November 8, 2013

Gundam Build Fighters

By omo

At 5 episodes in, Gundam Build Fighters might be the most delightful Gundam that I’ve seen. It’s not just the nostalgia factor–I can tell a Zaku apart from a GM, but not a whole lot more than that. In fact, that has been consistently the one aspect of Gundam Boyfriend (as passionately nicknamed by many) that gave me the cold shoulder. It’s like when I first started the road to iM@S fandom, I would recognize songs and characters but can’t put names to faces or songs. Same with the gunpla.

But what makes Gundam Boyfriend so great is that, well, the meta-ness. The fact that it went Xzibit and put a gunpla ad in itself on the Youtube stream basically sums up how I feel about the thing. I mean, Gundam BF is a gunpla ad, and not just in the “Gundam anime was made to sell toys to begin with” sense. Oh, and being able to watch it simulcast-speed on Youtube is a huge plus, too.

The other thing that makes Gundam Boyfriend fun is the relationship. I suppose that, to me, is the trademark of a Gundam anime. And if you cast wide enough of a web (like Valvrave) you will create that vibe just by inevitable coincidence of the ensemble framework. BF is not so keen on that scale yet, but this AU show is sticking to how AU shows typically are.

And it strikes me that ever since G Gundam, has there been any other tournament plot framework + Gundam mashup? When can I get my Nether Gundam on? I mean, it has to do it! It would be a lot more revolutionary if they actually used a Go To Koshien format for Gundam Boyfriend, but that might be too powerful to pull off.

Turn-A Gundam movie soundtrack

Others have graced upon the Fake Geek Girl subject so I won’t go too much into it. I just find it amusing to see that in a Gundam show. Idols are not rare things in Gundam universes but this one hits real close, and while it’s subject to your interpretation, I find this portrayal particularly honest?

PS. I wonder if anyone has applied the FGG framework on Air Master’s Kaori Sakiyama.

Leave a comment | posted in Gundam, Modern Visual Culture

November 6, 2013

Old Ones Cover Pubes With Indescribable Blob, Customers Complain

By omo

It’s true.

So, part-confession: lately I’ve been reading/following some of the more naughty figures on MyFigureCollection. Or put it in other words, 18+ figures (although some are only 15+) that are usually costumed for “public” display, but the costumes are removable. What I found is that it’s actually somewhat educational. It’s like designing a transformable toy, there are design, sculpting and manufacturing compromises you have to make if you are going to create a figure that has configurable parts, and yet minimizing seams and components unlike what you see with Figmas and Nendos.

There are a variety of approaches to do this. For large figures (1/6 or bigger), often real clothing is used to cover up the figure, and because polyester is quite flexible, it’s easy to remove them from the figure. Moreover, it’s inexpensive; you’re just playing with dolls now.

However real clothing is not the easiest thing to put details on. The very gorgeous details in some of the well-known Max Factory or Alter figures are often digitally painted using robots (think 3D printers) and you can’t do that with polyester (yet?). It certainly doesn’t allow for the details you see in some of these figures. And it is a general rule that the more pliable the material is, the lower resolution you can detail it. Sure, fishnet stocking looks great with actual strings, but you can’t do flowing tresses on skirts at all.

Well, if you want a figure that can transform from tastefully naked to mostly naked, it can be difficult if it’s small. On the flip side, small figures are less expensive to reproduce in parts. There are some figures where you can swap out entire torsos from “clothed” to “non-clothed.” More often, though, the clothing piece is just soft PVC where you just have to carefully remove. Not only it can be a risk in damaging the clothes or the figure, it is possible to transfer paint from the cloth to your waifu’s unrealistically smooth skin. Not to mention in some cases you have fitting problems, where the outfit don’t quite fit the figure all the time.

Anyway, all this is just background. In reality cast-off figures have been getting more popular. I guess it’s lonely nerds thing (can’t really think of another use case), but also because the manufacturing and design has caught up and make it possible due to the growth of this market space. So what you have is that an ever larger number of figure collectors out there are buying these moe figures that barely have clothes on them.

Here comes Nyaruko. Max Factory released recently a Nyaruko figure which all she’s wearing is a Mahiru apron, and holding a crowbar. Very Nyaruko-like, if you ask me. Well, you can see a picture below.

