Adapted from the manga “ディーふらぐ!” by Tomoya Haruno, this slapstick school comedy with some harem elements is also known as “D-Fragments”. The show is not like other school comedies “Seitokai Yakuindomo*” or “GJ-bu”, but instead it feels like an eclectic mix of “Kitakubu Katsudou Kiroku” and “School Rumble”.

The story revolves around male protagonist Kenji, a self-proclaimed delinquent who is actually a nice guy, considering his kindness gets him ensared into the school’s game creation club, whose members are all quite eccentric characters.

Before long, Kenji is dragged into the club’s pace of crazy antics and silly games, and he finds himself in the middle of a bitter struggle with the school’s other game creation club as well as the target of Roka and Takao’s affections.

Next to being a solid and enjoyable comedy show, “D-Frag!” reeled me in with the irresistible lure of featuring a cute loli voiced by Hanazawa Kana, a big breasted tsundere voiced by Itou Shizuka and a trap voiced by Shiraishi Ryoko.

The creators seem well aware that this series’ strong point is the high moe factor of several key characters from its main cast, especially Roka and Takao. In fact, they couldn’t have picked better voice talents to voice these two irresistibly cute girls.

Likely a conscious choice by the studio or director, aimed to reel in more viewers. A tactic that definitely paid off as far as I’m concerned, considering that watching Roka and Takao’s shenanigans is definitely the highlight of each episode for me.

Alas, moe characters featuring great voice work cannot carry a series by themselves, luckily “D-Frag!” has been an entertaining comedy so far, although it isn’t particularly the greatest show in its genre.

While “GJ-bu” and “Kitakubu Katsudou Kiroku” had a limited main and supporting cast, “D-Frag!” seems to have a rather large supporting cast with even more side characters being showcased in the opening sequence.

Noticed that similar anime series like “School Rumble” also feature a significant amount of side characters, which can make it seem as some of those characters exist simply to enable specific comedy situation or are but tools to move the plot along.

Considering that “D-Frag” is slated for a single cour of twelve episodes, wonder if we’ll really have any significant appearances of all these supporting characters. Or worse, if the studio tries to cram in sub-plots to feature all these supporting characters, that might leave some main characters painfully underused.

Blonde cutie Roka is voiced by Hanazawa Kana, she also voiced Nadeko in “Bakemonogatari”, Ruri in “Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai”, Charlotte in “IS: Infinite Stratos”, Kobato in “Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai”, this season she also voices Kosaki in “Nisekoi” and Rumi in “Tonari no Seki-kun”.

Saitou Chiwa voices feisty student council president Chitose, she’s tackled roles like Aika in “Aria”, Humora in “Puella Magi Madoka Magica”, Senjougahara in “Bakemonogatari”, Tatenashi in “IS: Infinite Stratos”, Francesca in “Strike Witches” and Honoka in “Stella Jougakuin C3-Bu”.

Rival club president Takao is voiced by Itou Shizuka, she previously voiced Hinagiku in “Hayate no Gotoku!”, Koko in “Jormungand”, Kaori in “To Aru Majutsu No Index”, Haruka in “Amagami SS” and she also voices Hisa in this season’s “Saki Zenkoku-hen”.

Koshimizu Ami voices club advisor Minami, she’s tackled roles like Kallen in “Code Geass”, Horo in “Spice & Wolf”, Hiwako in “Gingitsune”, Ryuuko in “KILL la KILL”, Tenma in “School Rumble”, Mugino in “To aru Kagaku no Railgun S” and Charlotte in “Strike Witches”.

Trap Sakuragaoka is voiced by Shiraishi Ryoko who also voiced Hayate in “Hayate No Gotoku!”, Kanako in “Nyan Koi”, Kaede in “Mahou Sensei Negima!”, this season she also voices Mako in “Saki Zenkoku-hen”.

