Welcome to Wieselhead‘s personal coverage from the Wonder Festival 2013 summer version, which was held on July 28th. It’s the biggest, most popular event for figure collectors around the world. There are two Wonder Festival each year, once in winter and once in summer.

Also in this year many manufacturers of figures and other anime related goods featured and announced interesting and most of all beautiful figures, most will hopefully (or hopefully not ^^) be available in the upcoming months. Due to the amount of interesting figures the Wonder Festival 2013 summer coverage will be divided in two posts full of bishoujo figures.

In these posts I will talk about the figures, that I considered to be worth mentioning…

I was most impressed by the things from Max Factory, seems like they finally realized their talents next to manufacturing action figures. It’s a remarkable number of nice figures.

Shingeki no Bahamut – Cerberus

This was the first figure of this years Wonderfestival that caught my interest, maybe a top favorite. Fans of demon girls have a nice time recently, first the Seven Deadly Sins and now other demonic beauties. Cerberus has slightly less anime-ish characteristics than other figures, but she still has a beautiful youthful appearance with a cute face, a sexy body and furry hands… furry? ok ;D. I really like how Max Factory adapted this figure from the to me unknown source.

sculptor: no data  – release date: no data – scale: no data

Sword Art Online – Asuna 

This a surprisingly nice portray of a damsel in distress, Asuna/Titania has a very seductive appearance, it looks totally like Max Factory qualiy, I mean her face is so beautiful and this expression  is so detailed. The chained up arms it gives a slightly sadistic touch to the figure.

sculptor: no data  – release date: no data – scale: 1/7

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai – Kashiwazaki Sena / Mikazuki Yozora

More Haganai figures, this time Sena and Yozora in cat ear leotards, I think they would look nice next to the previously released Kobato and Maria. Well, as much as I wished for something like this after the lovely Maria and Kobato in cat costumes, Im not that hyped for it. These two or better said Sena in particular is a little off. Her face appears a bit strangely captured

sculptor: YOSHI   – release date: 2014 – scale: 1/7

Sasami-san@Ganbaranai – Yagami Tsurugi

The anime was a bit super strange, but also very funny and with likeable characters. I actually mistook Tsurugi for her younger sister Tama, but ok I don’t favor any of these characters.
The figure is sculpted in a very cute pose and the side ponytail is another nice charm point.
Im already enchanted by the figure and will most likely purchase her when the time comes.

sculptor:  no data  – release date: no data – scale:  1/7

Strike Witches 2 – Francesca Lucchini

The good stuff comes at last, I always wanted a NICE figure of Lucchini, the mischievous and cheerful loli character of the witches. The prototype looks already very cute and portrays the character of Lucchini very well. It will probably be turned into a promising Strike Witch, ahh her machine gun is so huge. Too bad that I sold her bosom buddy Charlotte to someone in Hawaii.

sculptor: no data   – release date: 2014 – scale: 1/8

Papa no Iu Koto o Kikinasai! – Takanashi Miu

Miu ≧(´▽｀)≦, Miu is a fine young lady with a sophisticated sense of fashion, I really liked her personality from the anime. The saucy lunatic smile is a bit unique for a young character, it’s like she says  “I don’t mind but you’ll get arrested for sure” A bit of improvement here would help her face I think, even though it would be funny to have a loli figure with such an expression.

sculptor: Aketagawa Noboru – release date: 2014 – scale: 1/8

Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena – Labrys

Im honest, I don’t know whats this about, but it’s cool, the mecha girl characterdesign is totally cool, I like Labrys. The commanding pose and the huge battle axe make this figure even better, I hope the paintjob will bring out my positive image of this figure  in the final state, as well.

sculptor: Saitou Fumiki  – release date: 2014 no data – scale: 1/8

Nitro Super Sonic – Sonico – 1/7 – Santa, Swimsuit version

A Sonico figure from ALTER, who would have ever expected this any time!? This is a nice figure for sure, half nude, but with a non teased facial expression this is quite a nice change of pace compared to other figures of her, even though her best figures show her in a teased of embarrased state. There are also Sonico figures I don’t like, because of too exaggerated proportions or questionable poses, but let me say this, these hipster Sonico fans who say thing like “that would be the first Sonico I’d ever buy cause the others look cheap”, “if Sonico would have smaller boobs I’d like her”  totally annoy me. Accept how Sonico in general is or get lost.

sculptor: Hide, Makio Munetoshi   – release date: 2014 – scale: 1/7

Summon Night 3 – Aty

This Game seems to have a really nice characerdesign, even though I never played it. I like how Aty looks her as redhead magician with a fluffy hat and glasses, glasses are the best. The bright blue eyes, her face reminds me of Hattori Hanzo, I wouldn’t have mind if Aty had a slightly more young appearance than this. Anyway the outfit is pretty cool, I love the tight fit dress with the striation design, the belts around her waiste are a nice touch as well as the high boots.
Actually no one would wear these boots in daily life, those are mainly used in red light districts, it’s too bad. All Hail anime fashion, your characters can wear such clothes with attitude.

sculptor: Yagyuu Toshiyuki   – release date: 2014 – scale: 1/8

Nisemonogatari – Oshino Shinobu

Wasn’t it a pleasant surprise as the formerly silent Shinobu turned into a naughty, talkactive Vampire wearing an bishoujo summer dress in Nisemonogatari? I love it and now here is a figure of her also wearing a ladylike hat. In gray she already looks nice, I can’t wait until she’s painted.

sculptor: no data   – release date: no data – scale: no data

Nisemonogatari – Senjougahara Hitagi

This appears also like a nice figure from Nisemonogatari. Senjougahara sama is portrayed with her caring yandere side, to keep her boyfriend from doing dangerous exorcistic activities. I like the whole presentation of this figure, sitting on a chair with a piercing look in her eyes.

sculptor: no data  – release date: no data – scale: 1/8

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon II – Asama Tomo

Kotobukiya’s second Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon figure, Tomo is posed in a powerful shooting stance, while her very female curves are accentuated nicely. It’s a nice looking  prototype, but still It’s still not my kind of dream figure from the Horizon anime, I want something standing in a more casual fashion. Sometimes I’m just too picky with figures where I know the origin.

