Animatic Figmation

Artist Spotlight: Gia

Persocom — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 02:41:39 +0000

Hello all, today I’m going to deliver a brand new type of post (for this site at least). I recently decided that it would be great to have the opportunity to share some of the wonderful art I have come to love from Pixiv. Since this is my first time doing this sort of post, I’m not sure on the best way to present it to you, so if you have suggestions on how I could improve this sort of post in the future do let me know. Today I will be showcasing the art from the very talented Pixiv artist: Gia. I would like to let you all know that I have asked and been granted permission to write this post and to show the art that is being used here. All art is property of Gia, and all text is my own personal opinion. I will never do an artist spotlight without first seeking and gaining permission, unlike my regular galleries. I believe this is better for the artist and for all of us as well. After reading this I urge you to check out Gia’s Pixiv profile.

Gia’s artwork caught my eyes instantly and demanded my attention. My first encounter was with this beautiful and unique picture of Rumia from Touhou Project. Of course, that picture was only the beginning of an extremely pleasing eye feast. Gia’s art ranges from Touhou and Miku Hatsune to mechanical monstrosities and weapon or chemical themed girls, and while they are really awesome, I find the real highlights are the original characters. Luckily I don’t really need to describe them because Gia also writes a bit of English text on many of the images which do enough explaining. I guess with my fascination with mecha musume and one of my favorite artists being H.R. Giger, these sort of futuristic alien-like mecha musume are quite to my liking.

Nue Houjuu, one of my favorite newer Touhou characters, from Touhou 12: Unidentified Fantastic Object. This artwork takes her asymmetrical wings to new heights.

Sakuya Izayoi, one of the more popular Touhou characters, the maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. I’m pretty sure most of you who don’t even follow Touhou have seen her around before. I just love how sinister she looks in this, the background is so highly detailed as well. While there are more Touhou artworks, I don’t want to only feature them, so moving on…

Everyone knows Miku Hatsune. There are so many artworks of her out there, but I think this one really shines. I really love Gia’s take on her clothing, as it puts a refreshing take on her. Now we get to the stuff that really makes Gia stand out amongst the rest. The original characters.

Here are just a few examples of the original characters. Most of them seem based on Chemicals or Biohazards, though there are also one based on weapons and other such things. Everything about them, from their colors, to the mecha musume aspects really stand out and suck me in. If Gia were to put out an art book I would surely buy it. I wouldn’t mind some of these girls being made into figures, because they are fine pieces of art. I really get into futuristic works like these. The ones I chose here are just a few of my favorites. Though to be quite honest I’m a fan of them all. It was hard deciding which to put in the post and which to let you discover on your own.

Of course, Gia is not only drawing these types. There are also mechanical monsters and more mecha styled themes, as well as things touching more on the gothic side.

Hopefully you were able to enjoy my very first artist spotlight post, featuring the talented Gia. Be sure to check Gia’s Pixiv profile for much more eye candy if what I have showcased pleases you. I plan on bringing you more works from other artists in the future as I want to bring you more than just figure reviews, but I’m not quite sure on how often. It all depends on the artists’ willingness to allow me to use their art, and how well it goes over.
~
~

Tweet This Post

My First Stop-Motion(s)

Persocom — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 03:49:06 +0000

So today a good friend of mine convinced me I should try my hand at making a stop motion to show the articulation in a Busou Shinki I recently got. Then another friend further convinced me. I wasn’t very confident but I’ve always wanted to see if I was capable of making one. I ended up making 3 short stop motion videos from a ton of pictures I took, as a little experiment. The 2nd and 3rd tries were actually more like leftovers because I wasn’t quite confident enough to only make one, I made the others just in case the first one turned out horrible. It’s pretty exciting finally taking a step forward into stop motion. I’ve always been a fan of stop motion animation but never thought I could handle the time and concentration required to pull it off. Of course, I’m not bragging at all, because I hardly find these all that great. I am proud of myself for trying something new though. I’m pretty sure I’ll be making many more in the near future, as I want to improve and experiment further.

The figure featured in these videos is Strarf MkII, a Busou Shinki by Konami who came in a big bundle with a PSP game, which I’ll be reviewing soon (hopefully). I’ll probably wait for a while to post more stop motion, depending on how much I get into making more I might make it a regular (maybe weekly) thing. I did quite enjoy making them. I know that they’re not very interesting, but I was only trying to show the articulation of the figure.

Well then, I don’t really know what else to say right now about this. I just wanted to share my first attempt at making stop motion with you all.
~
~

Tweet This Post

Animatic Figmation 2nd Anniversary!

Persocom — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 04:24:13 +0000

For the 2nd year in a row, I can happily say that I’ve made it! Although due to some nasty computer problems I was suffering on the actual 2nd anniversary date, July 20th, I was unable to make the post in time yet again. The day before I suffered an onslaught of issues with my computer. So unlike last year I can’t say that I was slacking. But here I am back and ready to get back to blogging, and I’ve made it quite a way. I’d like to thank all my readers over the last 2 years, whether regulars or people who have recently stumbled here. Without your comments and feedback this would be nothing but a personal diary. In these past 2 years Animatic Figmation has struggled with it’s identity. Originally I had no idea what direction I was taking this blog, and to this day I still can say it’s been a bit of a bumpy and indecisive ride. I also didn’t expect to keep it going for this long. Despite hitting some lows and even considering quitting a couple times I have persevered. I’d like to think that this is still only the beginning, and I have quite a few ideas in store for the future.

