My interest in anime has been dwindling lately, so here’s a short preview of a few series I might be interested in watching next season.

• Toaru Majutsu no Index II – It’s about time they made a sequel; the characters and setting were quite interesting in season 1. I’m sure everyone wishes they had an esper ability.
• Psychic Detective Yakumo – You can’t go wrong with a mystery series. Plus, the manga was pretty good.
• Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai – A high school student has a younger sister who is secretly an otaku. Should be entertaining.
• Bakuman – Two students aspire to be mangaka, but I’m sure the journey won’t be easy.
• Star Driver Kagayaki no Takuto – A mecha series with high school students. Too much mecha anime try to emulate Evangelion or the Gundam series, I want to see something original and thought-provoking.
• Fortune Arterial: Akai Yakusoku – Both Star Driver and this use a school located on an island as their setting. Do any even exist in real life?
• Yosuga no Sora – One of a few visual novel adaptations this upcoming season. Those either turn out to be decent or fail horribly.

There’s also the Gundam 00 movie coming out, but who knows when we’ll be able to see it.

Image Source: http://newgra.blog45.fc2.com/blog-entry-205.html

Figure Haven has finally transitioned from using OSCommerce to the vastly superior PrestaShop e-Commerce platform.

My experience this past year with setting up, modifying, and maintaining an OSCommerce site has been a rough journey. It is safe to say that PrestaShop is both easier to setup and a better e-Commerce platform overall. I’m impressed with many of the built-in features it has, which means you might be seeing promotional events and maybe a customer referral program sometime soon.

Unfortunately, all our previous customers will have to re-register new accounts. Sorry about the inconvenience.

At the moment the site only has our most recent figures, but I’ll be slowly adding our previous inventory back. Please inform us of any technical issues you might happen to encounter. It will be most appreciated!

There is also a twitter now solely for Figure Haven. The most up to date news (new arrivals, updates, pre-orders, etc.) will be posted there first.

Figure Haven’s checkout process is now secured via SSL as well. Cheers!

osu! is a free rhythm game for the PC that is somewhat in the style of DDR except with clicking.

I discovered this game after watching a Starcraft II stream where the player was warming up with osu! before playing his matches.

There is a built-in editor that allows you to create your own beatmaps, which has resulted in a large selection of user-generated content. Plus, there are online rankings and even multiplayer mode!

I’m pretty impressed so far with what I’ve seen, and it looks like this game will last me quite a while considering that normal difficulty is challenging enough already.

Some figma pre-orders arrived this month.

I haven’t opened any of my new acquisitions in a while. Not in the mood I guess.

• K-ON! Mio Akiyama figma by Max Factory
• K-ON! Tsumugi Kotobuki figma by Max Factory
• PSP Fate/EXTRA Limited Edition with figma Saber Extra

I almost have the complete K-ON! set of scaled figures, nendos, and figmas. After next month’s arrivals, I’ll just be waiting on ALTER’s Mugi and Ritsu figures.

The Fate/EXTRA Limited Edition came with a small hardcover magazine (Fate/the Fact) that appears to include a DVD inside.

This season hasn’t been very impressive overall. The only two series that stand out are Amagami SS and HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD.

Otherwise, everything else has been mediocre. Here are the rest of my first impressions (even though it’s the middle of the season already).

• Asobi ni Iku yo! – Better than I thought it would be, but the story is still a bit too ridiculous.
• Mitsudomoe – The main characters are elementary school kids that do random things. The art style and setting don’t suit my tastes.
• Nurarihyon no Mago – A solid series about demons that is worth watching if you’re a shounen fan.
• Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi – A high school drama filled with characters that have eccentric personalities and issues. The plot isn’t engaging enough.
• Seitokai Yakuindomo – An inferior Seitokai no Ichizon that focuses on using crude jokes for humor.
• Shukufuku no Campanella – An adventure series that feels a lot like watching a RPG. I stopped early on since I wasn’t in the mood for this.
• Strike Witches 2 – Sequel to Strike Witches. More of the same as before. Personally, I preferred Sky Girls over Strike Witches.

Of course, there’s still Giant Killing and K-ON!! continuing from last season along with the monthly Katanagatari, all of which are good.

The last manga post I made was back in March, so it’s about time I made another. I scanned through the numerous series I was reading to decide what to present.

This was when I noticed I was following more than a few manhwa, which led me to pick my current top 3 out of those.

1. Noblesse – Vampires in the modern world. It focuses more on their supernatural powers/abilities instead of their stereotypical need for blood. The main character is a vampire from centuries ago who has just woken up. It’s amusing seeing how he reacts to things he is unfamiliar with, such as a banana.
2. Tower of God – A fairly new series about a young man that enters a tower where any wish may be granted if you complete all the trials. This is your classic heroic journey story, which makes for a good read.
3. Sfumare – Vampires once again, except this one is more of a high school drama. Thus, way less epic than Noblesse. The setting is in a world where vampires coexist with humans. The main character is a girl who loves money, which of course results in comedy.