sculptor: no data  – release date: 2013 – scale: no data

The Idolmaster (TV Animation) – Ganaha Hibiki

I enjoyed Idolm@ster the anime a lot and Hibiki was among my favorite characters next to Haruka. Here the unique style of the show is captures very well, yeah the mouths are big, either you like it or not so much. The clothes of Hibiki are cool, Im a big fan of her heavy duty boots and the hotpants. The energetic pose is another thing I like about this figure of  Hibiki.

sculptor: Mazaki Yuusuke – release date: December 2013 – scale: 1/8

Fate/Stay Night – Saber – Pajama version

GK adaption ! Yay! I have a weak spot for Saber in alternative outfits, Saber in pajamas is something unexpectedly cute. She was made several years younger, her vulnerable and shy pose awakens protective instincts ^^.  The floating pose can be interpret as dreaming, but I think she needs a bed.

sculptor: Hashimoto Ryou   – release date: November 2013 – scale: 1/7

Nitro Super Sonic – Sonico – Mouse version

Sonico with mouse ears, I like it ﾍ(ﾟ∀ﾟ*)ﾉ.I approve of all the changes that were made compared to the source material, the hair is more three dimensional, a better face expression, toned down breast size and an altered pose. The arched back accentuates her well defined butt nicely.

sculptor: no data   – release date: no data – scale: no data

Nitro Super Sonic – Sonico – Child version

Making figures of characters as child is a new or maybe very unique idea, child Sonico is based on an illustration from the booklet which was included in the Sonicomi game. Ahh why huge headphones again, you should listen to what your parents say about a healthy diet. Sonico must have old headphones or she’s a cyborg, whatever joking aside it will depend on the pose if I’ll like this or not, her face actually looks adorable, somehow I prefer her grown up though.

sculptor: no data   – release date: no data – scale: no data

That’s it for part one of the Wonfes 2013 Summer, I hope there was something in for you, tell me what you liked. If not there will be a part two with more figures.

related post

Wonder Festival 2013 Winter – part 1

Wonder Festival 2013 Winter – part 2

So that is the last post of this kind, to end these vacation posts, I will show you a few of the figure photos I’ve taken during my stay in France. I took three figures with me cause I didn’t want to miss the chance to capture them in these nice south European scenery. It was really hard to decide which figures to pick for the vacation, but these three were the chosen ones.

Haruka Amami – Cu Poche from Kotobukiya

Takamachi Nanoha – Swimsuit version from Alpha Max

Kanbaru Suruga from Good Smile Company

I mainly took outdoor pictures because of better light conditions. For most pictures I have used my Sigma AF 28mm f/1.8 EX DG lens and to have more freedom with the aperture settings, I used a weak ND filter , one of the advantages of it is that you can work with a reduced the depth of field, it prevents the pictures from being overexposed when working in very bright light.

Haruka Amami

Haruka was my trustworthy companion this 2 weeks, she is good for carrying around and offers a great poseability. Additional to that her cute presence is something really enchanting (>◡<) Even in chibi deformed anatomy you can do all kinds of poses with her thx to long limbs and strong ball joints. The magnet feet turned out very helpful. I had a lot of fun with Haruka.

Takamachi Nanoha

I reviewed her some time ago, but it was also a good decision to take the figure with me to France. On the terrace or next to the pool (it’s really good to have one) Nanoha proved what an exceptional beautiful swimsuit figure she is, I think she looks just stunning outdoor. The nice sculpting of the figures body and face really gets more prominent in nice natural light.

Kanbaru Suruga

The last scale figure girl is Kanbaru, compared to the other two figures I didn’t do much with her, but tried to create something as I discovered an interesting tree. I really like the picture where she is sitting in the oak tree, it wasn’t that easy to find a tree Kanabaru could lean on with her elbow. In terms of location I unfortunately didn’t have that many ideas for this figure, maybe Kanbaru doesn’t like the countryside or I was too lazy to try harder.

And so this post is coming to an end. Thanks for your attention, I hope this few vacation related posts were a little interesting, for my next vacation I will take some figures with me again for sure, since it is nice to capture them in a different location than at home or the near landscape.

– Fin –

Next time there will be a review of the Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA figure…

I’ll try to publish it very soon so stay tuned!

Welcome to the next part of  from France with love, this part features the activities we did during the vacation. I actually only wanted to make one post of it, but now it will be three parts of my vacation, I hope you don’t mind. Afterwards we will be back to figure business.

The unofficial first activity was to find the next big supermarket, we had a Super U for the daily needs in town but when searching for more we had to go to Hyper U which was 40 km away, but they had nearly everything from booze to bread. I bought my first maccarons there *lol*

As first activity we visited Nice, finding a parking lot for the Van in the narrow and cramped streets turned out to be impossible on this certain day. While such narrow streets have a certain charm in combination with the architecture it’s kind of bad when you go there by car. Anyway the white beach with the blue water is a lovely sight and I would have loved to take pictures.

Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of about 1 million on an area of 721 km2. Located on the south east coast of France on the Mediterranean Sea, Nice is the second-largest French city on the Mediterranean coast after Marseille. The Nice area has a natural beauty and mild Mediterranean climate which came to the attention of the English upper classes in the second half of the 18th century, when an increasing number of aristocratic families took to spending their winter there. The city’s main seaside promenade, the Promenade des Anglais (‘the Walkway of the English’)owes its name to the earliest visitors to the resort.

After the stressful hunt for a parking lot in Nice, we decided to drive to Cannes, another famous city near the ocean, in this region the weather already turned bad that day. The trip to the coast turned out not that satisfacory in my case, but it is definetely worth a visit when it’s not super crowded at noon. I would suggest to go there by bus or bike in case you are nearby.

The next activity was the visit of La village des Tourtoises in Gonfaron is an animal park and rescue center in one, only dedicated to turtles. It takes care of injured and sick turtles, but they also breed the animals. Dad proved that you can turn a 60 km ride into a two and a half hour tour when missing the right road. It was burning hot this day and our mood wasn’t the best.

The park offers informations about turtles and what can be done to preserve them. Turtles are an worldwide endangered species who suffer from shrinking habitats in the nature, car accidents while crossing streets and animals like rats or stray dogs.