First of all, I’ve said before that I’d do livestreaming, but honestly I’m just not that good at being in front of people. I’m not that great at doing speeches and such, I really prefer writing. I can’t guarantee anything but perhaps I will do a livestream for real this time around. I know a few people have been able to chat with me via Ustream before, but never have I made an official announcement where I could invite everyone. No promises but I will try to come out of my shell a bit more.

More importantly, I am happy to announce that Animatic Figmation is in the initial stages of having it’s very own mascot. I can’t tell you much right now about her, but I am working together with someone to bring her to life. How exactly I will be using her, what her name will be and many other things are still undecided, but she is well under way and I will probably be bringing you some news in the near future regarding her.

I recently got around to finally installing a wordpress plug-in or two to monitor my stats. Even so, I’m not going to use this to boast about hits, or any other such things. I do like to know where the people that visit my blog come from, it’s always fun stumbling across a random forum making fun of me, or showing my work to others as an example when someone has a question about something or needed more information. I’m also in the process of reaching out and expanding my blog roll. If you happen to be here and you are not on my blog roll, speak up, chances are I’ll gladly add you and maybe even start popping by and commenting once in a while. To everyone else, I’m really sorry if I don’t visit your blogs and comment enough, but I try!

The content of the site will continue to be much of the same that you are used to seeing here. Though in this 2 years my interests have shifted around slightly. I started out with Figma, got into scaled PVC’s, added Nendoroids into the mix, got into Revoltech a bit, and at the beginning of this year became obsessed with Busou Shinkis. Well, I hope to bring even more kinds of reviews. I really DO love anime, though you can’t really tell by the lack of anime related posts and reviews, so I’ll try and review them more often. I also don’t post enough about manga. I’ll be trying out some new types of posts soon to see just what I’m capable of. But the main content will always be figures. Yeah I know, I sound a bit hopeful and perhaps too confident, but I want to make changes, kind of like the new layout, I want to keep Animatic Figmation fresh and interesting, for all my readers and for my own sake. Also, though she’s been scarce for quite some time, my wife wants to try and post more often again. Enough of this ramble, here’s to 2 years and hoping that I can make it through many more!
~
~

Tweet This Post

Marisa Kirisame Figma

Persocom — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 02:49:24 +0000

Gensokyo resident witch Marisa Kirisame recently (*cough* back in April) released as a Figma by Max Factory. Of course, being a bit of a Touhou Project fanatic (not to mention I’m fond of witches) I had to pre-order her the minute she went up at Otacute. She’s not too easy to buy now though, and I really don’t know of any store that is currently taking orders for her. You might have to do a little bit of searching if you want her. I know this is the first Touhou Figma that I’ll be reviewing, but I do already own Reimu. Due to having a backdrop that I wanted to use already sitting around I found it easier to give Marisa her time in the spotlight first. Marisa is the most frequently seen Touhou Project character next to Reimu, so it’s only fair that she be the second Touhou Figma released. I promise I’ll do a Reimu review soon. So, do you believe in magic?

Marisa comes in a nice fancy looking box, really beautiful how much detail went into it. Of course she also comes with a nice looking backdrop but I’ve stopped using the backdrops in figure shoots for quite some time. The backdrop included also has a punch-out Di:stage cover, which I am unable to really use because I haven’t bought one yet. Oh yes, one thing I have to note though is the hand with the book in it is on the wrong side on the picture on the top of the box. Also her Figma number was printed wrong, as she was supposed to be #68.

Marisa comes with 11 hands, 4 of which have things attached to them: a teacup, saucer, her hakkero (八卦炉) and a magical tome respectively. Unfortunately this particular tome is plain and blank on both sides. No magical texts written here. She also comes with 3 faces, a happy open mouth, angry open mouth and a big grin. In the back of her hair there is a small removable piece of hair that reveals a slot for her hat (which has a small peg on the back of the inside) to secure it into place on her head. She has a standard Figma stand and the regular hole in her back. Her hat is entirely solid, including the bow. The skirt part of her dress as well as the apron are also completely solid, unfortunately hindering her ability to move her legs around quite a bit. This is probably her only noticeable fault. The bow on the back of Marisa’s dress is flexible though. Underneath her dress are nicely detailed bloomers, as in the old fashioned bloomers underwear, not the gym uniform. Her shoes are nice and shiny and her socks look good, even the joint that connects her foot to the ankle is white to match her socks and give it less of a jointed look. Her Hakkero is very detailed for being such a small accessory, and the way it’s attached to her hand makes it perfect for shooting her Master Spark. Moving back up, her hair is solid aside from the two long front pieces, which are soft so they won’t get in the way or hinder movement. Finally she comes with a broom which is slightly curved, and two extra feet with little clips on them. These feet are used for attaching her broom to them, so that she can ride her broom. I suppose it would be a good idea to also note that due to her heaviness (from all the solid plastic in her clothing) the Figma stand cannot support her weight very easily, so while the broom and feet are a great feature, it will take a little work to properly pose her flying without her weight making her crash back down to earth. Though it can be a bit of a problem, it’s nothing that can’t be worked with.