Nyaruko @ NYCC 2013

During the period when she went on pre-order, people wondered if her “thing” is detailed. Of course, there’s a pecking order to that–wholesome labels like GSC/MF/Alter don’t do uncovered details. I assume this is pretty common for those Ikki Tousen-type figures that are extra showy, if the underwear is missing even. Naruko and MF is pretty clearly in that category (MF has other labels where they publish the more adult stuff).

The lingering question is answered when Nyaruko went on tour this past month and now that she’s officially off the shelf. And the responses are hilarious. The thing is, not only is her naughty bits not detailed, there’s a white blob covering it. GSC’s Kahotan briefly described this here back in April, when we don’t even know if the apron came off or not (it doesn’t by default):

Now for a little bit of extra info that I really don’t know if I should be writing on the blog… I may get into trouble for this. But I know you’re all dying to know, so I’ll reveal some secrets:

First of all, the apron won’t be removable. I thought it might be when I first say those separation lines, but I was wrong. Secondly, regarding what she’s wearing underneath… well, she’s not. But it’s not quite at the level you might have seen on certain other figures!

So what’s hilarious? The reaction on MFC on discovering the secret of what the Old One has underneath. Let me just quote…

Although I’m not going to display her where it’s visible, the white blob bothers me a little. It’s enough just knowing it’s there… I would have preferred no details at all, like most nude figures.
Still; she is a great figure, and slightly bigger than I expected. Quality wise she is like all Max Factory-figures: Excellent!

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Indescribable cloth…..
At least I don’t remember that it appear in any season of this Anime. And I don’t think this Anime dares to show such part of the Nyaruko’s body. It’s absolutely not a hentai Anime any way.
Just like a decent gentleman, Max Factory was unwilling to show any detail of her secret part, so he summoned a piece of mysterious cloth to cover her.

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But we’re dealing with Max Factory here. If they had wasted any thought on giving her explicit detail, they’d have handed this project to their H-department, Native.
Now we’ll just have to live with a cute and sexy (yet censored) figure. Put her on one of the lower shelves so that the white goo doesn’t show too much ;-) Creampie, anyone? XD

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Yeah but it’s definitely not creatively censored at ALL. They could’ve had her legs more together or the back of the apron swooping in…SOMETHING else would be better than a white blob. I guess we don’t know for sure till people start getting it and find out if that comes off or what the accessories are.

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Yeah but I remember she said it’s not as “detailed” as you might think or something. Can someone who has this figure please see if that blob comes off? jeez.

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When you think about it, having that “blob” thing, as you describe it (haven’t seen it myself yet so I can’t tell how it looks), coming out of nowhere would make perfect sense. She’s an eldritch abomination assuming a human form, remember? So a weird thing appearing on such a character wouldn’t be that surprising. :p

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Is the menstrual pad a dealbreaker for this figure? ^^;

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That thing just has to be removable, IT just has too!
If not, then its One of the most weirdest thing I’ve ever seen on a fïgure.
I remember Mikatan being all enthusiastic about that thing…
don’t tell me she was a blobophile :s

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Ugh, it’s not even a pad, it’s like a white blob, what even is that. Couldn’t they at least go barbie and make it a bunch of nothing? Bandaid? “Censored” sign?
WHAT IS THAT BLOB.

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A decent gentlemen but not very creative. Come on, we could use some “convenient censoring” instead of a white blob. Make the back of her apron swoop in and cover it, her legs could be closer together or the one leg not so high up. So many ways to censor it nicely. I think this just draws more attention down there. It could’ve at least been painted skin color.

I’m sorry I’m just ranting so much. I haven’t opened the box yet. Not sure if I will. I do love her face, she is soo cute.

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That’s OK, I also hate this cloth. At first sight, I thought it was part of apron or underwear, but after scrutinized, it finds out that this white part never belongs to any part of dress, I don’t know where does it come from so it is really indescribable. I think using some apron ribbon to cover might be a good idea. On the internet someone said that cloth was a kind of special underwear for girls but I cannot verify it because I cannot just ask girls about that.