These series are done in a webcomic format, which makes for some quick and easy reading.

Last month’s new shipment of figures arrived a while back, but I haven’t had the chance to add them to the site yet.

Instead, I have been working on porting the Figure Haven site to a different (and better) e-commerce platform while adding in some improvements at the same time. This should be completed in at most a few weeks, and I will be adding our newest figures first thing.

The words are a bit hard to make out in the photo, but if you recognize the boxes, then you can guess which figures they are.

My postcard set for achieving Bronze Tier in the Square Enix Members Rewards program arrived yesterday.

Considering the amount of Square Enix games you need to purchase to achieve a fairly high tier level, it’s not worth even going for Silver. They also only have a few decent games out, which forces you to either buy multiple copies of the good games or to buy some random bad games in order to achieve a higher tier.

This “set” only consists of 3 postcards featuring Final Fantasy XIII, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, and Star Ocean The Last Hope International artwork. It appears to have been printed on glossy photo paper.

Since it only takes 1-2 game(s) to get Bronze Tier status, these rewards are a welcome bonus. I wouldn’t recommend intentionally aiming for the higher tiers though, since the tier levels reset every year.

ALTER

K-ON! Tainaka Ritsu [1/8 Scale]

The final scaled K-ON! figure by ALTER to complete the set. They did an excellent job of adapting the K-ON! characters into figures, especially with the precise details on all their instruments.

Good Smile Company

Fate/stay night: Saber Alter ~Iron Hammer of the Terrible King Vortigern~ [1/7 Scale]

I’m not really a big fan of Saber Alter, but I’ll be getting this to display with my Saber Lily ~Distant Avalon~. The two opposites (white and black) will form a superb contrast.

Fate/stay night ~Unlimited Blade Works~: Tohsaka Rin [1/7 Scale]

Since I’m a fan of Fate/stay night, getting this is a given. She looks to be the best Tohsaka Rin figure to date, especially with the intricate work on the hair. With GSC’s track record, I have no doubt she’ll look amazing in her finished form.

I’m still waiting for the Unlimited Blade Works movie to be released on Blu-ray.

Bakemonogatari: Sengoku Nadeko [1/8 Scale]

Manufacturers keep innovating on the figure bases nowadays, and this is one of the best ones yet. Using the base to make it seem as if Nadeko is standing in water – ingenious.

Angel Beats! Nakamura Yuri [1/8 Scale]

I’m thrilled that GSC decided to make figures for Angel Beats!

Angel Beats! Tenshi [1/8 Scale]

I would have preferred a version of Tenshi/Kanade where she was using Hand Sonic, and maybe even with her angel wings out. Now that would be epic.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Blue-Eyes White Dragon

What a surprise! I did not expect GSC to make Yu-Gi-Oh! figures. It almost looks to be made of metal.

I used to competitively play Yu-Gi-Oh! when it first came out, so this brings back memories. Now around half the cards in my deck are banned from tournament play for being too overpowered.

Max Factory

Miku Hatsune (Tony Taka version) [1/7 Scale]

The best looking Miku figure I have ever seen. I didn’t particularly like Max Factory’s first Miku figure, but this Tony Taka version is amazing. The dynamic pose paired with the way her hair goes from solid color to translucent has me sold on purchasing one.

Kotobukiya

Valkyria Chronicles: Alicia Melchiott [1/8 Scale]

It’s about time someone made a good Alicia figure. Pair her up with ALTER’s Selvaria figure for maximum effect.

Figma

Suzumiya Haruhi (Disappearance version) [Max Factory]

Haruhi with long hair is simply the best.

Nendoroids

Fate/stay night: Saber (Plain clothes version) [Good Smile Company]

Another Saber nendo! Now you’ll be able to display the trifecta: plain clothes, armored, and lily versions.

Ragnarok Online: Arch Bishop [Good Smile Company]

Ragnarok Online sure brings back memories of high school. I didn’t even know that there was an Arch Bishop class now…

Hayate no Gotoku: Katsuragi Hinagiku [Max Factory]

Max Factory following GSC into the lucrative nendoroid business is to be expected. I wouldn’t be surprised to see ALTER and Kotobukiya follow suit.

This is only a small selection of the figures displayed at WonFes 2010 Summer. The manufacturers appear to be ramping up their design and production of figures. I’m guessing business has been good?

For complete coverage of the event, check out Wcloudx (kumo)’s Blog or zotaku. They both have detailed posts if you want to see everything (there’s a ton of figures).

Image Source: Wcloudx (kumo)’s Blog

Two of my pre-orders arrived this month. The extra copies of the magazine are for a friend and my brother.

• K-ON! Azusa 1/8 Scale PVC Figure by ALTER
• Dengeki G’s Magazine August 2010 with Nendo Petite Tenshi as a bonus

My copy of Starcraft II: Collector’s Edition appeared on my doorstep this morning as well. I’ll post photos of its contents later.

Anyone else pick up SC2 today?