Suzumiya Haruhi Blu-ray! (Post date: 2010-07-18, Views: 113) A rather belated news; "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Complete Blu-ray Box Set" is set to be released this October 22nd and you have probably learned from Haruhi's offcial site that this premium box set will not only include the first and second season of the TV anime (plus many VERY worthy extra Blu-ray contents), the anime itself will include English subtitle...

Figma Suzumiya Haruhi Middle School Reserved! (Post date: 2010-06-30, Views: 202) Now this is something that I have been keeping both of my eyes on since Wonfes 2010 Winter earlier this year. She is figma #70 Suzumiya Haruhi Chuugakkusei ver. (Midle School ver.) and is available for reservations starting today! I have gotten mine pre-ordered at Hobby Search, taking advantage of their 50%-off EMS shipping as a Paypal user (^.^)/...

Collet Little Devil Santa (Post date: 2010-06-25, Views: 645) Belated news, "high-end" moe figure Collet is up for pre-order again and the deadline is just less than a week ahead! Native Web have even put up a Flash countdown meter on their site urging collecters to pre-order before the deadline. For your information this will be the second shipment of Collet (with original red santa outfit) and the...

Site moved back to paid hosting (Post date: 2010-06-24, Views: 250) So I have moved this blog from free host Byethost to my previous paid web host Imhosted. If you are reading this then you are now served by Imhosted. I actually had good experience with them and the site was loading smoothly from my end. However...

Nendoroid Saber (Post date: 2010-06-22, Views: 273) Saber fans, the wait is over! Nendoroid Saber "Super Moveable Edition" is finally up for reservation and I have just made mine at Hobby Search! She was initially named Nendoroid Saber FA (Full Action) and was displayed at Wonfes 2010 (Winter) back in February as just a prototype. Now the final product, scheduled to be released this October sees...

Convert PSP video at 60fps using TMPGEnc (Post date: 2010-06-17, Views: 295) The PSP is an excellent portable video player but it's a pity to see many PSP owners convert their video at really awful quality. To fully harness PSP video playback capability, this short guide will show you how to convert high quality PSP video at its native resolution 480x272 with silky smooth 60fps (depending on source) using TMPGEnc 4 Xpress...

MGS RISING 2010 Trailer (Post date: 2010-06-15, Views: 251) The new trailer of METAL GEAR SOLID RISING (MGSR) "Cut What You Will" made its debut at the recent E3 and is also available on official MGS RISING site now! Keyman Hideo Kojima seems to be more generous at E3 this year, showing some actualy gameplay footage of MGSR in addition to the cinematic scene from the game, rather than just a video of Raiden...

Akiho Yoshizawa PV (Post date: 2010-06-07, Views: 1034) Not quite yet an Akiho Yoshizawa PV (promotional video) but she was fully featured through out the entire PV of "Kamitsu", a rock song by a seemingly low profiled Jpop band, RUSHMORE. This PV isn't recent, but I am sure you will find this PV very interesting to watch if you haven't already...

Site Moved To Free Hosting (Post date: 2010-05-05, Views: 530) I have just changed the nameservers of Shin-Otaku.com to the new host DNS and if you are seeing this it means that the re-propagation is successful. All PHP files and MySQL database should also be working properly now...

Hyakka Ryoran Anime (Post date: 2010-03-30, Views: 1162) Hyakka Ryoran SAMURAI GIRLS was finally announced and shall continue the oppai-driven action anime legacy some time this year. Judging from the sneak preview shown on the official site, the amount of fan service would seem to be on par with that offered by Ikkitousen or Queen's Blade...

Senjougahara Hitagi Figure (Post date: 2010-03-26, Views: 1729) It seems that nobody was able to get a decent panchira shots of this awesome GSC 1/8 Bakemonogatari's Senjougahara Hitagi figure displayed at the recent Tokyo International Anime Fair 2010 :( But I am sure that Hitagi's fans will find photos of this fully painted figure very delighting nonetheless, otherwise anticipating the reservation of this figure to open...

Wonfes and Wishlist 2010! (Post date: 2010-02-07, Views: 1348) Quick post, today's Wonfes 2010 (Winter) saw exactly 5 figures that will definitely go onto my pre-order list this year. They are Nendoroid rendition of Haruhi and Yuki from "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya" movie, the long awaited "original" Saber, figma Haruhi high-schooler version, and the pretty much foreseeable GSC release of...

Native's Collet by Tony Taka (Post date: 2009-12-30, Views: 6408) Released by Native, Collet is a Japanese online exclusive figure based on Tony Taka's artwork acquired via proxy buyer Tokyohunter last week. This premium 1/6 figure ships in an exquisite packaging with absolutely no opening on the box, consealing its succumbing etchi charm as photographed below...

PSP Tekken 6 Arrived, Finally! (Post date: 2009-12-16, Views: 1316) Quick post, 6 weeks after the shipment date and my Tekken 6 UMD finally arrived! The long delay was rather unexpected despite the holiday season as most of my items ordered at Play-Asia would normally arrive within 10-12 days, or 4 weeks at...

Final Fantasy XIII Hands-on and Snow 3D Tear-off (Post date: 2009-12-15, Views: 1830) Japanese TV programme "Yama-chan Non-chan no FF Gakuen" revealed some very interesting inside scoop of making the character Snow Villiers of Final Fantasy XIII as well as his lip-sync animation. Seen below are his painted skin layer covering up the raw 3D meshes...

Aya Hirano Speed Star PV (Post date: 2009-11-30, Views: 2111) Released recently (18th Nov 2009) was one of my favorite seiyuu Aya Hirano's full length studio album "Speed Star"! The initial impression was that the album was very rockish (I loved her rock tunes though), most probably due to included A-side songs -Super Driver, Sing a Song!, Set me free and Unnamed World- that were previously released on CD singles...