Also I took an extra bonus picture of Marisa with Reimu because it just had to be done. I’m sure I’ll do more outside of the review at a later time.

Overall Marisa is a wonderful Figma and a welcome addition to my growing Touhou collection. I’m quite content with her, and the price I paid for her from Otacute, which is most likely far less than she’s going for on Ebay and the likes now. I do highly suggest them for Touhou Figmas and Nendos, as they usually get them for much cheaper than other stores, but you need to know when they’re releasing ahead of time because sometimes they sell out pretty fast. So do I recommend this Figma? If you can handle the lacking in the range of movement department due to her clothing, definitely. I’m a Touhou fan though, so consider me a bit biased.

Lastly I’ll wrap up my review and provide you with one of Marisa’s six theme songs, not really the most known of them but I like it. From Immaterial and Missing Power, Marisa’s night theme: “Dance of Witches”.

Hopefully you enjoyed my pictures and found the review informative, now if you don’t mind I’m going to go play some Touhou Hisoutensoku with my six year old son, as he’s all hyped up for it now.
~
~

Tweet This Post

Zyrdarya – Busou Shinki

Persocom — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 05:17:26 +0000

Zyrdarya is a Flower Type Full Set MMS Type Flower Busou Shinki by Konami. I purchased her off of Ebay months ago for $34.99 (not including shipping) because at the time I couldn’t find her at any of my regular stores. I couldn’t find any stores at the moment that sell her for a decent price either, but potential buyers might want to check their favorite stores. Zyrdarya is from Wave 4, and was released in February of 2007. She was designed by artist okama. She also comes with a code for Battle Rondo and in the game she is voiced by Sanae Kobayashi. She is known for such roles in anime as Lucy/Nyu in Elfen Lied, Reinforce in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s, and Hitomi Kashiwa in Welcome to the N.H.K. among many other roles. I have posted some pictures of her previously in a post wearing some clothes made for her, but I never did an official review. I thought it was about time I give her some time in the spotlight, though she really does prefer sunshine.

Here’s a couple shots of Zyrdarya’s box, again these were taken back when I first got her earlier this year and her box now sits in storage and I didn’t want to break it out just to get more shots. I also sort of skipped out on gear shots here so please forgive me, hopefully my pictures can show her gear enough to satisfy the curious.

What ultimately pushed me to buy Zyrdarya is I really enjoy okama’s artworks, and for some reason when I bought Juvisy I thought it only appropriate to also get her, as they are basically sisters. Zyrdarya only comes with one head, with a non-removable face. On her head there are petals that are removable, but I don’t suggest removing them because the hair itself has the pegs that the petals go on. She didn’t really need it, but I had some yellow blu-tack lying around and decided since it blends in with her hair color already I’d use it to make sure her hair petals never fall off. Her accessories include 2 guns, a vine-like whip/sword thing and another sword. Also her back attachment and base, as well as many little extra pieces just like all the other Busou Shinki girls, for customizing them however much your creativity allows. I would have liked if she came with an extra head/face, and that’s probably one of the only things I don’t like about her in figure form. Other than that her long wrist attachments, while flashy and cool looking, don’t allow her hands much movement when holding weapons. Her armor is pretty interesting yet simplistic, and her back attachment is very versatile. There are eight movable slots that can hold various sized bladed petals, and she comes with small, medium and large ones for that purpose. Of course, without her gear on she almost looks as if she’s in lingerie, which while some people might not like that, I think it’s nice because it makes her gear feel more like clothing. She is very easy to assemble compared to other Busou Shinkis. Her quality is fine but you can tell she’s an older Shinki.

Zyrdarya has a bit of an attitude problem. She likes to do as she pleases, and not as you tell her to. Her main specialty is her high SP, and she has a tension skill which, as you hit the enemy with more and more hits unleashes her double skill damage/double SP/double SP draining pollen. She comes with many weapons but her main fault is that her armor leaves very little room for customization if you want to keep her original gear on, and she has very poor defense. Needless to say I have not mastered her and she remains a problematic character for me. I do like to dress her up in silly outfits though for some reason. All the things that you get with the figure come with her in Battle Rondo. She’s pretty unique and like a real flower, she takes a lot of work to keep her happy. In fact, it took me quite a while to warm up to her. Zyrdarya is quite a difficult character to get used to, so I do not recommend her for the beginner. For more advanced players though, she could be an extremely strong character when in tension mode.

Well, that wraps up the moody flower Zyrdarya’s review. Don’t tell her I said moody though, she might go yandere on me.
~
~

Tweet This Post