Quite enjoyed “D-Frag!” so far, despite it being a run-of-the-mill comedy anime, it’s nonetheless a solid show that might be worth your while if you’re looking for a school comedy like “Kitakubu Katsudou Kiroku” or “School Rumble”.

Based on the four panel manga “未確認で進行形” by Cherry-Arai, romantic comedy “Mikakunin de Shinkoukei” is all about young school girl Kobeni. On her sixteenth birthday she finds out that not only is she set up for an arranged marriage, but her fiancee Hakuya and his sister Mashiro will now be living together with her family.

Dictated by her influential late grandfather, Kobeni is unsure what to do since both her and Hkuya’s family seem all too willing to accept the arrangement. Throw in Kobeni’s older sister Benio and Hakuya’s younger sister Mashiro who are both oddball characters, the whole school finding out about everything, and hijinks ensue.

If I were to fault “Mikakunin de Shinkoukei”, besides the usual issues most anime of this genre may of course have, is that main female lead and centerpiece of the romantic plot Kobeni is a rather typical Yamato Nadeshiko character.

Although the show tries to camouflage this partly by making her older sister Benoi have an aura of the inspiring, perfect student council president at school, Kobeni’s shapely body, perfect housewife skills, selflessness, polite and willing demeanor are a dead giveaway.

Must confess I do not particularly lament Kobeni being a Yamato Nadeshiko type character, since it does fit this type of romantic comedy quite well. However, it would be nice to have another romantic comedy drama like “Toradora!” with a more flawed female lead, without resulting to the incredulous extremes of Kaga from “Golden Time”.

Animation by studio Dogakobo is rather good, definitely notice some improvement from their previously works “Yuru Yuri” and even “Love Lab”, so far it feels as if the overall style and level are equal to “GJ-bu”.

Most studios tend to pull out all the stops for the opening and ending animation, was rather impressed with the opening of “Mikakunin de Shinkoukei” right up to the title sequence. Perfectly tuned to the opening track ‘Tomadoi→Recipe’, it features a montage of what seem fleeting moments in time of the three girls’ lives followed by them dancing to the energetic music.

A shame the animation transitions into a more typical anime opening after the title sequence. Do wish the entire opening sequence would have kept the style of photo captures used before the title sequence.

With the story centered around Kobeni’s romance, it should come as no surprise the images shown of Kobeni in the opening sequence have various rather candid gravure type shots in them. Considering that she is a cutie, we shall not complain.

In comparison to “D-Frag!” which features veteran voice talents, the main cast of “Mikakunin de Shinkoukei” seems to be voiced mostly by voice actresses that seem new or not yet well known.

Although her voice sounds familiar, Kobeni is voiced by Terui Haruka, a voice talent who doesn’t seem to have any other major roles credited to her name yet. The same is true for characters Mashiro and Benio, with the cute loli voiced by Yoshida Yuri and the student council president voiced by Matsui Eriko, they too have no other major roles credited to them.

Student council vice president Nadeshiko is voiced by Sakura Ayane, she previously voiced Akane in “Vividred Operation”, Merry in “Yumekui Merry”, Miyabi in “Kono Naka ni Hitori, Imouto ga Iru!” and Natsumi in “Non Non Biyori”.

Blonde Konoha is voiced by Fujita Saki, she’s tackled riles like Mahiru in “Working!!”, Ayano in “Yuru Yuri”, Ymir in “Shingeki no Kyojin”, Hyuga in “Arpeggio of Blue Steel – Ars Nova” and she also voices Mitsuki in this season’s “Sakura Trick”.

So far, “Mikakunin de Shinkoukei” has been a very nice series that provides good entertainment. While it doesn’t particularly shine or even excel in being novel or daring, it does stand out among its peers by being a normal and enjoyable romantic comedy, a genre where many shows try to be different but often fail at doing so in a positive way.

This past winter Comiket edition, popular artist Kantoku from the circle “Afterschool of the 5th Year” released a new volume of ‘Tachiyoumi Senyou’.

