A new shipment of figures has arrived for early May!

May 2012′s Additions:

• Steins Gate: Kurisu Makise [GSC]
• Strike Witches: Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen [ALTER]
• Full Metal Daemon: Muramasa Sansei [Max Factory]
• Shining Hearts: Rufina [Kotobukiya]
• Muv-Luv Alternative: Takamura Yui ~Gekka~ [Kotobukiya]
• Shining Hearts: Phantom Queen EX-Xecty [Kotobukiya]
• figma Kenshin Uesugi
• Nendoroid Yune

We will also be attending FanimeCon 2012 this month as vendors.

Be sure to come visit us!

Lots of nendoroids this month!

April 2012′s Additions:

• figma Nadeko Sengoku
• figma Mami Tomoe
• Nendoroid Petite: Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Full Set)
• Nendoroid Menma
• Nendoroid Sena Kashiwazaki
• Nendoroid Ohana Matsumae
• Nendoroid Army-san Desert ver.
• Nendoroid Ayase Aragaki
• Nendoroid Charlotte E. Yeager
• Bakemonogatari: Shinobu Oshino [GSC]
• Yumekui Merry: Merry Nightmare [ALTER]
• Oreimo: Aragaki Ayase [Kotobukiya]
• Persona 3: Aegis ART WORKS ver. [ALTER]
• Persona 4: Izanagi [MegaHouse]
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Homura Akemi [GSC]
• Shining Hearts: Hayane Fubuki Swimsuit ver. [Kotobukiya]
• Shining Hearts: Rouna [Kotobukiya]
• Hyakka Ryouran: Naoe Kanetsugu [ALTER]

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Have a great weekend everyone!

A couple new additions to our selection of figures from multiple mini-shipments.

• Fate/EXTRA: Caster [Phat]
• Little Busters! Natsume Rin Nekobiyori [Kotobukiya]
• iDOLM@STER: Amami Haruka [MegaHouse]
• figma Index
• Nendoroid Yozora Mikaduki

I still need to get around to playing Fate/EXTRA. >_<

Not as large of a shipment this month, but there are still many excellent figmas and nendos to choose from.

March 2012′s Additions:

• BLK Limited Edition (figma BRSB Included)
• figma Guts: Black Soldier ver.
• Nendoroid Petite: ClariS Set – irony Ver.
• Nendoroid Taiga Aisaka
• Nendoroid Miku Hatsune: Append
• Durarara!! Orihara Izaya [ALTER]
• Gintama: Shiroyasha [MegaHouse]
• Rurouni Kenshin: Saitou Hajime G.E.M. Series [MegaHouse]
• Petanko Kuroko Shirai
• Petanko Mikoto Misaka

A couple additional figures from our Japan shipment will be added this weekend as well!

We took a train in the morning to Hakone, which isn’t too far away from the Tokyo area.

Hakone is known for its numerous onsen inns.

Since we had arrived early, we dropped off our luggage at the inn and decided to walk back to the train station.

The atmosphere was very calm and peaceful. I could see why it was so popular.

Once we were back at the station, we had to somehow make our way to Owakudani to try out the famous kuro tamago (black eggs).

My favorite figure of all time has been re-released!

February 2012′s Additions:

• Fate/unlimited codes: Saber Lily ~Distant Avalon~ [GSC]
• Catherine [Max Factory]
• Tantei Opera Milky Holmes: Arsene [GSC]
• Guilty Gear XX Accent Core: Dizzy [ALTER]
• figma Nene Anegasaki
• Lyrical Nanoha: Takamachi Vivio [ALTER]
• Nendoroid Yozora Mikaduki
• Nendoroid Nymph
• Nendoroid Mami Tomoe
• Nendoroid Golden Darkness
• Nendoroid Haqua
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Madoka Kaname [GSC]
• Strike Witches: Mio Sakamoto [ALTER]
• Toaru Majutsu no Index II: Kuroko Shirai [Penguin Parade]
• Toaru Majutsu no Index II: Mikoto Misaka & Little Sister Set [Penguin Parade]
• Zegapain: Kaminagi Ryoko [ALTER]

If you don’t already own Saber Lily ~Distant Avalon~, I highly recommend you get one. Out of 3 years+ of figure collecting, it is still my favorite.

