to study from, much to my excitement :3

anyway, hereby i would like to share some of my fave ones which i came to pick along the way, and be noted that all of them were renditions of them songs heard and seen from the uberly-hyped but nicely win series k-on !, which i still couldn't understand why some peeps keeps moaning on how terrible the show was when it's the other way around, or at least for me that is. also, these videos were originally posted on nico2 douga so if you want more of these you might as well go lurk there instead.

[ you might have to open these links on different tabs / windows as i greatly despise embedding videos on my blog ]

01. guitar on fuwa fuwa time
among the most outstanding guitar cover of k-on ! ever posted on youtube, +what i love the most about this video is the featured guitarist's neat improvisation over a portion of the song's main riff which doubles her awesomeness, +she / he even throws in a cosplay of yuki nagato for added bonus :3

02. bass on cagayake ! girls
damn i'd kill just to have that skill of his, not to mention this guy had quick fingers, perfect for playing intricate basslines such as those funky ones heard from cagayake ! girls. and yes, he deserves more than just a standing ovation m{_ _)m

03. drums on don't say lazy
two words, simply magnificent ! personally this one is my topmost fave out of all k-on ! drums covers i've seen so far; he's got the groove and weren't shy in making full use of his toms. although he may not seems quite technical in term of skill [ or at least in the video ] but still his performance indeed is very entertaining and fun to watch [ EDIT : seems like the video got removed. what a waste D: ].

oh and hey that ronnie mcd guy is fun too, but i didn't quite enjoy his performance for he seems kinda reserved on exploring his drumset unlike the guy above. btw i haven't found my fave on keyboards yet. maybe i'll re-edit this post when i get to find one later on :3

[ cosplay ] ibara : black rock shooter

layer : Ibara
character : Black Rock Shooter
series : Vocaloid
score : ****

IN B4 NEW BLACK ROCK SHOOTER SET

this one is a bit old, as expected from our policy not to post something up until they has aged well, just to respect the sauce photogs :3 the new set is coming up pretty soon and weren't much different than these if i must say myself.

anyway, above is some of the [ carefully, as usual ] selected images from ibara-san's black rock shooter cosplay. never heard of the character ? well you should do some checkings wif youtube just to get knowing the character better.

a pretty simple set of costume, yet done with a taste. i am not writing this out of favor for being her fan but it is done through a series of careful / elaborative judgment. plus, there's only one word that can greatly describe this black rock-set of her, sexy... also she had done great justice to the character by retaining the almost exact feel and look from the original, once again she deserves my 'two-thumbs-up-and-a-thunderous-applause' cheer, lol.

[ all images are property of mpzero ]

[ fig ] mio akiyama + yui hirasawa [ swimsuit ver. ] : k-on !

just came back from shin-dono's post on the same subject, after which i went digging for more of these images from the net. anyway, featured here is two [ of the most recognized ] hokago tea time members [ of the k-on ! fame ] marked for a december release by wave. and just as you can see from these images, these two are clad in their [ mouthwatering, wait- don't go drooling just yet :D ] swimsuits so i wonder if there'll be any reason for you not to consider on having them enlisted into your collection ? and also i greatly believe a lot of peeps out there would love to have a swimsuit mio on their shelves^^

these girls however will be released on 1/10 scale which some peeps aren't quite happy about, but that aside the sculpt work [ as well as the paint job ] were pretty well done, and i am quite delighted with such fine detail on mio's swimsuit ufufufun-

o hai yui comes in a ponytail get as well, and i had quite a weakness against girls in ponytails >///>

NOW GO DROOL YOURSELF IN THE CORNER :3

[ fig ] konjiki no yami : to love-ru

soup folks, well recently cospa / resinya unveiled their latest 3D-get of the lolicious konjiki no yami [ golden darkness ] from the [ almost ] winning harem series to love-ru, featuring a very well done job on the details / paint job and a handsome sculpt work almost matching those of alpha omega's [ close, yet almost :3 ].

outstanding detail on her dress isn't it ? oh and i just love that emotionless look on her face; feels like kneeling and begging her to step on me with that lovely feet of her lol :3 +she comes in a white / platinum costume get too. nice-

[ cosplay ] shino yuutogi : azusa nakano

layer : Shino Yuutogi / Arigaya
character : Azusa Nakano
series : K-On !
score : ****

SO CLOSE, BUT NOT THERE YET :D

time for a nice cosplay of azu-nyan by shino yuutogi / arigaya [ or whatever her last name is >.< ], a newcomer to my list of whom i just came to bump over this morning while i browse thru the internets for some winning cosplay of azusa.

shown here is a portion of her decent take on the character, which is quite good based on my honest judgment [ good cosplay is good unless the layer breaks their character ] +she even got an ESP vintage to complement her azu-get [ though azu-nyan's was a fender mustang, as seen in the anime ]. both her costumes and wig-do were splendid, but still the twintails didn't quite stand out, and yes what's wif the tail ? you can't put a tail on azu-nyan unless you had her cat ears on v.v"

anyway, i must again praise shino-san for her attempt in portraying azusa though she didn't get to score much on the likeness factor, which is [ essentially ] crucial in order to nail a perfect score from us here in +ophanium.