The whole park is about 3000 hectares wide and offers space and care for around 1500 animals.

Thanks to the Provencal climate, the turtles can be kept outside in wide compounds which are close to the natural habitats for breeds around the world. I liked the places of the swamp turtles the most. It’s good to see that these turtles are in good care and in a appropriate environments. In contrast the roads for the visitors with the shaky wood planked stages had an adventurous flair. The visitors can also take a look at the hatchery, nursery and the turtle clinic. There also was an interesting sideattraction about the prehistoric evolution of reptiles.

The park is not the most modern one, but if you like the nature and love turtles like me it is definetely worth a visit. Dogs are allowed “Le Chiens admis en leisse” that was actually the only new sentence I’ve learned during this vacation haha.

As last official activity we did was visiting Les Gorges du Verdon, the Verdon Canyon is a unique site in Europe crossed by the river Verdon, you may find on this site the best advice in order to visit the Verdon country in advance. Located in the midst of the region of Provence, Alps. Crossing over the departments of Var and the Alps of Upper-Provence.

There you can drive along  the canyon on a dangrously narrow winding road, it’s a bit scary since the canyon is 700 m deep, but you are rewarded with a fantastic sight.

We also visited the lake nearby called “Lec de Sainte Croix” the blue water was just beautiful, pedal boats can be rented at the shore.

This is our dog Paula, as russian breed she is not a real fan of heat, but she dislikes to stay at home even more.  In La village des Tourtoises she hurt her leg a little, but had no serious injury, despite her compact size it’s a tough dog. Paula also swam in the pool

This kind of nostalgic architecture could be seen all around the area, I don’t know how it is in the inside, but from outside it’s mediterran style is quite charming.

There was a cute little dishes shop nearby. These price chalk boards looked so adorable I just had to capture these with my camera. The shop owner spoke no word english and we spoke no useful word french, still we got a very kind and friendly service

Red poppy fields was a common sight at the sides of the road, what are they doing with it?

In summary that was a great vacation, we had 12 days of nice weather with around 27 °C and the luxury rented house was a nice place to stay, swimming in the pool, sunbathing or watching anime at night, it was awesome and very relaxing. The daily trips were a bit exhausting with the curvy roads which could also be used as Rallye Stages, but I loved the really nice scenery which was full of intact looking nature next to the roads and the always present mediteran flair.

I often heard that French people were arrogant in terms of their language. Of course ot everyone understands or speak english, but the French people of the countryside are very nice people and understanding. You won’t starve with very bad french skills, but knowing a few phrases would be an advantage to be honest.

it was sad as I realised that the vacation is over  (☍﹏⁰)

I would encourage everybody who wishes to discover the south of France, to do so, it’s lovely.

In the #3 post I will show you what kinds of figure photography I’ve done. stay tuned!.

This post(s) is about my little vacation in France. It was a  2 week long family vacation with my parents and the dog, ok and Haruka, Nanoha and Kanbaru. I always like to take 1 or 2 figures on my vacation, sometimes you find rare and interesting sceneries, you’ll never see at home.

I already wanted to make a post about my last holidays, since the landscape was very nice, but the apartment was too pityful to show off ;D The planning this time was my job and so I was searching for what I liked, so I discovered a cool house in the far countryside of France.

Like always I won’t show myself, but the impressions were memorable so that I want to share them with you in text and pics. Have you ever been to France?

Here is one of the many toll stations you have to pass in order to use the french motorway, the collected money is invested the money to maintain the road quality, which was actually excellent compared to the bumpy roads in Germany. The speed limit is at 130 Km/h

We drove 1350 km from somewhere in the middle of Germany to far south – east France in the little town La Verdiere. We made a little break in Basel, unfortunately I wasn’t in charge of planning this certain location and da hell! that was a rundown place who had it’s best years in 1965’s, it was only for the night so it was all right. It was a big contrast to our house in France.

I love taking pictures in the car, you get a lovely scenery while staying on the road, isn’t it nice there? As we passed by a little flight show took part like you can see below.

La Verdière is a commune in the Var department in the mountained Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region in southeastern France. This region has a lot of hills and mediterran flair.

We rented a 120 m² villa with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a huge living room and a terrace. It was jaw dropping great, the interior was tastefully arranged and every room was nicely decorated. It’s nice when you arrive and it instantly feels like vacation. As we arrived in the town we contacted the landlady who showed us the final directions. She was a really nice person with a lovely french accent, she showed us the house and the rooms and throw in some jokes. She was very good in english so communication wasn’t that difficult, since my french is not existent aside from bonjour and merci

It was a town with a lot of preserved nature and so we had some interesting animals in the “garden”. One day there was a scorpion in the house, also a monster spider crouched through the gardem were I was honestly tto scared to take a photo XD

In the next days I will entertain you with the next few parts of the vacation reports, about the few activities we did and last but not least some nice figure photography. stay tuned

I decided to get rid of my 9 older Drafts in these next months, Sunabouzu is the first to be published. I found it as I was searching for a “new” finished anime to watch, then a certain cover caught my interest, it was the one from Sunabouzu (Desert Punk). It is an 24 episode long post–apocalyptic sci fi anime, which was produced by Gonzo and aired from 2004 to 2005.

This anime takes place in a distant future where most of Japan turned into a desert, the story is set in the great Kantou desert. The previous civilization with all it’s high technology and social advances perished due to an unknown event, the current civilization uses and copy the things they find through excavations, like weapons and other mainly martial equipment. It’s a simple and tough life, yet It is not the stone age, but a big step backwards from the life we know.

There is a government in the Kantou desert who keeps a basic order in the area, but they can’t and don’t intend to give much support for their citizens who are spread all around the desert. The government forces are mainly present in the several oasis in the Kantou area where the people have a better life. The life of the people is quite tough, they have to make a living somehow to survive in the hostile environment of an empty desert. While many inhabitants of the desert lead an more or less honest life, there are many who make a living as criminals.

httpvh://youtu.be/6v5Ap3suQCI

These difficult circumstances and shortages on water, food and money fuel the bad characteristics of the human nature, everybody is interested in his own advantage without considering the needs of others, there is no place for the famous Japanese politeness or much kindness, the people who are living there are portrayed in a believable way, the tough living turned them into selfish persons, even though there are times where a spark of kindness is ignited. You have to know that these people aren’t evil monsters by default, it are the extreme circumstances that forces them to selfish, greedy and sometimes violent behavior.