Perfect Grade Evangelion EVA-01 Assembly (Post date: 2009-11-21, Views: 3122) The Perfect Grade EVA-01 Limited Coating Edition model kit purchased earlier has been actually completed months ago but didn't quite had the initiative to post these assembly photos until now, GOMEN! See more photos of this PG EVA-01 below...

Bakemonogatari Nendoroid Petit Figure (Post date: 2009-11-20, Views: 3042) Stumbled upon Kumo's blog was the fully colored (finally!) petit/puchi version of Bakemonogatari's Hitagi, Araragi and Hanekawa Nendoroids! The rest of Bakemonogatari casts -Nadeko, Mayoi and Kanbaru- were previously seen in 2D as below. Both sets shall be sold separately...

Tekken 6 PSP Game Mode Preview (Post date: 2009-11-14, Views: 2504) Tekken 6 for PSP has been delayed and the new release date for the Japanese market is set to 2010 Jan 14th. Whether or not the the US and European release date will be affected is still uncertained. Various game modes of the PSP version is previewed below...

Sugawara Sayuri's Kimi Ga Iru Kara PV (Post date: 2009-11-14, Views: 2733) Broadcasted by SpaceShowerTV was the PV of "Kimi ga iru kara", the theme song of upcoming Square-Enix hit RPG Final Fantasy XIII. Both CD+DVD and CD-only covers of the single have also been revealed at Sugawara Sayuri's official site...

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun OP: only my railgun (Post date: 2009-11-13, Views: 2458) Featuring espers "performing" various supernatural abilities seen in anime "To Aru Kagaku no Railgun", music band fripSide presents "only my railgun", a mystical promotional video (PV) with an upbeat, fast-paced anime tune sung by vocalist Nao. The PV is included on the recently released CD+DVD single on 4th Nov 2009. Lyrics and PV follow...

Seitokai no Ichizon OP Treasure (Post date: 2009-11-11, Views: 1652) Hitting the Japanese store shelves earlier today was ongoing moe anime Seitokai no Ichizon (生徒会の一存)'s OP, Treasure. This catchy pop tune is sung by the four student council girls -Kurimu, Chizuru, Minatsu, and Mafuyu- from the anime hence labelled as "Hekiyou Gakuen Seitokai" (the school council name) on this CD single...

Anri Sugihara (Post date: 2009-11-09, Views: 8417) Idol of the day Anri Sugihara (official blog) is no random pick from my idol photo gallery folder. She was a featured idol on Apple approved ero apps a while ago. This 27-year-old idol is still active in the Japanese gravure industry and has just recently released her latest DVD "Big Love" and delicious 2010 calendar last month. More Anri Sugihara...

Queen's Blade Rebellion Ymir (Post date: 2009-11-06, Views: 1977) Amiami are fast at getting their stock photos up and they are selling cheap. Flat chest warrior Steel Princess Ymir (a.k.a Yumir) from Queen's Blade Rebellion is finally up for pre-order there, though I shall compare her price with Play-asia later once she is up there to take advantage of free shippng to my county. This figure will make good addition...

Kimi Ga Iru Kara (Post date: 2009-11-05, Views: 3350) Leaked out recently was the full version of Final Fantasy XIII (FFXIII) theme song "Kimi ga iru kara" (Because you are here). This ultra-catchy ballad by Sugawara Sayuri was initially heard from TSG2009 7-minute long FFXIII teaser video which was also downloadable via Japanese PSN (go download the whooping 797MB file with your PS3...

Bakemonogatari Streaming Now (Post date: 2009-11-04, Views: 4636) Bakemonogatari is back! Episode 13 Tsubasa Cat Part 3 is finally up online after some delay. For the uninitiated, the TV broadcast ended at episode 12 Tsubasa Cat Part 2 and the the remaining episodes will be available at Bakemonogatari official site via video stream to conclude the arc. Minor spoiler follows....

Shokotan Cosplay: Mio (Post date: 2009-11-02, Views: 1007) In commemoration of the recent Choudonyoku Matsuri, ota-idol Shokotan (Nakagawa Shoko) cosplayed Akiyama Mio from anime K-On! in a mobile chat. More photos of Shoko-tan's performance at Nippon Budokan can be seen at Natalie and Sanspo. The concert setlist is available here....

Bayonetta Costumes (Post date: 2009-10-30, Views: 34592) Sega's flag ship action game Bayonetta is out but I shall not be getting it anytime soon as I have Tekken 6 to work on now. I have only played the Japanese demo version downloaded off PSN (JP) and the initial impression was that Bayonetta, as complicated as it may seem, is quite a button smasher type of game....

Tekken 6 Arcade Graphics Triumphs Over PS3 (Post date: 2009-10-29, Views: 2436) Wow, the local source was fast at acquiring Tekken 6! I got my copy on the 25th October, two days before the official US release date, 27th Oct (Japan version ships today) and the Online mode wasn't even up yet. The version I have includes a slip case with glossy holographic reflection, presumebly only comes together in its first batch production...

K-On! Akiyama Mio (Post date: 2009-10-23, Views: 2912) A leaked out snap shot of K-On! tsundere Akiyama Mio found here keeps me wondering which artwork this figure is based on. No doubt, upon seeing her skirt, she immediately reminded a me of the Haruhi Gekisou version. The similarity is rather intriguing that I did a quick Google Image search, but the results were futile (any pointers Mio fan?)...

Sora no Otoshimono (Post date: 2009-10-14, Views: 4997) Chikoku chikoku chikoku!!! (I'm late! x3)... finally finished all my "episode 01"s of this fall season anime. Seitokai no Ichizon is probably going to be my favourite anime this season but today I've picked up Sora no Otoshimono (Soraoto) for some easy oppai screenshots post :D. Based on episode 01, it obviously suggests that Soraoto is...