[ cosplay ] midori kanda : yomi isayama

layer : Midori Kanda
character : Yomi Isayama
series : Ga-Rei -Zero-
score : *****

\(oAo)/

ever since i get to watch ga-rei zero i've always been wanting to see a nice cosplay-get of my beloved yomi, or perhaps a decent take of her at the very least. so i patiently lurked [ and wait, after failing to discover those which corresponds to my preferences / expectation ] and finally came midori of whom had left me in great awe.

frankly speaking i greatly love her wigwork for this yomi-get, as they were perfectly set and done to match those of yomi's very precisely. yomi's school uniform are pretty easy to tackle due to its minimalist design yet the one donned by midori here were executed with handsome craftsmanship. and to add in the final touch, she even had a box of pocky with her while sporting the same badass-y look yomi had in some of the more intense parts of the anime ;3

[ all images are property of mpzero ]

[ fig ] yomi isayama : ga-rei zero

another overdue post of mine, this time our feature will be a chara-ani take on yomi isayama of the awesome ga-rei zero series. looks good isn't she ? [ but still honestly i don't really fancy the face sculpt ] . well you should be drooling much by now as this yomi looks just [ nearly ] as badass as she was in the opening moments of the series; even i would rob any banks out there just to get my hands on this :D . anyway, yomi comes with her signature katana [ which houses her familiar byakuei ] and a grim expression which should force all you masochistic fetishists out there to your knees.

[ fig ] yui hirasawa : k-on !

i should have posted this much sooner but my laziness often got the best of me [ o hai don't say 'lazy'- ]. anyway, just around a few weeks ago alter unveiled some of its newest offerings, which among them includes this rendition of yui from the well known slice of life comedy series k-on !. yui also comes equipped with her signature 'gitah' [ the heritage cherry sunburst les paul seen in the anime ] as well as an amp to complement the musician side of her.

like her predecessor mio, yui comes in a lovingly detailed sculptwork and the usual 'very-well-done' paintjob. you might also wanna rejoice on how much detail have been spared on the making of her guitar itself, which looks as if they would be functional as the real thing. +i just love her facial expression, it soothes and melts my consciousness away by just having a watch over her >///>

[ album ] utada hikaru : ultra blue

UTADA HIKARU
Ultra Blue
Pop Rock
Toshiba / EMI
****1/2

one thing i love about hikki is that she writes her own music, which is a big deal for me as i only prefer listening to those who sung their very own rather than those who relies on others to come up with theirs.

supposedly i am to write on her latest english album 'this is the one', however i am not yet in the right mood to review that one so instead i went picking on any of her previous japanese release by random and write on whatever i could think of it, which in this case happens to be the album 'ultra blue'.

ultra blue is the second ranking album of hikki's in my current list, preceeded by her most conceptually accomplished masterpiece 'deep river' which until this very day is yet to be rivalled by any of her albums to date. to put it bluntly, ultra blue is more like a compilation rather than an album as some of its tracks were already conceived as stand alone singles since 'deep river'; colors for example is the oldest of the suite having been released while deep river were at the edge of its prime, thus giving it the distinctive taste of pre-exodus hikki that were almost lacking in most of her recent offerings.

the key highlight of the album went to hikki's newfound musical style which is both refreshing and widely expansive by the time of its release. the album also marked a significant growth in both her songwriting and musical experimentation; in contrast to the more youthful attitude of first love and distance and the down-to-earth mood of deep river, ultra blue boasts a much more mature side of her utilizing more intricate beats and highly detailed layers which would later be further refined on her next japanese album 'heart station'. her vocal works hasn't changed much yet they are easily adaptable to the style she had for the album, even emphasizing the distinctive atmospheric edge felt from her creative play over harmonic [ contrapuntal ] vocal layers.

my upmost fave out of the album is the least-received single 'be my last' which to me is among the highest peak in her musical creativity. it has the same mood and humble quality heard from 'deep river' while being one step ahead in term of emotional discharge, as well as a two-thumbs-up pv which successfully retains both its mood and general atmosphere. another fave of mine from the album would be 'passion' which originally served as a tie-in to square enix's kingdom hearts 2. its dreamy soundscape is virtually hard for me to resist, not to mention the sonically adorable percussive section which persists throughout its entire runtime.

this album also marks the end of her nicely choreographed / art-directed front cover art; following the release of heart station she would later delve into a series of distasteful art disasters, most notably for having the wrong font stamped onto the otherwise nearly-acceptable portrait of hers [ refer to her latest english album 'this is the one' for the most horrid outcome ].

TRACKLIST :
01. This Is Love*
02. Keep Tryin'*
03. Blue*
04. Nichiyo no Asa*
05. Making Love
06. Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro*
07. Colors*
08. One Night Magic ( ft. Yamada Masashi )
09. Kairo
10. Wings*
11. Be My Last*
12. Eclipse ( Interlude )
13. Passion*

[ * +ophanium's pick ]