One the most remarkable aspects of  Sunabouzu is it’s main character with all these wimpy and soft main characters of today’s anime, the contrast couldn’t be much greater. The name of the lead character is Kanta, a young man of short height who works as handymen, someone who does everything for money. bounty hunter, bodyguard and other tasks are parts of his work.

He has several gadgets and underhanded tricks to fulfill his jobs, he’s nearly as good as Batman. Kanta became quite popular and has a legendary fame as the Sunabouzu. Kanta is very smart and loyal to his paying customers, but aside from that he is a real ass, greedy, short tempered and perverted are the nicest words to describe his character. Woman with big boobs are one of his weaknesses and he is often tricked with the female charm and bouncy physical attributes.

In the first quarter the viewer is introduced to the world Kanta lives in, while following him on his mainly amusing, yet crass adventures in the desert. He randomly meets old acquaintances when doing his jobs, be it as competition or partners for a certain job. The reappearing side characters are quite likable even when they sometimes act morally questionable and get in the way of the main character. Especially Amagumo is a hilarious guy, he’s the arch rival of Kanta.

Later Kanta meets the second main character, Taiko. She’s a small girl who admires the skills of Sunabouzu, after she followed him around Kanta unwillingly agrees to her wish of becoming his students. Well, she actually tricked him by making use of his only weakness. Kanta treats her quite poorly at first, cause she really isn’t very skilled and more of a burden than anything else.

A great job was done with the creation of the setting the hot, empty desert is very convincing.
The anime is a bit like the older adventure animes of the 200x years, it is slightly compareable with Trigun, aside from the more advanced technology level, western theme and the pacifistic main character.

The anime has a number of nice comedy moments that consist of slapstic and dark humor, that made me laugh very hard. The chemistry between the characters is directed very well and brings this anime to life. What I actually liked about this anime was that they didn’t changed Kanta’s personality during these 24 episodes, he alway stayed the greedy bastard who didn’t give a damn about being a good guy. He is an exceptionally well portrayed antihero.

It’s not that easy to tell who is evil and who is not in such an post – apocalyptic setting.

Sunabouzu is a very interesting slice of life, action adventure, that shows us a fictional, but possible change in human society. The wasteland setting is great and the story is full of interesting ideas and surprises. It’s really hilarious to see how the characters trick eachother.

This show has no black and white categories and with this ambivalent characters, Sunabouzu manages to give some more believeable depth to the personalities of it’s characters.

If you want to watch an refreshing old school style adventure  anime Sunabouzu would be the right anime for you. The exceptional main character and the portrayal of the crude and selfish sides of human nature is a nice change from the always so polite and fluffy anime.

Characters   _____________   8/10

Setting   ________________    8/10     

Story   __________________   8/10

Animation   _____________   6/10

Music  __________________  7/10

Enjoyment  _____________  8/10

Overall Score – 7,5 / 10

Senran Kagura is a 12 epidode anime from Artland which aired from January till March 2013. The real origin of this anime are the Senran Kagura Games from Marvelous AQL, but this show is loosely based on the events in the manga Senran Kagura – Shoujotachi No Shinei which started in 2011. In order to prepare for my Hibari figure review I  read it till volume 3. It was a nice and entertaining read and so I was really looking forward to the upcoming anime adaption.

Even in the present Japan the need for ninja has not vanished and in a particular school, called National Hanzo Academy where girls are secretly trained to become ninjas of the light side. On the other side there is the Snake Academy for girls, who trains ninja’s for the dark side. Both parties coexist in a state of cold war most of the time without going into direct confrontation.

The story of Senran Kagura follows the students Ikaruga, Katsuragi, Asuka, Hibari and Jagyuu on their way to become good ninja’s under the advices of their instructor Kiriya Sensei.

The setting surprises with some funny creativity. Every girl has a different “Ninja Transform” outfit that totally does not look Ninja-like, but when transformed their Ninja powers fully awake. They also can summon a certain animal which support them in their fights, these summoned beings were inherited by their family for generations. Never mess with Hibari’s bunny ;D

A short look at the characters…

Ikaruga – A third year student of ninja arts who is very serious about becoming a ninja. She always acts modest and mature and shows supportive nature towards her juniors, she is somehow the leader of the bunch. At first she also appears to be the strongest of the students.

Katsuragi –  Also a third year student of ninja arts, she is the most sexy and most energetic girl out of the five. She loves to grope boobs especially the ones of her juniors. A trademark of her is a quite dirty voice (Kobayashi, Yuu) which accentuates her creepyness very well. Aside from that she is a strong fighter in search for new challenges.

Asuka – Is a second year student of ninja arts, who barely passed the practical exam. As granddaughter of a famous ninja a lot of expectations are placed on her which sometimes gives her a hard time. She is very feminine with her sweet voice (Harada, Hitomi) and in appearance.

Hibari – Is a first year student of ninja arts and actually the weakest and least talented one of the girls. Even though she’s not completely useless, you would ask yourself why she took the route of  becoming a ninja in the first place. Aside from that she is a totally cute, caring person, who is beloved by her seniors.

Jagyuu – Is also first year student of  ninja arts, she is a bit rebelish at first, but already a ninja prodigy with big talent. In the show she often shows a serious and demure side. She is a close friend of Hibari and has strong feelings for her. Jagyuu always protects Hibari from danger.

Each of the girls have an nemesis among the snake academy ninjas, the Snake Academy girls are also interesting characters, but writing about them would be too much at this point.

Setting & Story

Senran Kagura has no male lead character like you would normally expect in this kind of setting, it’s good that the viewer doesn’t have to see the girls dealing with a dense boy. The show follows the girls during their training and how they gain strength in times of conflict.  This anime is quite funny and doesn’t take itself all too seriously most of the time. Yet it knows when to play the serious card that gives insight and backflashes of characters and threir relationships.

At first it followed the manga closely, but after the third episode it has more original content that differs quite a bit at some major scenes. In the manga Hibari had a much bigger role and development. I would have really liked a 1:1 adaption, still the anime has a decent storyline that manages to keep the viewer entertained and the energetic characters make up for some flaws.