Kotone Ousaka (Post date: 2009-10-07, Views: 3154) While many collectors have had their Kotone Ousaka's photo blog up, mine has just arrived, about 8 months since the day I pre-ordered her from Toylet. Kotone was love-at-first-sight when Danny Choo shared about her early this year and I immediately had my fund allocated on her (the main reason that I did not pre-order the much...

Zankoku na Tenshi no Teze (Post date: 2009-10-02, Views: 1061) Today's quick post features an epic opening song (OP) of the epic anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, 残酷な天使のテーゼ (Zankoku na Tenshi no Tēze) a.k.a Cruel Angel's Thesis. This highly regarded song in Japan has had multiple covers with the most recent version being sung by Katsura Hinagiku (Shizuka Itou) in Hayate no Gotoku 2nd season episode 12. The full...

Revoltech Miniature Evangelion (Post date: 2009-09-30, Views: 1988) More Evangelion love! Arrived a few days ago was 4 little boxes of Revoltech Miniature Evangelion series when I was in the midst of building and sticking decals onto my PG EVA-01. These little Revoltechs are the cheapest, highly articulated Evangelions money could buy and I have gotten them altogether with their accessories...

TGS 2009 Moe Booth Babes! (Post date: 2009-09-25, Views: 1378) While the coverage on Tokyo Game Show 2009 is now everywhere on major console gaming sites, these cute booth babes at TGS 2009 are definitely not to be missed. Highlighted below are some booth babes photos found on Gigazines coverage. More booth babe photos can be found at IGN too...

Perfect Grade Evangelion EVA-01 Unboxed (Post date: 2009-09-25, Views: 2366) Woo hoo!!! My ultimate PG EVA model kit "PERFECT GRADE EVANGELION EVA-01 Limited Coating Edition" has finally arrived! This figure was initially released in 1997 and later re-released in Limited Coating Edition a.k.a Extra Finished Edition in 2006, celebrating anime Neon Genesis Evangelion 10th anniversary. The normal 1997 edition had been...

Revoltech Yamaguchi Evangelion 2.0 EVA-01 (Post date: 2009-09-17, Views: 3512) It's been quite a while since I last made my figurine photoshoot entry! So here goes... Based on Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance, Revoltech Yamaguchi No.067 EVA TEST TYPE-01 New Movie Edition was out in mid-June 2009 but I was not aware of the release nor had the interest to buy any Revoltech until yesterday. The reason was...

Backup and Clone My Entire Windows and File (Post date: 2009-08-27, Views: 791) How many of you actually backup your files periodically? Honestly, I am an extremely lazy person to burn or backup my files to CD/DVDs. In fact, I have never actually burned a single CD/DVD for backup purpose LOL! I buy hard disk drives, slap them in as slaves and manually copy important files to the new drive. Of course, a RAID 1 configuration would...

Bakemonogatari (Post date: 2009-08-17, Views: 5126) So I had been watching Bakemonogatari repeatedly and looping its ending theme song "Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari" a.k.a Your Unknown Story on my PC, iPod and PSP as evidenced on my last.fm widget (right column) for a while. And it has thus finally made it to an entry here. Lyrics & translations and PV found below....

Wonder Festival 2009 Summer (Post date: 2009-07-27, Views: 2080) Wonder Festival 2009 Summer looks amazing and I am making a quick post of what interests me most this time around -NENDOROIDS!-. For scaled figures and garage kits, blogger Wcloudx has made a comprehensive coverage of the event with release dates and prices based on various Japanese figure sites. Do check them out...

Haruhi 2009 Endless Eight Costume Galore! (Post date: 2009-07-21, Views: 1748) "Nani ka okashii"... "Nani ka okashii"... "Nani ka okashii"... *recites that 15521 times* Weird, somehow I find myself not annoyed despite Kyoto Animation repeated the recent Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu 2009 "Endless Eight" episode for the fifth time. Maybe just a bit, but definitely not to the extend where I would rip my Haruhi figure apart....

Kotone Ousaka, Bukkake Her! (Post date: 2009-07-21, Views: 6269) Creative figurine photoshoot always amazes me and today's malign entry features Native's 1/7 Kotone Ousaka photos that you should find rare among overseas figurine review community. Kotone Ousaka's seductive pose seems unbearable that blogger Tyodai-san couldn't help himself but to use his excellent figurine photography skill to unveil...

Saber Lily vs Saber Lily (Post date: 2009-06-16, Views: 5464) ALTER, a very reputable figurine company must have done a BIG mistake approving this newly announced 1/7 Saber Lily figure. It seems that they are ignoring the release of Good Smile Company (GSC) 1/8 Saber Lily ~Distant Avalon~ completely. Today's very quick post features A/B comparison between the two figurines using stock photos...

Nendoroid Kannagi (Post date: 2009-06-12, Views: 1283) Nendoroid Nagi has arrived for a while (fast 3-day transit via EMS from HobbySearch) but was unable to snap her until today. I sent my Canon EOS 450D kit lens for repair -AF and I.S. malfunction- and it took more than a month to complete for your information. Today's post features a rather short photoshoot session result of...

METAL GEAR SOLID: RISING Trailer (Post date: 2009-06-02, Views: 3645) Kojima kept us puzzled for 2 weeks with his countdown site but the riddle has now been solved! "METAL GEAR SOLID RISING" has been unveiled by the creator Hideo Kojima himself! He sneaked up to Microsoft's E3 stage and announced that RISING will bring new METAL GEAR SOLID experience and will be available on Xbox 360. However...

Kojima Productions is Sunny! (Post date: 2009-06-01, Views: 1238) *Who would expect the storm to stop before the countdown ends?* At Kojima's Teaser site, the storm is now over. While we are left with a few hours before the timer expires, Kojima's now presents only the number "8" or (letter "B"). All previous lettert/numbers (5 (S), @ (e), E, 3, P, R, C, 6 and 0 (O).) and portrait images of maybe...