Compared to the ‘Check’ doujin series which focus more on Kantoku’s own mascot characters like Kurumi & Shizuku, the ‘Tachiyoumi Senyou’ books usually feature illustrations of characters from various other franchises.

Lovely illustration of Petralka and Myucel from “Outbreak Company”, really like how Kantoku drew them wearing the typical check pattern adorned attire his mascots Shizuku and Kurumi are often featured in.

Volume 34 also includes illustrations of characters from “Kyoukai no Kanata”, “Yozakura Quartet”, “Uchouten Kazoku”, “The iDOLM@STER”, “Kyousougiga” and “Hataraku Maou-sama!”. There’s even art of Kancolle’s Shimakaze.

Where the previous volume of ‘Tachiyoumi Senyou’ surprisingly contained more daring illustrations, volume 34 is back to the usual art for this series where the emphasis is mostly on cute instead of ecchi.
Even below image of irresistibly cute Chiho from “Hataraku Maou-sama!” in bikini is not really that ecchi.

A few pages less than other volumes, the doujin holds 16 pages of which nearly all are full color illustrations, only the last few pages contain a collection of black & white line art images.

If you are interested in Kantoku’s ‘Tachiyoumi Senyou 35′ book, you can purchase it at Toranoana.

One of the few manga am reading is “ニセコイ” by Naoshi Komi, so was very much looking forward to the anime adaptation. Although started to watch the show as soon as it began to air, have not spoke about it yet as am somewhat conflicted about this anime.

In its manga form, “Nisekoi” is a dime in a dozen story with all the tried and true elements of the romantic comedy and harem genres, but it is still very entertaining. While it brings nothing really original and its characters are the typical templates seen in any harem manga, somehow it makes all those silly harem shenanigans work well.

Translated into anime form however, must admit that alas “Nisekoi” does not really appeal that much. Both in terms of story and characters, this anime doesn’t really set itself apart in a positive or original way from other harem comedies.

What does saves “Nisekoi” from being a mediocre or average harem comedy, is studio Shaft’s excellent animation work. Known for their unique signature style, studio Shaft manages to lift this generic harem comedy up to a higher level, making it an entertaining show.

However, studio Shaft applying some of the style elements they are well known for is something of a double-edged sword since it not only elevates this harem comedy from mediocre to good, but it also makes “Nisekoi” feel very similar to one of the studio’s biggest hit franchises.

One would almost think that the show should be called “Nisekoimonogatari” instead, but whether “Nisekoi” is really too similar to Shaft’s work on the ‘Monogatari’ franchise or not, is for each individual viewer to decide.

Personally, am already happy that the studio’s work undeniably contributes to make the anime adaptation much better than the mediocre run-of-the-mill show it probably would have been if produced by another studio.

Ended up being rather disappointed by the lackluster anime adaptation of “Hentai Ouji To Warawanai Neko” by JC Staff’, guess some stories just work better in light novel or manga form. Though do wonder if high expectations might be at fault there.

Considering the manga has quite a few volumes out already, do wonder how much changes the anime will make to the story and if they will be able to introduce all of the girls.
It is a given that Tsugumi and Marika will appear considering they are featured in the opening sequence. But what about Paula, or Kosaki’s younger sister Haru? Guess we will have to wait and see.

Was already quite the fan of her character in the manga, but in the anime Kosaki Onodera is even more moe thanks to Hanazawa Kana’s lovely voice work and studio Shaft going all out to render her as irresistibly cute as possible.

Hanazawa Kana previously voiced Charlotte in “IS: Infinite Stratos”, Kobato in “Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai”, Ruri in “Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai”, Nadeko in “Monogatari Series Second Season” and this season she also voices Rumi in “Tonari no Seki-kun” and Roka in “D-Frag!”.