One of he major appeal points of Senran Kagura is the attractive characterdesign, the girls have sweet faces with childlike characteristics like big eyes, blushmarks and big mouths. In contrast to this they have buxom bodies with the right amount of healthy chubbyness where it matters. It’s a formula of moe and curvy sex appeal, which already works very well with the Super Sonico character. As speaking of that this show also has jiggly fanservice with bouncy boobs all around and panty shots included in the fights. It’s more a kind of cute, vanilla fanservice instead of an exploiting way, as it can be seen in other shows of this kind.

Fortunately the show offers more than just fanservice, it is funny and the interaction between the girls is nice to watch. Since the ninja theme is strong in Senran Kagura there is a fair amount of action. There are also interesting villains, who actually have a good amount of screentime and moments in the spotlight.

In every anime season there are these short shows, which has potential, but suffer from a compressed length, because everything has to fit in a certain number of 12 or 13 episodes.

Senran Kagura partially has this problem, but still manages to turn out as a decent show with a good final. Maybe there will be more of the girls from Hanzou Academy in the future, even though it couldn’t live up to my expectations I liked the setting and the characters.

It had solid production values and a fitting OST with traditional Japanese music. As already mentioned I expected a bit more from the story, but the characters, the appealing character design and the creative setting, made up for it and this anime gets a decent score as follows.

Characters   _____________   8/10

Setting   ________________    7/10     

Story   __________________   6/10

Animation   _____________   7/10

considering your anime standard this could be a show for you or not, ok Only in case you don’t mind some cute, bouncy fanservice.

Overall Score 7/10

Ey, ey oh! whats up people

Here we have a new Preorder Post with a few new purchases and many other alluring figures where a decision hasn’t been made so far.

There also was a delay for the Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA – Prisma Illya figure from Phat Company, that should actually be released in this month, unfortunately she was pushed back to April, which already is a quite busy month. I will also receive the Azusa doll in April, I’m still searching for a fancy outfit for her, even though the stuff she comes with is already pretty nice.

 New Preorders

I restricted myself a little bit, at least for once and also tried to prevent myself from loading too many figure preorders in the first half of the year, since I know what great things can be expected to be released in this year. Hmm yes these three are mainly sexy choices.

Katsuragi – Senran Kagura – Phat Company

After all the good impressions of Phat Company’s Hibari, this was a nearly no brainer for me. Even though the still running anime didn’t met my expectations, I still think that the girls are cute and have an appealing characterdesign. Katsuragi is quite creepy as a person you wouldn’t see that from her look, but anyway as energetic blonde with a bright smile and big boobs I want her in my collection. Next to Hibari’s design I like Katsuragi the most with her blue skirt and the  killer boots. As well as Hibari, Katsuragi is also scaled 1/8 the release is sheduled for August 2013

Sayaka Yumi – Shin Mazinger Zero – Ami Ami Zero

This figure has been a bit longer on my radar, I was captivated by the design and the lovely curves of Yumi. Her suit and the base have a sci fi fetish look, the base looks like a sex toy, but from what I know about Mazinger Zero it is none, it’ more something like a command center.

I was a big fan of Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z-Hen which aired a few years ago. This figure of Yumi isn’t based on it, at least not in that outfit. I like the skin revealing outfit and her face, Yumi’s looks so damn great, well I also like that she features the style of old school manga very well. The figure is scaled 1/7 and has a length of 260 mm, in the final product, she will have alternative face parts. The figure is very detailed and for some reason her discounted price is relatively high with 9500 Yen, oh well I had ordered her for a higher price, thanks exchange rate.

Ami Ami Zero is popular for delaying their products, hopefully this figure will be more or less on time, she is sheduled for June 2013 *fingers crossed* kyahh I’m really excited about her.

Irma – Queen’s Blade – MegaHouse

 Hmm why the heck, have I ordered Irma actually!? You can only guess why Megahouse made a figure from the original Queen’s Blade at this this time, it seems that Tier from Tentacle Armada wasn’t the only one who wished for a figure of Irma, since the feedback was quite positive.

Wll, there are certain things that make this figure that appealing, Irma has an attractive petite bodyframe, still in a trained way, but she’s more slender than most Queen’s Blade characters. She also has this super dynamic pose and also a lot of details are on her body and outfit.

I really like her look, the body with the perky breasts, a nice back and a bubble butt compared to her body. Her dark skincolor makes a great contrast to her hair, actually. I would have sightly preferred a different face expression, but oh well the overall appearance is very good.

Irma is scaled 1/8, castoffable and her release date is sheduled for July 2013.

Maybe Baby List

Touko Aozaki – Mahoutsukai no Yoru – ALTER

release – July

Sometimes you will get overly excited about a certain figure that you’ve seen in an early production status, only to feel dissapointed when it can finally be preorderd. I think her dress turned out beautiful, the green is gorgeous, but whats with the face, it looks so plain, pale and undetailed, at least in these first promotion shots. I don’t feel like throwing my money torwards her in advance anymore. Maybe I will be convinced another time,but not for once.

Yuki – Maid Yome – Orchid Seed

release – September

This ero figure is very popular at the moment and Im starting to fear that she will be sold out before release, which happens not that often with figures from Orchid Seed. Yuki is a bold figue without pantsu and have you noticed where her fingers are? actually I didn’t pay attention to it at first. Hehe, it should be fine when displayed normally. The figure looks very pretty, I like the flushred cheeks and her cute moaning mouth. You can display her with the “wet t-shirt” look with her boobs exposed or just admire her plump butt. So far I could resist preordering her, since I’ve planned to get her at a later date, but Im not sure how long this composure will last.

Nymph – Sora no Otoshimono forte – PLUM

release – April

Nymph seems to be the most popular Sora no Otoshimono character at least on the manufacurers side, Kotobukiya already made a second one as well as PLUM, which can be seen here. They’ve put her into a innocent white school swimsuit, that compliments her butt nicely. The 1/6 scaled figure of Nymph has a cute energetic pose, her face doesn’t look like exactly like in the illustration she is based on, beside that it appears like an adorable figure. In worst case just display her from the enchanting backside ;p As I was checking on her at Ami Ami, the site said it’s sold out. I’ve waited too long! but maybe I’m able to get her on or after the release date.