Quite a few new nendoroids in this shipment. My favorite would have to be Nendoroid Haqua due to all the various facial expressions it comes with.

The Kuroko and Misaka figure set by Penguin Parade is pretty neat. These are the best figures I have seen so far for these two characters. Plus, the Misaka figure comes with a large sniper rifle.

We have quite a few pre-orders closing soon. Please take a look to see if anything interests you before it’s too late!

2/19/2012 (closing tomorrow!)

• [Pre-order] figma Irisviel von Einzbern
• [Pre-order] Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Sayaka Miki
• [Pre-order] To Love-Ru: Momo Belia Deviluke

2/20/2012

• [Pre-order] Bakemonogatari: Black Hanekawa Tsubasa

2/26/2012

• [Pre-order] figma Princess of the Crystal
• [Pre-order] Nendoroid Petite: Racing Miku Set 2011 Ver.
• [Pre-order] Tales of Vesperia: Rita Mordio
• [Pre-order] Durarara!! – Celty Sturluson

3/18/2012

• [Pre-order] Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: Mikaduki Yozora

As always, you only pay for your pre-order once it actually arrives.

Our last stop of the day was Akihabara.

Since we were leaving Tokyo to head down south to visit Hakone, Kyoto, and Osaka for the next few days, we decided to visit Akihabara again. This time I brought my camera along to take a couple photos.

This is what you see right after stepping out of the JR Akihabara Station.

Spotted the Gundam Cafe, but didn’t venture inside.

You can pick up a free map of Akihabara here that shows all the stores. Both Japanese and English versions are available.

Lots and lots of stores selling electronics and anime related goods.

The Mandarake store in Akihabara. I think we ended up visiting five different Mandarake branches during our time in Japan.

A large Fate/Zero advertisement.

Next up is Hakone! A relaxing hot springs area to get away from urban Tokyo.

Since I have only gotten around to doing a single First Impressions post, here are the rest of my first impressions put together in concise form.

The series I look forward to watching each week the most are listed first, and it goes down from there.

• Amagami SS+ plus — First Impressions post can be found here. (Rating: Great)
• Ano Natsu de Matteru — One of my favorites from this season. Even though the story has quite a few similarities to Onegai Teacher, I think it is easily the superior series. The first few episodes already demonstrate the complexity underlying this romantic comedy. (Rating: Great)
• Papa no Iukoto wo Kikinasai! — Raising 3 kids as a single college student is not a simple feat. (Rating: Very Good)
• Nisemonogatari — The sequel to Bakemonogatari. Koyomi certainly has a lot of female friends. (Rating: Great)

• Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou — I didn’t think the daily lives of 3 high school boys would be so hilarious. (Rating: Great)
• Mouretsu Pirates — I love the futuristic space travel setting. The technology shown in the series is impressive. (Rating: Very Good)
• Rinne no Lagrange — The super energetic Madoka is what pulls this series forward. (Rating: Good)
• Another — Just when I thought there wasn’t enough horror in it, gruesome deaths happen. (Rating: Good)

• Senki Zesshou Symphogear — The concert scene in the first episode is very impressive. Other than that, I dislike Hibiki’s personality. (Rating: Good)
• Area no Kishi — This series must have a record for how fast tragedy strikes the main character. A good adaptation of the soccer manga. (Rating: Good)
• Recorder to Randoseru — If each episode wasn’t only 3 minutes long… (Rating: Good)
• Brave 10 — The action scenes were pretty impressive. (Rating: Good)
• Inu x Boku SS — I didn’t expect the supernatural to play such a large part in this series. (Rating: Good)
• Aquarion Evol — I think I would appreciate this series more if I had seen the prequel.
• New Prince of Tennis — Every time I see their special tennis moves, I can’t help but think of how absurd they are. (Rating: Decent)
• Highschool DxD — Despite all the ecchi and nudity, the story is actually somewhat decent. (Rating: Decent)
• Kill Me Baby — Eh, I don’t find the humor in this to be funny. (Rating: Mediocre)

The Great Buddha of Kamakura was within walking distance of Hase-dera and was also our final stop in Kamakura.

It wasn’t as large as I expected when I first saw it in person.

You could pay a nominal fee to see the inside, but we opted out since it was just a bronze interior.

We went back to the train station afterward to head back to Tokyo.

Since we had JR passes anyways, might as well make use of them and take the Shinkansen.