Kojima Teaser Reveals RAIDEN and MASK (Post date: 2009-05-29, Views: 2054) As shown on previous Famitsu reports, we now have the expected appearance of presumed character RAIDEN breaking the storm at Kojima's teaser site countdown. Joystick reported that RAIDEN began to appear some time in the 90 hour mark. Additionally, we get letter "C" two more numbers flashing in the mix, "6" and "0" (or letter O)...

Kojima Teaser Site: BIG BOSS, Raiden & MGS5? (Post date: 2009-05-27, Views: 2409) Knowing that the Kojima's teaser site has nothing to do with Lords of Shadow was a relief! Following previous entry about Kojima's teaser site, the storm now flashes an image of an old man who seems to be "Big Boss" (due to his eye patch) and two new letters "P" and "R" in addition to previous "E","5","e" and "3". 1UP sums up that it is very...

Hyakka Ryoran Figures (Post date: 2009-05-22, Views: 4574) My figurine pre-order list have been lacking some scaled figures and Hyakka Ryoran's figures will potentially populate it. Reportedly here, Hobby Japan Magazine finally revealed the fully colored (previously saw monochrome prototype) Yukimura Sanada which is set to be released November 2009 *duh! long wait* to pair with Yagyu Jubei...

Kojima Countdown, METAL GEAR SOLID 5? (Post date: 2009-05-22, Views: 2567) A countdown of another countdown just doesn't make sense to me *a bit annoyed* but I guess this is how Hideo Kojima-sama makes his countdown site become headlines twice on major video gaming sites. Just a few hours ago, the first countdown, which was expected to reveal the truth behind the mysterious "5" has expired and led to...

Hayate no Gotoku Season 2 (Post date: 2009-05-21, Views: 4267) I am still hooked by Hayate no Gotoku since ep1 of the first season but there's something missing in the 2nd season, so far (now ep 7) I haven't heard any bleep censor nor seen the "can't show this" sign in the 2nd season :( In season 1, there were tons of parody and the characters were bleeping out words in *almost* every episode...

ZETAgamer.com - Ultimate Video Game News! (Post date: 2009-04-30, Views: 752) "Ultimate" may not be an appropriate word to describe ZETAgamer.com but I couldn't help myself but to exploit it like many people do for just about anything! (^_^). Today I announce the launch of ZETAgamer.com, my personal web based RSS aggregator focusing on video gaming news. Read on to know more about ZETAgamer.com....

Suzumiya Haruhi Gekisou (Post date: 2009-04-17, Views: 2998) Max Factory's ***kira kira*** (bling bling) silver-foiled cardboard packaging makes this 1/8 Suzumiya Haruhi Gekisou version looks like a premium figure! She is my very first figure by Max Factory and I find the build quality is on par with that of Alter and Goodsmile Company masterpieces. However, upon digging back the...

Unity May (Post date: 2009-04-10, Views: 1758) GoodSmile Company's 1/8 scaled Unity May finally unboxed! For some reason, Unity May released was delayed for about 2 months and I was actually about to cancel this order during that period, mainly because of new & upcoming Nendoroid flood. Now, I am glad that I didn't -her unique blend of purple and pink color makes her a very good...

Queen's Blade Mellowna (Post date: 2009-04-08, Views: 6691) Queen's Blade Mellowna finally acquired! She had been in my wishlist (for a long time!) but never actually wanted to get her until I finished watching the 1st episode of Queen's Blade recently. I was lucky to be able to *still* get her at XL-shop.com (they do not usually keep old figurines in stock). Might just need to get Nanael and Reina later...

Queen's Blade Anime (Post date: 2009-04-04, Views: 60447) While some (or many?) anime fans will appreciate the overloading fan "service" very well, it is perhaps the main attraction of this recently broadcasted anime Queen's Blade Rurou no Senshi (or Queen's Blade TV) was the prominent seiyuu (voice actors) who took part and brought all the 2D mega oppai girls from Queen's Blade to life....

Nendoroid Pixel Maritan (Post date: 2009-03-21, Views: 2314) Yay! I have just recently acquired Nendoroid Pixel Maritan, not one, but two of them! Nendoroid Maritan comes in 2 versions -#56a and #56b-. The #56a Assault Combat version which is a Hobby Japan mail-in order is priced slightly higher than #56b and she comes with different accessories, obviously her bazooka has lured my to get both of them...

m.o.v.e - Humanizer (Post date: 2009-02-19, Views: 2251) Humanizer "moved" me back to m.o.v.e! Released recently was Jpop group m.o.v.e's 9th original album "Humanizer"! Initial D fans should be familiar with this group for their OP and ED songs for the anime while m.o.v.e's hardcore fans will be delighted for the release of this full-length album. It has been 3 years (!) since their previous album "GRID" was released....

"Read more..." Feature (Post date: 2009-02-07, Views: 2995) Quick site update. Shin-Otaku seems to have evolved into a figurine blog with many and large photos displayed in a single entry. Consequently, the time required to load the index page (HOME) is too long (not to mentioned the lack of CSS lol!) and definitely not providing the best user experience. Now that I have implemented the "Read more"...

Queen's Gate Alice Boost Version (Post date: 2009-01-26, Views: 5297) Wow! The Gate Opener Alice Boost Version dwarfs her loli counterpart in all aspects -oppai, oshiri, packaging, e.t.c-! Alice Boob version ships in a huge box with no promotional figure photos printed on it except for the 2D artwork in front. Despite the lame monochromatic box, Alice was succumbing enough for me to whip out my card. She is now...