Hibiki Ganaha – THE IDOLM@STER – Kotobukiya

release – April

Kotobukiya is pretty serious in adapting the Idolm@ster characters in the Angelic Island versions, where they put the girls in beach fashion. I already found the majority of them pretty adorable like Haruka, Makoto and Yayoi even though I haven’t bouth them in the end. Hibiki is no exception in terms of cute bishoujo appeal, her face is very pretty and her fang adds a little more playfulness. I’m also a fan of dark hair and the kind of earings, Hibiki is using, lovely ^^.

Rumi Sumida – Gutto-kuru Figure Collection Sweet 02 – CM’s Corporation

release – May

That face expression is priceless and let’s this figure appear super adorable, I really like the lovely expression and interesting pose of this figure. Also her school uniform is appealing, I like the colors, the stockings and her sneakers. The only problem is that I have no experience and no trust in CM. I have serious doubts, that they will deliver a quality that satisfies me and with that in mind she is a few thousand Yen too expensive, still I would like to have her in my collection, since she looks so appealing in these promotional pictures. On second look her butt could be a bit bigger, but that is my least important concern and something I could live with.

Preorder Roadmap (updated)

This second season of  Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai delivers a good continuation with some surprising events, after Yukimura turned out to be girl and the perverted scientist Rika turned into a quite charming girl, Kodaka is in the middle of a difficult bishoujo harem.

In the latest episode 10, there was a great scene between Rika and Kodaka happened on the rooftop, where Rika told him to make up his mind about a cerain thing. She actually said

“I think it’s time you take a step forward. Afterr all, we’re already all …”

Well, I had to think about the words the viewer didn’t receive in that scene, it could be…

1. “in love with you”

2. “friends”

3. “waited long enough”

I would set my bets on the first choice, since it seems obvious that all the girls are in love with him. Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT turned again to be much different from other harem anime, first Kodaka wasn’t the generic, stupid harem lead and now one of the girls tells him to make up his mind.

For the first time we see that Kodaka, actually wasn’t dense about the feelings of these girls, but he didn’t want to face it. He enjoyed to have the Neighbours Club members around him as friends, lets be honest aside that all of them are a little weird and that there sometimes was some fighting, they seemed to had a lot of fun with their activities. Kodaka appears to be scared of the side effects if he decides for one of these lovely girls, he is scared of loosing the bonds which were made up to now and that these times of lighthearted fun will vanish from his life.

I can relate to him a little, once I had a female childhoodfriend (yeah that is not only anime fiction) as things got more serious with the childhood friend I had the same doubts as him, even so I was totally in ove with her I feared that things would change. Well, but I guess it’s even harder if more than one girl is in love with a boy. Kodaka doesn’t appear to be someone who wants to break hearts. I think all the girls of the Neighbours Club are very adorable:

There is the demure Yukimura, who is cute as hell, but since she’s not that talkactive, her chances are rather low. She also doesn’t act very ambitious in getting Kodaka’s attention.

Yozora is a little problematic character and is a little hard to deal with, but recently the number of defeats she gained torwards Sena thinned out her hard shell and made her more vulnerable, her dere dere side is quite lovely I have to say.

It turned out that Sena was also a childhood friend with Kodaka and their parents even set up a arranged marriage for them. Sena’s wins over Yozora, changed her a bit and now she is more self conscious. Well, I don’t have to mention how pretty she is.

What surprised me in this season is that Rika became an important character, I always liked the crazy scientist, but now she turned into a much more charming person and also Kodaka seems to really like her, since he complimented her through this whole season. He never did that with the other girls.

Howeve things will turn out, I love this anime Im looking forward to the next episode even though I doubt that we see any real decision in that season. Go Rika Go Rika!

What where your thoughts about the happenings in the 10th episode and which of these girls are your favorites, please share your opinion in the comments.

httpvh://youtu.be/80_9ReEnV-o

As announced in the previous Wonfes 2013 winter post, here is part 2 with a few leftover figures from other manufacturers like; AmiAmizero, Arcadia, CM’s Corporation, Gift, MegaHouse, PLUM and Ques q that also caught my interest with a few figures. Afterwards I’ll take a short look at the prettiest Garage Kit figures of this Event. In the last block I will take a look at some illustrations from Native, Orchid Seed and others, that might be turned into figures soon.

I won’t go into detail with my opinion about each item like in the last post, everything listed here is interesting and appealing to me.

Katsuragi – Senran Kagura
sculptor: Ozawa Shingo – release date: no data – scale: 1/7

Kyouno Madoka – Rinne no Lagrange
sculptor: no data – release date: 2013 – scale: 1/7

Yumi Sayaka – Shin Mazinger ZERO
sculptor: Melting Neuron – release date: no data – scale: 1/7

 Original Character – Masamune Shirow
sculptor: no data – release date: no data – scale: no data

Original Character – Sumida Rumi –  Gutto-Kuru Figure SWEET #2
sculptor: Urushihara Satoshi – release date: June 2013 – scale: 1/8

Mamiya Marie – Starless
sculptor: no data – release date: 2013 – scale: no da

Sonico – Tiger Parka version
sculptor: Hiroshi – release date: 2013 – scale: 1/8

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT – Kashiwazaki Sena – Odoriko version
sculptor: I.con – release date: June, 2013 – scale: 1/8

 Irma – Queens Blade
sculptor: Roin – release date: 2013 – scale: 1/8

 Yoshino – Date A Live
sculptor: no data- release date: no data – scale: no data

Toradora! – Aisaka Taiga – Swimsuit version
sculptor: Yuma – release date: July, 2013 – scale: 1/7

Percival – Eiyuu Senki
sculptor: Taka – release date: 2013 – scale: 1/8

Kashiwazaki Sena – Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
sculptor: Inada Masaki – release date: 2013 – scale: 1/8

Ikaruga – Senran Kagura
sculptor: Gentlemen Club 3 – release date: 2013 – scale: 1/8

Fiona – Border Break
sculptor: Takeuch Gotaro – release date: August, 2013 – scale: 1/7

Garage Kits

Unknown

manufacturer: unknown – scale: unknown

Saya no Uta – Saya
manufacturer: Epoxy Parfait – scale: 1/10

Original Character – Ciel
manufacturer: QuailEGG – scale: non scale

Hyouka – Chitanda Eru – Red/Black
manufacturer: Acetone – scale: non scale

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai – Kashiwazaki Sena
manufacturer: Flower Shop – scale: 1/7

Original Character – Zettai Tora
manufacturer: Mouse Unit – scale: 1/7

Busou Shinki – Altines
manufacturer: Grizzry Panda – scale: non scale

The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena – Labrys – Creative Action Figure
manufacturer: Cerberus Project – scale: 1/6

Illustrations

Sorry that these are mainly illustrations for ecchi figures XD

Illustrations from GSC

Love Live! School Idol Project – Kousaka Honoka

Illustrations from PLUM

Fate/Hollow Ataraxia – Saber – 1/7 – Maid ver.

