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.

Happy Chinese New Year!

I wish everyone a healthy and prosperous Year of the Dragon!

We only had a small family dinner this year. It seems as I get older, holidays and celebrations aren’t as big in my family anymore since everybody is busy working. Times are hard in this economy.

Image Source: pixiv (リーマン　ザ　夢湯)

The first shipment of 2012 has arrived!

January 2012′s Additions:

• figma BRS2035
• figma Homura Akemi
• figma Rider
• figma Saber: Armor Ver.
• Fate/stay night: Rin Tohsaka ~Unlimited Blade Works~ [GSC]
• Fate/stay night: Saber Alter ~Vortigern~ [GSC]
• K-ON! Ui Hirasawa with Mattari Yui [ALTER]
• Lyrical Nanoha The Movie 1st: Fate Testarossa Swimsuit Ver. [ALTER]
• Working!! Aoi Yamada [ALTER]
• Vocaloid: Miku Hatsune Append Ver. [Max Factory]
• Evangelion: Asuka Langley Shikinami [Max Factory]
• Fullmetal Alchemist: Edward Elric [MegaHouse]
• Lyrical Nanoha: Nanoha & Fate Dress ver. [Kotobukiya]
• To Heart 2 Another Days: Harumi Kouno -Love Motion- [Kotobukiya]
• Oreimo: Kirino Kousaka – Gothloli Ver. [FREEing]
• Nendoroid Hercule Barton
• Nendoroid Ikaros
• Nendoroid MEIKO
• Vocaloid: Virtuaroid VR-014/HD Fei-Yen HD

I’m glad that Good Smile Company decided to re-release my all-time favorite figure of Tohsaka Rin.

There are lots of other excellent figures in this batch as well. ALTER has released a Ui Hirasawa figure that would be a welcome addition to anyone going for a complete K-ON! set. Homura in figma form with her bazooka is also pretty neat.

As always, follow us on twitter to receive the latest updates. Anyone wishing to enter the Figure Haven x MFC Picture Contest can still do so!

Have a great weekend everyone!

We left early in the morning on Day 5 to travel to Kamakura.

The train car was quite empty.

Upon arriving in Kamakura, we had our first experience of the small-town feel in Japan.

The first destination was to visit Hase-dera.

On the upper section of the temple grounds, you could see the coast along with the city.

Next up is The Great Buddha of Kamakura!

We are sponsoring a 4-koma picture contest over at MyFigureCollection.net!

The prize is Good Smile Company’s Nendoroid Rinko Kobayakawa. The contest runs until the end of this month, so there’s ample time to get an entry in.

Follow the banner below for more details:

We look forward to seeing some creative 4-komas!

The Winter 2011 Anime Season is here with a whole slew of new series to watch, with my favorite so far being Amagami SS+ plus.

The format is similar to the first season except with only 2 episodes per heroine. Since it starts with Ayatsuji Tsukasa’s arc, I’m assuming the arc order from season 1 is reversed, which means it’ll end with Morishima Haruka’s arc.

These short arcs take place after the 4-episode arcs in the previous season. So in the first episode, Tsukasa has already been going out with Junichi for a few weeks. I actually prefer these continuation stories since too many romance series end right after a couple is formed.

For some reason, it appears I never wrote a Final Impressions post for Amagami SS. I would rate it now at “Great” or maybe even “Excellent” because of its innovative format that flows just right. Amagami SS+ plus continues on with all the aspects that made the first season a joy to watch.

Rating: Great

Although I didn’t do a First Impressions post for Working’!!, I feel it deserves mentioning.

The core formula remains the same in the second season with the same cast of characters and only a few new faces. My thoughts about the first season over a year ago still remains mostly true when applied to this season.

Inami’s relationship with Takanashi was the central focus for a few episodes, so it really feels like they’re pushing for that pairing. I found the episodes showing Takanashi’s household to be the most interesting since it gives a break from seeing Wagnaria all the time.

The only disappointment I had was the lack of Matsumoto during most of the series. When she was introduced in the final episode of the first season, I expected she would play a larger role in the future. However, even though you catch the occasional glimpse of her working diligently, she does not get scenes with dialogue until the final episode. Save the best for last I guess, but I do like how smoothly they integrate her into the final episode. All her interactions with her co-workers gives off the impression that she’s been watching their antics the entire time and putting up with it.

Rating: Great

It’s the start of a brand new year!

Some highlights of 2011 for me include being a new exhibitor at Anime Expo, traveling to Japan for the first time, and surviving my first year working as a software engineer. What were your highlights of the year?

My ongoing side projects still include Figure Haven and Dollars BBS. I plan to keep going with this blog as well, although my time and motivation to post has been dwindling.

One of my goals for 2012 is to get into game development and release a completed game. We’ll see how far I get in a year. I also want to travel to somewhere in Europe…maybe Italy?

Happy New Year! I wish everyone a great 2012!!

Image Source: pixiv

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (also known as Haganai) was one of the three series I watched every week without exception.

The characters are the strong point of the show. From the clashes between Yozora and Sena to Rika’s outbursts, all their personalities mesh well together. They always talk and act as if none of them have any friends, but I can’t wait to see when they admit that they are already good friends with one another.

The ending was somewhat anti-climatic. When Kodaka finally realizes who Yozora is, she wants him to treat her as if they did not previously know each other. A bit disappointing considering the substantial amount of screen time spent exploring their past history together. I guess I was just expecting something more to end the season on.

Hopefully there will be multiple seasons since I can easily see it going on for a while, and I want to see who wins between Yozora and Sena.

Rating: Great