Hiyori Pixy (Post date: 2009-01-24, Views: 3540) Pixy Hiyori is super hot! Seeing many figurine collectors -Danny Choo, Super Rats, Foobarbaz- posting many excellent photos and giving thumbs-up reviews for Pixy on their blog, sheis no-doubt a must-buy. I have just acquired my very own unit at XL-Shop.com hours ago and here she is! Photographing Pixy was a bit tough -her purple...

Figure Photoshoot Improvement (Post date: 2009-01-21, Views: 3325) Improving on figurine photoshoot have always been something I wanted to do in year 2009 and these are my precious figurines used as today's subjects. With better lighting, the results turn out to be better than all the photos I took before this entry but they were still quite heavily Photoshop'ed -I moved the Level slider quite...

Unity Yuno (Post date: 2009-01-09, Views: 4137) Let's have super kawaii Unity Yuno kick-starts Shin-Otaku.com for year 2009! This Goodsmile Company's 1/8 Unity Yuno was released mid-December 2008 but she arrived here late probably because of the recent New Year holidays. And for the first entry of 2009, I tried shooting using the included inner yellow cardboard as my backdrop...

Nanako Nekomimi School Swimsuit (Post date: 2008-12-31, Views: 6448) The final day of year 2008 brings chou-moe Nanako -NEKOMIMI SUKUMIZU- of To Heart 2 Another Days!!! This HUGE 1/5 scaled figure was quite an impulse purchase, I never thought that Nanako would come into my possession although she did make it to my wishlist a few months ago. She was acquired when I was collecting my Nendoroid...

GoodSmile 1/8 Hatsune Miku (Post date: 2008-12-21, Views: 4803) Yet another quick post of the month, today's weblog showcases the famous 1/8 scaled Hatsune Miku figure by GoodSmile Company. Yes, this figure isn't new but there was nothing we could do, our local retail shop was bad at acquiring Japanese figurines in a timely manner (-_-). This gorgeous 1/8 Hatsune Miku figurine actually...

Alter Suzumiya Haruhi Uniform version (Post date: 2008-12-08, Views: 4063) Quick post, Suzumiya Haruhi Uniform version was a long wait but she finally arrived yesterday to complete Alter's "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" figures to date (Nagato Yuki Uniform ver. to be released March 2009). This Haruhi figure has a very nice dynamic pose but there's a problem, I couldn't find her "best angle" because she looks good 360...

Pre-ordering Suzumiya Haruhi Extravaganza version (Post date: 2008-12-04, Views: 4456) HELP! I am in a dilemma now. Now that all my favourite stores -Play-Asia, HobbySearch and local shop XL-Shop- (just came up today) are already taking pre-order for this figure, I still couldn't decide if I should get her. Suzumiya Haruhi Extravaganza version is a big invenstment because most likely I'll get Mikuru and Yuki as well if I am to order Haruhi...

Nendoroid Shana (Post date: 2008-11-29, Views: 3103) Nendoroid Shana of anime Shakugan no SHANA II arrived late but she adds very good value to my Nendoroid series collection as Flame Haze Shana is my only Nendoroid with bright red hair and I have decided to log an entry here. There's a black-haired version known as Nendoroid Shana Dengeki Daiou version which is a limited edition but...

Fedora 10: Beginning Linux (Post date: 2008-11-28, Views: 2368) Like many otakus do, I spend big part of my time in front of my PC and I have been using MS Windows for many years until I got Fedora Linux installed very recently, just about 2 weeks ago so I'm a beginner when it comes to Linux. Today's web log is not otaku-related but to share with you fellow readers and otakus who enjoy computing...

Japan Charity Fiesta and Bazaar 2008 (Post date: 2008-11-10, Views: 2826) Held yesterday at Nikko Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, the Japan Charity Fiesta and Bazaar was a thrill. The event promoted and sold not only Japanese foods/snacks but also introduced Ennichi to local citizens. "Ennichi is a happy event in Japan. People celebrate it by playing games and prominent roads will be filled with stalls selling different kinds of food,"...

Ryoko Asakura Bunny Version (Post date: 2008-10-24, Views: 8589) Produced by FREEing, these large 1/4 scale bunny girls can easily inflict serious damage to anyone's wallet. Retailed at 11,800yen, Ryoko Asakura arrival completes the series today (if there's no further bunny girls release). Initially, FREEing released 5 girls -Haruhi, Yuki, Mikuru, Kyon's sister and Tsuruya- and later added Emiri Kimidori and Ryoko Asakura...

Beat Blades Haruka (Post date: 2008-10-17, Views: 8848) Released early this year was eroge Beat Blades Haruka (or Chouko Sennin Haruka) which is widely known as the successor of Alicesoft's famous eroge Beat Angel Escalayer and presumably due to its popularity, the main character of the eroge, Haruka gets modelled in the form of 3D figurine now. Haruka, which is made by Alter is a "standard" scaled...

New Figures for October 2008 (Post date: 2008-10-14, Views: 2858) Quick update, today's entry shall log the arrival of my newly acquired figurines where 3 of them belong the "Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" anime family -FREEing 1/4 Kimidori Emiri, Nendoroid #44 Ryoko Asakura, figma Nagato Yuki witch version- and 1 of them from eroge Beat Blades Haruka -Alter's 1/8 Sennin Haruka-. The most anticipated figure...

Melissa Seraphy 1/8 Figure (Post date: 2008-10-10, Views: 5479) No figurine commemorates Halloween better than the newly acquired Waga Mama Capriccio Melissa Seraphy! You might be quite surprised that I could still buy this 1/8 scaled Melissa Seraphy PVC figure in spite of the fact she's labelled "Out of stock" almost everywhere. This entry shall not be doing a review on Melissa Seraphy but to...