Illustrations from Orchid Seed

Original character Shintaro

Comic Penguin Club – Mizuno Ai

Original Character – Comic Aun 15th Anniversary Cover Girl

Bishoujo Mangekyou -Norowareshi Densetsu no Shoujo- – Kagarino Kirie

Illustrations from Native

Original CharacterMebae

Original Character Mebae

Illustrations from Mouse Unit

Original Character – Lime-chan

Welcome to my impressions from the Wonderfestival of winter 2013 which took place on the 10th Feburary 213,  I’ll will make this a two part post, because I liked way too many figures this time. In this part 1 I will take a look at the presented figures of the bigger manufacturers that caught my interest. Not everything is a must have for me, but I like all listed figures.

Ah this turned out so long, sorry

Isshiki Akane – Vividred Operation
sculptor: Kiking – release date: no data – scale: no data

Akane is quite the archetype of an cheerful and athletic loli character, she has short pigtails and a happy face. Despite her petite appearance Akane has a very attractive butt *yay!* The pose is quite nice with a “driving” happy Akane in her light summer uniform sitting on her detailed jet bike. Im really glad that they decided against the 1st stage magical girl uniforms in Vividred Operation, I don’t like this parade uniform style very much. I actually had preffered her with the red bloomers, but the school uniform isn’t too bad. Im looking forward to see her painted.

Araragi Tsukihi – Nisemonogatari
sculptor: Hiroshi – release date: no data – scale: 1/8

WelI, I really couldn’t understand the price of Karen, but I think Tsukihi would justify a similar price, this figure of her is just wow, these traditional outfit is beautiful. And then this climbing  frame with so many pipes that comes as her base. I would love to make pictures of Tsukihi.

Sorceress – Dragon Nest
sculptor: Usagi- release date: no data – scale: 1/8

Here is already my newly announced favorite figure of this Wonfes 2013, I love the design with the wide face and the pink hair. Also her stylish yet revealing outfit is very appealing to me.
Even though I never played or heard from that Game of her I totally want to get this Figure.

Kuroyukihime – Accel World
sculptor: Bakusatsu shooter- release date: no data – scale: 1/8

Kotobukiya already made a very nice figure of Kuroyukihime with piggy Haru, but here is another figure of her which presents this character in a more shy and vulnerable way. I recently completed Accel World and was quite enchanted by the female characterdesign, Kuroyukihime in her butterfly dress is exceptional pretty. Im curious about the color textures that GSC will use for this figure, maybe some transparency on the wings. I bet she’ll look delicious with color.

GOOD SMILE Racing – Hatsune Miku – Racing 2012
sculptor: Sanzigen- release date: 2013 – scale: 1/8

The racing 2012 version will be made in 2013, this backwarding manufacturing is kind of irritating. I actually thought that GSC pushed the new racing Miku to FREEing, but I was wrong and they are making their own apparently, the design is very stylish and Miku’s face has a cartoonish look. On overall comparison this looks much better and detailed than the FREEing figure, but I would say that their Miku face is still better though.

Shibuya Rin – iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls
sculptor: Tokunaga Hironori – release date: 2013 – scale: 1/8

Hmmm who is that? Anyway it’s a nice looking figure of a beautiful idol. The face looks quite charming and her outfit with the frilly skirt and boots is gorgeus. In case the paintjob won’t dissapoint I would like to buy Rin with her microphone stand. Aww these frills.

Takatsuki Ichika – Ano Natsu de Matteru
sculptor: Yokota Ken – release date: no data – scale: 1/7

Haha took you ages for that, huh? It really feels distant that I watched this anime, but that shouldn’t bother us. Surprisingly the busty alien Ichika will be a 1/7 scaled figure. Her sitting pose creates a nice atmosphere. Aside from being bouncy I like her lovey dovey face expression a lot, it’s really cute how her hand i playing with her hair. I actually wanted a figure of her close to something like in this picture, but this will never happen for obvious reasons.

Saber Type Moon 10th Anniversary Edition by Alter
sculptor: Hashimoto Ryou – release date: July 2013 – scale: 1/7

A happy Saber in an enchanting, pearl white flower like dress with a huge ribbon at her back. I’ve rarely seen a figure of Saber like that, she’s beautiful. I love the design and her super pretty face. She is a standard run and her retail price is set at 9200 Yen, so around 7xxx Yen at the big shops… maybe this is another nice Saber figure for me. Oh she can be ordered  already!

Tanigawa Kanna – Ano Natsu de Matteru
sculptor: Tanaka Touji – release date: no data – scale: 1/8

ALTER isn’t any faster with figures from that show XD They made Ichika’s rival as a 1/8 scaled figure in a slightly alluring pose with both hands behind her back. In grey there isn’t much to say about this figue in her plain summer school uniform, maybe her face will bring this figure to life.

Melty de Granite – Shining Hearts
sculptor: Hane Monokatsu – release date: 2013 – scale: 1/8

It’s Melty from the sweet yet shllow anime Shining Hearts, will we ever get a second season? Well, Melty sitting on an strawberry ice is a quite cute sight, it’s looks nice and creative. Her extravagant loli witch outfit looks quite pretty and attractive. I like the gigantic hat, the hat does come off and I think the figure looks cuter like this since her pointy ears come more into focus. Her monster friend Sorbet will also be included.