Chitoge is voiced by Touyama Nao, she’s tackled roles like Karen in “Kiniro Mosaic”, Chiho in “Hataraku Maou-sama!”, Yune in “Ikoku Meiro no Croisée” and Yui in “Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru”.

Asumi Kana will voice Marika, she has also voiced Miya in “Amagami SS”, Yukikaze in “Dog Days”, Nyaruko in “Haiyore! Nyaruko-san”, Komari in “Non Non Biyori” and Kaoru in “Tamayura”.

Tsugumi will be voiced by Komatsu Mikako who previously voiced Marika in “Mouretsu Pirates”, Neko in “K”, Saika in “Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru” and she also voices Miuna in “Nagi no Asukara”.

If you’re looking for a nice harem comedy with cute girls and don’t have any particular expectations, then definitely give “Nisekoi” a try. For a run-of-the-mill harem comedy, it has been a good show so far thanks to studio Shaft’s work.

At C85 artist Tony Taka from T2 Art Works released the ‘とにこれ艦隊これくしょん -艦これ-’, along with several other goods like a dakimakura, poster sheet, calendar and more.

Compared to the thicker ‘Collect1′ and ‘Recollect’ illustration collection books, ‘Tonikore’ is a more typical Comiket release for Tony Taka and is split in two parts, the first part features full page illustrations and the second part closes off with a brief black & white hentai story.

Although this a Kantai Collection inspired doujin contains quite a few new Kancolle illustrations, some pages do feel like filler, making the over 30 page count of the book not seem as significant.

While Tony Taka’s Kancolle based art is excellent, personally feel it does lack the flair and sensuality that his illustrations from other franchises and original works usually have.

Along with the miko illustration showcased later, the above image is easily my personal favorite and one of the more refined illustrations in this ‘Tonikore’ doujin. It really is a shame part of the art is lost due to it being a two page spread.

The doujin also includes several pages showcasing previously published illustrations in various unfinished phases such as the line art or early coloring stages. Only the page featuring the ‘Peace keeper Daisy’ image contains notes, would have been nice if more of those pages included annotations or insights from the artist.

Am tempted to seek out the dakimakura version of this lovely miko art by Tony Taka, it really is gorgeous. After all, who can resist a cute shrine maiden?

Fans of Tony Taka’s art can purchase the C85 ‘Tonikore’ book at Toranoana, while stocks last.

Decided to sample this show on a whim after having read that “ノブナガザフール” is originally a stage play combined with animation sequences. Labelled as an action mecha series, was curious how it would combine characters based on historical figures with science fiction elements.

“Nobunaga the Fool” is not unlike “Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon”, with its eclectic mix of history and science fiction, along with an incredibly convoluted plot featuring far too many characters.
Although the mecha designs look quite interesting and much more appealing than the disappointing designs in “Buddy Complex”, the fact the show suffers from the same issues as “Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon” is its undoing in my personal opinion.

Instead of slowly building everything up in a prologue, the viewer gets thrown right into a state of confusion as the opening episode contains far too much plot exposition and narration regarding its complicated reality. As a viewer this made me feel lost and too occupied to try and get a handle on the story, preventing me from fully enjoying the show.

Considering everything from the animation, character designs, story type and genre indicate this will be a typical historical science fiction anime the likes of “Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon” or “Oda Nobuna no Yabou”, do not believe will continue watching this show. While it will likely try to be something more, fear it will not break the mold.

Was interested in watching this show after seeing its promotional trailer since it looked similar to last season’s “Gingitsune”, a romantic comedy with supernatural elements, full of cuteness and warm moments.

Adapted from the original “いなり、こんこん、恋いろは” manga by Morohe Yoshida, “Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha” has been a lovely show so far. Even though I compare it to “Gingitsune” which is still fresh in my memories having aired the previous season, “Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha” has more emphasis on romance.