Unity Marriage ~Double Bride~ Unity Mei (Post date: 2008-10-08, Views: 4123) Finally the second PVC figure from eroge Unity Marriage ~Double Bride~ (game info and goodies below), Unity Mei is up for preorder at HobbySearch. Initial announcement of the eroge's main character figure Unity Yuno was not succumbing enough for me to press the "Add to Cart" button but when the Unity Mei came in yesterday, I quickly secure...

HTC Touch HD (Post date: 2008-10-06, Views: 3824) While both terms "otaku" and "geek" may be closely related to each other, today's entry is focused towards the "geek" factor, featuring the upcoming high-end PDA phone, the HTC Touch HD! Specification of this sleek looking device leaked out last month and was announced officially at HTC's website later....

ACGC 2008 Cosplay (Post date: 2008-09-28, Views: 2237) Animation Comic Game Convention 2008 aka ACGC08 was held at Hall 3 MVEC Mid Valley Megamall and it was an enjoyable and fun experience! Rarely Malaysian have such otaku event organized at this scale where all anime, manga and console/PC game fans gather and compete with each other. There were several events going on during the convention but...

WF Nendoroid Melissa Seraphy Devil Version (Post date: 2008-09-19, Views: 4750) Uber cool Wonfes 2008 exlcusive Nendoroid #41 Melissa Seraphy Devil Queen Version* from eroge "Chu x Chu Paradise" is so hard to get at local stores that I was left no choice but to burn a big hole in my pocket. I had been eyeing on her since she was showcased at the Wonder Festival 2008 Summer months ago and finally decided to...

Tekken 6 Bloodline Rebellion Trailer (Post date: 2008-09-18, Views: 2840) Finally we have got the official statement about the upcoming Tekken 6 Bloodline Rebellion (T6BR)! Namco has created a new T6BR section and revealing two new challengers namely Alisa Boskonovitch and Lars Alexanderson for the BR update. Bandai Namco also announced that BR will feature a more balanced gameplay...

Preordering Chu x Chu Idol Hiyori Pixie (Post date: 2008-09-17, Views: 4450) Goodsmile Company (GSC) has just recently announced the release date of the upcoming Hiyori Pixie 1/8 PVC figure which is some time in January 2009 but I could not decide if I should press the "Reserve" button at HobbySearch (HS) right now or wait for either Play-Asia or the local XL-Shop to open their preorder. I would definitely prefer...

Queen's Gate Alice (Post date: 2008-09-10, Views: 12955) Marketed under the brand name ALPHA x OMEGA which is a joint venture between figure makers Megahouse and Alter, the demonic Queen's Gate Alice 1/8 PVC figure is finally out at local figurine XL-Shop outlets...

Tekken 6 Tougeki SBO 2008 (Post date: 2008-08-24, Views: 3918) Quick post, I've just gotten the time to update myself with the latest Tekken 6 news and the Tougeki 2008 results were out for already a week. For the uninitiated, I am a hardcore Tekken 5 DR player and Tekken 6 is currently available only in the arcades. There does not seem to be an official release date for PS3 platform announced yet but...

Rewrite Search Engine Friendly URL (Post date: 2008-08-22, Views: 3214) Rewriting Search Engine Friendly URL (SEF URL) had always been a mystery but a simple search string of "Rewrite URL" returns a tool that got the mystery solved almost immediately! As programming is nothing more than a hobby of mine, I didn't venture into the technical details of rewriting a SEF URL. The solution I found was...

Moetan Pastel Ink Nendoroid Unboxing (Post date: 2008-08-15, Views: 3246) Nendoroid Pastel Ink of Moetan is my most anticipated figure of the month and was immediately picked up when she hit XL-Shop just moments ago. Upon unboxing Pastel Ink saw many additional parts including a pair of faces with different expressions, arms, hands, legs, chair, a ribbon, a magic wand and a stand that crammed the box....

Lucky Star Wave Hiiragi Sisters Unboxing (Post date: 2008-08-09, Views: 2673) "Saa hijimeru zamasu yo!", "Iku de karasu"... A midnight visit from buddy "Jus a loser" brought us his newly acquired Hiiragi sisters of Lucky Star! It is Shin-Otaku's pleasure to unbox and took a bunch of photos of these two well-sculptured figures by DreamTech (Wave Corporation). I'm quite surprised by the material used by Wave as it's...

Lucky Star Figma Konata Izumi Unboxing (Post date: 2008-08-06, Views: 4242) XL-shop just got their Figma Konata Izumi of Lucky Star in stock hours ago and I was there at their wholesale premise watching them unboxing their huge carton of Figma. As usual, poseable Figma Konata Izumi includes an alternate (>_<) face, many hand gestures, and a stand. The moment she was unboxed, I noticed that Konata has a slight hunch making her difficult to pose...

Chu x Chu Nendoroid Melissa Seraphy Unboxing (Post date: 2008-08-06, Views: 2227) Oh I'm a big fan of Goodsmile's Nendoroid series now. Today I've got myself Melissa Seraphy and she is one heck of a special Nendoroid -mini crown, curly bright yellow hair, protruding fang, glossy pumpkin dress with ribbon & castoffable-. Melissa comes with 2 additional faces and 3 hands for some nasty and kawaii poses you can think of...

Wonder Festival 2008 and Thoughts (Post date: 2008-08-04, Views: 1805) Held yesterday was Wonder Festival 2008 (a.k.a. Wonfes or WF2008) in Japan showcasing MANY figures that interest me. There are a many sites/blogs where you could find news coverage about this major event among otakus but I'd recommend you to read Danny Choo's report before anything else since it's written in English...

Queen's Blade Steel Princess Yumil 2P Unboxing (Post date: 2008-08-02, Views: 4523) You have to have at least one reason to buy a figurine, but today I'm giving you five reasons I purchased Queen's Blade Steel Princess Yumil 2P version. Before that, allow me to log that this figure arrived at my doorsteps before I knew it yesterday evening. She was unboxed the moment she was passed to me (by my sis) and...