Sheryl Nome – Macross Frontier
sculptor: Chieri – release date: 2013 – scale: 1/7

This a very detailed and alluring looking figure from Max Factory, you wouldn’t think that is a PVC on first sight. Aside from all the details of her outfit and the base, Sheryl with her female curves is just stunning in this pose, The aroused and submissive expression in her face makes her even hotter. Im not a fan of her character, but her appeal can’t be denied.

Nyarlathotep – Haiyore! Nyaruko-san
sculptor: YOSHI- release date: no data – scale: no data

Yeah a figure of Nyaruko san from Max Factory, I like the naughty alien girl. As in most cases MF makes figures in the non everyday wear outfits from the animes. I don’t like the naked apron style in particular, but she looks good in everything. Ah yes she seems to very much undressed in this figure adaption, but she has a crowbar. Knowing that she will have the Max Factory quality Im super exited about this naughty figure.

Miyuki Mana – Se Kirara
sculptor: Nakayaman- release date: no data – scale: 1/7

With the later Max Factory figures from Se Kirara, I found myself more drawn to them. I really like their Kawamura Yuu figure and now tghey presented the probably last character of this line up. I like this one very much alread, she has a cute clumsy pose and nice bookworm glasses, this might be an instant preorder.

Jack The Ripper – Fate/Apocrypha
sculptor: Patton – release date: no data – scale: 1/8

I love Phat Company for quickly adapting the Garage Kits I like into figures, first Hibari and now Jack The Ripper. I like this sculpt a lot and this cool suit of her. The wide face and the huge eyes give her an extraterrestial appearance overall, but she’s cute killer alien. Her body is petite but hips and thighs have more female curves.

Katsuragai – Senran Kagura
sculptor: Amasu – release date: no data – scale: 1/8

Senran Kagura turned out quite different than I expected, the manga is far better, but the curvy and cute characterdesign is something I like a lot. This Katsuragi is also based on a garage kit. Aside from her pervy voice, I like Katsuragi and her look of a buxom blonde. She has big boobs and a nice outfit with striped panties. The purchase is as good as set in stone, I think Katsuragi will look great next to Hibari.

Okita Sawa – TariTari – Phat Company
sculptor: no data – release date: no data – scale: 1/8

Oh look it’s pretty Sawa from  the Tari Tari opening, Phat really knows what I  like. It’s nice to see that there will be a Tari Tari figure of my favorite character in  the outfit I like the most on her.

Caster EXTRA – Fate/Extra CCC
sculptor: Itandi – release date: no data – scale: 1/8

Caster EXTRA is a  fox magician in a visual key dress. I like how they adapted the rather static posed illustration into something dynamic and playful. The design of Caster is very cute and appealing in this verion, I like the huge sleeves and her killer cleavage corsage.

Hasegawa Kobato – Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT
sculptor: no data – release date: 2013 – scale: no data

Actually the figure is an adaption of the DVD cover from the first season from Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, but who cares about this minor detail, when seeing a cute goth loli with bicolored. I love this anime, but so far I only bought Maria from Max Factory. This Kobato is dressed in her special everyday wear clothes, I really like this girlydress with the slightly inappropriate details. I also like the cute pose and that this classy chair was added to the figure.

Maou – Maoyuu Maou Yuusha
sculptor: Abe Masato – release date: 2013 – scale: 1/8

The first  figure of Maou was announced rather quickly, since the show just started a few weeks ago. I like Maou’s design and kind personality a lot, the red and black colors theme of her is also very appealing. As you can see she is really busty, I like figures with big bouncy boobs, but Maou is already a bit on the borderline side, well in comparison with her voluminous skirt it appears at least a little less huge, so that it is ok for me. Im looking forward to see the colored prototype.

Honda Futayo – Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon
sculptor: no data – release date: 2013 – scale: 1/8

If someone had asked me aboiut I had wished for a different Horizon in the middle of nowhere character as figure, but Honda is also ok, she has her cool battle suit and compared to other character relatively normal sized boobs. Close up her face expression is also quite attractive.

Ganaha Hibiki – The Idolmaster
sculptor: no data – release date: no data – scale: 1/7

Another Idol@master Beach figure that caught my interest, even though I’ve never bought any of them. The wild and well trained Hibiki comes with her her hamster friend and shorts.

Mistral Nereis – Shining Blade
sculptor: Matsumoto – release date: 2013 – scale: 1/8

ALTER already announced a nice figure  of Mistral, but for whatever reason I can’t deny that I somehow prefer this one alreadya little bit more. The pose here is a little more playful overall.

Original Character – Kantoku
sculptor: no data – release date: no data – scale: no data

Ah yes, I like the Kantoku arstyle a lot, it’s really nice how he draws his bishoujo characters. Here we have a little kitchen accident of a cute redhead. She comes with many kitchen equipment. This might be a very cute figure when she’s painted, Im looking forward to it.

Cover Girl – Komatsu Eiji
sculptor: Ausa Rei – release date: no data – scale: 1/7

Komatsu Eiji also has a dwaing style that I really like a lot, this girl here is presented in her falling apart school uniform. She has a large amount of hair and a cute face. I like the mixed design elements of  her a lot and will probably order her when she will be available earlier or later.

Sonico PKG version
sculptor: Ishiyama Satoshi – release date: 2013 – scale: 1/5

Muhahaha… hahaha… KYAHHHHHHHHHH!!!… 2013! … I can order her this year Hell Yeah!
This Sonico figure looks really gorgeous, no complaints from me here at all, her outfit looks great and I like how her sculpting and painting has turned out now, especially her cute face. I might get an heartattack, when this holy Sonico grail goes up for preorders, haha hopefully not.

Snow – Blassreiter
sculptor: Clumsy Rei – release date: no data – scale: 1/7

Oh it’s been many years since this illustration was shown on Orchid Seed’s booth and then a few days ago I couldn’t believe my eyes. Someone is actually working on Snow!!! It seems like they changed a few details, as figure she now looks seductive and cool. I hadn’t mind the very aroused look from the illustration, but Im still very interested. Snow is sitting on her bike and looks great in her racing suit, the black and red colortheme might really rock in the final product.

Maybe in 1 or 2 years.

 – Fin of Wonfes 2013 impressions part 1 –