[re-ordered, formatting and links removed]

Well, I’m sort of indifferent. Fans of the series should understand why this Nyaruko figure is charming, and it’s not just because her cute, wide-face-like face. It’s definitely not just because she’s doing the hadaka apron thing. It’s because she’s doing it with her favorite instrument of trade, it’s because it says Mahiru, it’s because she’s stepping on a certain critter, it’s because this figure embodies the gap-ness of the character idea–a moe avatar of unbeknownst Lovecraftian terror.

But I don’t think that matters. Nyaruko is gonna Nyaruko. And figure collectors will buy what they like for whatever the reason. Or not buy what they like.

And this is just yet another chapter in the growing PVC bishoujo figure marketplace (and I’d include Figma and Nendo buyers in this group) where more people are buying, both because they like the look and because they are the fan of the IP/characters, and often time not both at the same time. It’s not a growing divide, it’s more like a growing source of laughter and face-palming.

 

Leave a comment | posted in 3D-2D Modeling, Haiyore! Nyaruko-san

November 3, 2013

Sad Nostalgia in Snow

By omo

Back before people knew what moe was, there was sad girl in snow. Before there was Xzibit, people were putting cars in cars. So what do you call the thing today? What is this thang anyway?

Is White Album just a story banking on nostalgia (at least, for the 2008 anime)? What about White Album 2? The characters in it clearly has some strong associations with the “outputs” of the first anime, in-universe. When Rina and Yuki were going at it, these kids were, what, 8 years old? 14? I forget how many years it went by–either by anime continuity or game continuity? It’s pretty cool that Setsuna knows all of Rina’s songs, because that means her mom and dad are probably big fans of Rina Ogata in order to put up with that. Or, alternatively, it usually is the work of an older sibling or something, which we know Setsuna probably does not have.

Youtube that sucker

Here’s another visual signal.

Ever go on Youtube and look for old videos of stuff? VHS era stuff? Yeah, this is totally that visual language talking. Like, I half expect every single Himikoden OP rip to have this, because like, DVDs were a thing but it predated that and it was one of those things you probably could Youtube for. Or, I don’t know, stuff that might have finally gotten DVD releases but only after so long, you know? Or, maybe, just cover it? I tried and didn’t find any VHS caps of Himikoden OP; just LD and DVD rips nowadays. But the idea persists if there’s an audience.

Enka is a genre that predates all this stuff, and it’s all this stuff. It’s definitely not what I’d call moe or whatever, but if we transpose the feeling from “a set of circumstances” to an icon, and if that icon happens to be a cute anime girl, then what? How do we manufacture wabi sabi? How can we convey feelings in general, for mass media entertainment?

Which brings me back to music. And White Album 2. I think music as a theme is one of the most powerful and succinct way to convey all of this, if not THE most. I suppose still mileage will vary from person to person. So White Album 2 quotes music from White Album, and that was just a stepping stone for two developing anison idols at the time, as each reach various degrees of fame–one got super famous, the other not so much–as of White Album 2. And in that gap of time, what happened to the people who played the game? Who sang the songs in karaoke? Are they waxing nostalgia watching kids singing their present lives in nostalgia-tinted lenses? Is this how we feel about Ogiso and Touma? That their personalities reminded us of things years ago? What’s actually happening in this show, its theme and atmosphere?

2 comments | posted in Modern Visual Culture, White Album

November 1, 2013

Space Heaters

By omo

Mamachari aside, from Ask John:

For example, contemporary Japan places a fairly heavy emphasis on consciousness of the greenhouse effect, leading Japanese homes to exclude central heating and Japanese residents to hesitate running their “aircon” air conditioning systems for fear of depleting the ozone layer.