Griffon's 1/7 Suzumiya Haruhi Gothic Lolita Version Unboxing (Post date: 2008-08-01, Views: 2279) My first experience with Griffon Enterprises was a bit disappointing. Their recently released Suzumiya Haruhi 1/7 scaled Gothic Lolita version figure, although looks amazing and attractive from its commercial photos, its paint job is mediocre after thorough inspection as shown below. However, there's one thing I really like about this figure that is the small metal plate with the...

Thoughts of Ayumi Hamasaki & Upcoming Compilation Album (Post date: 2008-07-27, Views: 2492) Gladly mentioned by Ayumi Hamasaki herself at her TeamAyu blog (source), there shall be a new song coming up, presumably a new single after the release deluxe compilation album "A COMPLETE ~ALL SINGLES~ consisting of 3CDs+DVD+Photobook (on 10th Sept 2008). As a loyal fan of Ayumi, I am VERY much overwhelmed by the news probably...

METAL GEAR SOLID 4 Big Boss Emblem Acquired! (Post date: 2008-07-24, Views: 2512) WOOHOO!!! Finally... the BIG BOSS EMBLEM is mine and that was just moments ago. The BBE was a great experience, as it is the ultimate challenge in METAL GEAR SOLID 4: Guns Of The Patriots a.k.a MGS4....

Shuraki Trinity Rizfis Luttiva Mente Unboxing (Post date: 2008-07-22, Views: 2161) Rize arrived yesterday but I did not do an immediate photoshoot as I was working towards getting MGS4 Big Boss Emblem. Today we have Shuraki Box 05 Rizfis Luttiva Mente a.k.a Rize unboxed! Rize's box is huge, almost double the size of Shuraki Liu Mei Feng's box! While her hairdo may look a bit weird, but the details, colour and...

Shuraki Trinity Akatsuki Mishiro Unboxing (Post date: 2008-07-19, Views: 2141) Unboxing newly received figurine has always been fun and exciting to me, and I believe so as to many other otakus. Today's unboxed figure is Shuraki Box 01 Akatsuki Mishiro! Unexpectedly Akatsuki Mishiro comes with 2 drama CDs instead of 1 drama CD in addition to a photobook....

Alter's 1/8 Suzumiya Haruhi School Uniform Version (Post date: 2008-07-17, Views: 1614) Announced today was Alter's Suzumiya Haruhi School Uniform Version ready for reservation at both HobbySearch and Amiami. This figure, measuring approximately 18cm is set to release sometime in November 2008. If my memory serves me well, this should be Alter's second "The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi" figure (the first one was Nagato Yuki Swimsuit version)...

Haruhi Beach Side Version and Mikuru Gothic Punk Version (Post date: 2008-07-16, Views: 1979) I cancelled my reservation of Suzumiya Haruhi Beach ver. at Hobby Search and placed my preorder at Play-Asia as they offer a much better deal with FREE shipping to me. The deal got even better when I used one of my Play-Asia coupons upon placing this preorder (99% of the time Play-Asia give me a US$5 coupon code inside every figurine box they ship to me for...

Liu Mei Feng, Pastel Ink, Nagato Yuki and Nanase Ren Unboxing! (Post date: 2008-07-15, Views: 1757) Shuraki Trinity's Liu Mei Feng, Moetan's Pastel Ink, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu's Nagato Yuki and Yakin Byoutou's Nanase Ren figures all unboxed! ...

Shuraki Trinity Liu Mei Feng and Rizfis Luttiva Mente 25% Off! (Post date: 2008-07-13, Views: 1488) Wow! I just stumbled upon Play-Asia Bargain corner and they are having a Summer Sales with 25% off on selected items until 20th July (1 more week to go). Unexpectedly, Shuraki Trinity Liu Meifeng(シュラキ 柳妹鳳) and Rizfis Luttiva Mente(リゼフィス・ルテティーヴァ・メンテ) are getting 25% off too! I have always wanted to get the super...

Vampire Knight Cross Yuuki Cosplay by Kipi (Post date: 2008-07-09, Views: 4574) Featured cosplayer of the day is Kipi playing Cross Yuuki (黒主優姫) of the recently ended anime Vampire Knight (ヴァンパイア騎士). I have shrunk the original photo (with its EXIF data that reads Nikon D2X, 1/100, -0.33EV, F2.8, ISO200, focus length 42mm, and Spot-metering) in order to fit this site's layout. Click to enlarge....

Suzumiya Haruhi: All About Her Fame! (Post date: 2008-07-04, Views: 13008) Suzumiya Haruhi (涼宮ハルヒ), one of the highest rated anime girl now gets her very own entry here at Shin-Otaku.com. She hardly needs any introduction but this article will serve as a reference to all Suzumiya Haruhi-related entries in the future. This super high-profile 2D girl was actually created back in 2003 and later gained extreme fame...

Tutorial: Reverse Lens Macro Photography (Post date: 2008-06-27, Views: 6528) Macro lens is no doubt a big investment for casual photographer as a decent macro lens would cost almost a bomb. You can almost get a DSLR camera body at that price. For this short and easy-to-follow tutorial, I will save you big bucks by transforming your default kit lens or prime lens into a macro lens. This technique is commonly known as "reverse lens macro photography"...

FREEing Nagato Yuki and Tsuruya-san Unboxing! (Post date: 2008-06-19, Views: 2395) Shown below are actual pictures of my FREEing 1/4 Nagato Yuki & Tsuruya-san boxes and figures which partially completed my collection. My purchase was done at a local store XL-Shop and the arrival of these figures were actually delayed about a month there. It's quite regretable that I didn't placed my order at Play-Asia for both Nagato Yuki and Tsuruya-san....