Really?

et

Since 3/11, isn’t the point of cutting back on AC to save electricity, since there’s a shortage? And the central heating thing… I’ll cut him some slack because he lives in Florida, so he probably hasn’t had to pay the heating bills for a New England winter, for a house over 90 years old…

What I do want to know and discuss is the nature of conservation in the Asian consciousness in light of the question being posed: why do Japanese homes use space heating rather than centralized heating? Well for one, my hypo is just common sense: it’s a matter of cost and economic development in terms of construction of private properties. Old houses don’t have central heating (or cooling) by default, so there needs to be some incentive for people to add them. in the US, old houses have central heating/cooling often because it’s the law, and also because nobody would buy such a house without central heating and cooling. Central HVAC is considered a standard feature in single family homes today, and even in most apartment housing. It’s less so for single-room apartments and dorm rooms, since it also makes sense to just use room-size heating and cooling solutions in those cases. Of course, in general, good, up-to-date HVAC solutions will save energy AND money in the long term than relying on portable space heating and cooling. But this is balanced by the nature of space usage in that heating and cooling compartmentally saves energy because you are only warming up or cooling down the room of the house you are in, and for most people (especially nuclear families with few/no kids, and singles) they tend to stay in the same room the whole time they are home, like 95+% of the time in the same room. You might get up to go to another room many times, but in terms of time spent it’s pretty extreme. Of course this is not even true in some cases, such as rooms with high ceilings or very efficiently designed HVAC systems, but usually that’s the case.

So here’s the funny thing, space heating is probably a lot more efficient, from an energy use point of view, in places like rural Japan or suburban America, because space is plentiful and houses are bigger, with more rooms. In urban Japan it makes less sense because your 4.5 tatami dorm is pithy small to begin with, it’s not a whole lot more power to heat up 4 or 5 of them versus what you can save in terms of energy efficiency by using a larger scale HVAC system. If you live in a flat or something, space heating gives you the option of controlling the local temperature to what you like, but it’s overall less efficient. Unless, I guess, an apartment building don’t have full occupancy and then space heating will save, under some breaking point of occupancy.

I suppose this could also be a matter of practice and customs. Like, paying your rent, managing your power and gas bills, and not paying for a management fee that goes into HVAC costs. So here’s another theory.

Anyone actually knows how it is and why it is? I’m thinking new houses in Japan have HVAC as well, simply because today’s technology in heating/cooling is so much better than off-the-shelf solutions that a central system just make more sense. I guess there are single-room solutions that are also very efficient (and probably largely sold only in Japan/East Asia). And it isn’t even a gas/oil/power issue, since most East Asian housing have some kind of gas delivery system baked in, unless we’re talking about rural areas where people still get canisters delivered to them.

Of course, western-style and modern housing built today probably has HVAC built in, even in Japan. There’s also the philosophy about warmth as something regulated via the individual rather than heating a space. But I don’t know what is more likely true than not. Green…I don’t think that one is particularly right.

7 comments | posted in English Language Modern Visual Fandom, Off Topic

October 30, 2013

Timeliness

By omo

This might be the first figure I bought that was released on time and was delivered in time…for the season.

Lamp Miku

I’ve talked about how watching anime is a seasonal thing–the right show gets better when watched during the right time of the year. Maybe this is why I sang 2 summer-themed songs during the last time I went to karaoke. Because it’s right about now that I am sufficiently “on the other side of the fence” and grass sure as hell was greener during summer. Nothing against Autumn and near-freezing temperatures–after all I still prefer cool weather over warm weather–but this thermal gap…moe-ness is simply irresistible. Coming from a self-professed Nayuki fan, it’s a routine I can get used to. You know, the “wake me up when we go to school since I sleep through 50 alarm clocks” routine.

Lamp Miku, on the other hand, is routine if you were collecting those pop-ish and stylish Miku figures that seem to come out every other month or something. Or if you were just collecting bishoujo figures with translucent hair made out of PVC. It’s pretty neat, this thing. What’s also kind of neat is the Brilliant Stage Makoto Kikuchi. It’s like they finally nailed one. I’ve seen a lot of iM@S figures over the past couple years and so few of them got it right. It’s all about appreciating that Bamco-style uncanny valley (best seen in screen caps from the PS3 games, or, say, from that All For One game they just announced) and yet putting enough details in to capture the spirit behind the figure. It’s like translating 3DCG into 2D and recapturing it in 3D again. It’s no wonder that so few got it right, given how it is excessively meta and convoluted.

Man, if they hand VampKyun nendos, Lamp Miku’s backdrop would make an awesome stand-in.

Some pictures after the jump, both Makoto-kun and Miku:

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Leave a comment | posted in Figures and Models