PS3 METAL GEAR SOLID 4 Unboxing (Post date: 2008-06-12, Views: 1893) Finally, the most anticipated PS3 game of the year by Hideo Kojima, METAL GEAR SOLID 4: Guns of the Patriots (MGS4) has been simultaneously released worldwide today (12th June 2008)! Shown below is the actual box of the Normal Edition of my MGS4 which comes with a free poster. Unboxing the disc case reveals the blu-ray disc as well as the instruction booklet....

Tutorial: Pure White Backgound Figure Photography (Post date: 2008-06-08, Views: 1901) In this entry I will show you very simple steps to make figurine photo shot with pure white background, even if your subject is white in colour. Follow the procedures below and you will get better photo shots, even if you are a complete beginner. This method works even if you do not own a DSLR camera or proper lighting! No professional studio, no expensive setup....

Suzumiya Haruhi No Yuutsu New Animation (Post date: 2008-06-08, Views: 2154) Scatterred around the Internet within minutes is the leaked scans of the yet to be released magazine "Newtype" revealing "Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu New Animation". The scans see the new long-haired Suzumiya Haruhi!...

Nendoroid Vocaloid Kagamine Len Reservation Closed?! (Post date: 2008-06-05, Views: 4127) Wow! I thought I saw both Vocaloid Nendoroids Kagamine Len and Kagamine Rin (Oct 2008 released) available for reservation at HobbySerach which started yesterday but right now Kagamine Len is fully reserved! Rin is still available for reservation as of time of writing however....

Pure Black Background of Nagato Yuki Figure Shot (Post date: 2008-06-03, Views: 1488) Making a pure black background photo is much more difficult than making pure white background. The following photo has been heavily Photoshop'ed and I had a hard time brushing and painting. This one looks really bad!...

First Pure White Background of Haruhi Figure Shot with 450D (Post date: 2008-06-02, Views: 1377) Quick post, I have just taken my very first pure white background figure photo with my recently purchased Canon EOS 450D DSLR. The subject is none other than the rare Nendoroid Suzumiya Haruhi Bunny Version with guitar. It's not something professional but it works like a charm. The technique I used will be described in future entry. It's as simple as A.B.C. No special lighting required....

Canon EOS 450D DSLR Acquired! (Tested with Haruhi Figures) (Post date: 2008-06-01, Views: 2279) Year 2008, May 31st marks the day of my Canon EOS 450D purchase. I am totally a beginner when it comes to using a DSLR but after a few hours of self-learning, I think managed to shoot decent figure photos as below. Figma's Suzumiya Haruhi figurines were chosen as the subject...

We Have Moved! Minor Site Updates (Post date: 2008-05-30, Views: 985) Hello world again and I am glad to announce that Shin-Otaku.com is back online, just moments ago. Proceed reading if you would like to know the details. I have moved from Lunarpages's Basic Plan to Imhosted's Advanced Performance Plan. With the new host that promises "no server overloading assurance", "ultra-low latency connection" and "RAID" support...

We Are Moving Server (Post date: 2008-05-27, Views: 970) After some 20 days of trial of using the current hosting plan, I have decided to move to another plan by a different company. Details shall be provided later. The consequenses would be that there will be some downtime during the transition to allow the domain shin-otaku.com to re-propagate properly. Downtime will be seen in the next few days and the duration may be several days (about 3 days). There shall be no Otaku-related entry until the migration is completed successfully. I apologize for any inconvenience caused to all visitors and especially to fellow loyal readers....

Tokito Ami - The Japan Meganekko Idol (Post date: 2008-05-25, Views: 6697) I am a new blogger and I've just picked something new up, I noticed that many otaku blogs have one thing in common, i.e... posting some "Not Safe For Work" or Gravure Japanese babes stuff randomly. And Shin-Otaku is no exception...

Figure Photography Tips: Saturation Adjustment In Photoshop CS (Post date: 2008-05-23, Views: 1342) In this particular entry, I will show you very simple methods to quickly enhance your "not-so-good" figure photos taken using a compact camera in a not-so-well-lit room or somewhere indoor using Adobe Photoshop CS. The device I used was my sister's low-end Panasonic LUMIX FX10 compact camera (but I love it)...

Shin-Otaku Comment Box Update (Post date: 2008-05-16, Views: 3425) In our very recent conversation with Gordon, he proposed that it would be better to have a "clickable Nickname" inside the comment box that points to the author's website. Now, the function is active. If you submit...

Hatsune Miku Cosplay (Post date: 2008-05-15, Views: 2338) While the word "ミクミクミクミク" (MikuMikuMikuMiku) is still spinning on my head after my blog about Hatsune Miku's fame in my previous entry recently, I could NOT resist but to point this cute cosplayer out. I first saw her...

Vocaloid Hatsune Miku: All About Her Fame (Post date: 2008-05-12, Views: 25498) As a PVC figure collector, I just could NOT miss Hatsune Miku (初音ミク). So who the heck is this girl who suddenly pops out of nowhere and jumped into the PVC figure scene exactly?...

Consumerism In Japan: Girl Power & Otaku! (Post date: 2008-05-07, Views: 1615) It has been quite a while since I read this UK Magazine called WTF (What's The Future?) Issue 3, published Feb 2008. I find the headline interesting -BIG IN JAPAN- and I thought I should mention some of the interesting parts here....

Shin-Otaku Officially Launched! (Post date: 2008-05-07, Views: 1326) Hi and welcome to this newly born personal blog. Shin-Otaku is a blog site belongs to the author, Divne Fang who is a super otaku wannabe. Here he shares his thoughts just about anything related to otaku in this very portal -figurines, anime, games, jpop, cool technologies, Japan, Japanese language e.t.c. As of time of writing, he is especially obsessed with...