Then again, all the comedy and silliness surrounding Inari’s powers and the various deities is reminiscent of “Kamichu!”, while the relationship between Inari and deity Uka is not unlike the bond between the Takagami brothers and Kuugen seen in “Wagaya no Oinari-sama”.

However, in no way does “Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha” feel like a simple mix of various elements taken from other franchises, instead it is a solid story set in its own proper world with elements that are familiar to seasoned anime viewers.

Not being familiar with the manga, do wonder where the story will go, since it does have the potential for some interesting choices concerning the fact that Inari has been given powers from deity Uka. Will Inari be able to life a happy but finite life as a human? Or will she become a sort of deity herself and forever remain alongside Uka?

Independent of the obvious innocent teenage romance between Inari and Kouji, the relationship Inari has with Uka is definitely one of the show’s highlights, so am quite curious to see how it will develop.

Animation by studio Production IMS is excellent, and although it isn’t extraordinary, it is perfectly fit for a slice-of-life or romantic comedy genre show such as this one, and up to par with the overall animation level seen in similar series like “Kamichu!”, “Gingitsune” or “Wagaya no Oinari-sama”.

Cute Inari is voiced by Ouzora Naomi who also voiced Sue in “Genshiken Nidaime” and Yuriga in “Ore no Nounai Sentakushi ga, Gakuen Rabu Kome o Zenryoku de Jama Shiteiru”.

Fox deity Uka is voiced by Kuwashima Houko, she previously voiced Yuki in “Space Battleship Yamato 2199”, Tomoyo in “Clannad”, Kaguya in “Shining Hearts”, Kirika in “Noir” and she also voices Scarlet in this season’s “Space Dandy”.

Nomizu Iori voices Akemi, she also voiced Funco in “Upotte!”, Nymph in “Sora no Otoshimono”, Haruna in “Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?” and Usagi in “Mondaiji tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru sou desu yo?”.

Tomboyish Keiko, who becomes Akemi’s love interest, is voiced by Ikebe Kumiko, who doesn’t seem to have many other roles credited to her name yet.

Bespectacled Chika is voiced by Sadohara Kaori who also voiced Shigu in “Upotte!”, Sandra in “Mondaiji tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru sou desu yo?” and Chocolat in “Ore no Nounai Sentakushi ga, Gakuen Rabu Kome o Zenryoku de Jama Shiteiru”.

Although both series do have key differences, “Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha” has taken over the slot that last season’s “Gingitsune” held in my weekly anime line-up as the token heartwarming slice-of-life comedy with supernatural deity shenanigans.
If you are looking for that type of series to watch, then definitely give this show a try!

Based on Sega’s プロジェクト575 multimedia project which revolves around songs based on the Japanese 5-7-5 poem system and has already spawned the PlayStation Vita game “うた詠み575”, the “Go! Go! 575” anime is a lovely slice-of-life series.

Although had originally thought this show would be an idol genre series like “Wake Up, Girls!” or “Love Live!”, it is actually more of a slice-of-life anime with some idol genre elements, its atmosphere is much closer to that of “Tamayura” or “Yama no Susume”.

The slice-of-life elements are dominant, each episode is filled with cute moments of Azuki, Maccha and Yuzu going about their daily lives while indulging in some innocent fun with song and dance. Some bits of light comedy and a hint of yuri bring a refreshing zest throughout.

Perhaps the fact this series only spans four episodes of three minutes each, is part of what makes it an excellent show. No time is wasted, every scene is meaningful to showcase the three girls having fun in a leisurely atmosphere, and it perfectly captures that unique slice-of-life feeling.

Animation by studios C2C and Lay-duce is excellent, every detail is well cared for with lush backgrounds and lots of detail into animating the three girls, including fluid motions in the few dancing scenes.

With such terrific episodes and strong animation, makes me not merely wish for a sequel but for a new series that will span an entire season and bring us more of Azuki, Maccha and Yuzu’s shenanigans as they go about their daily lives filled with fun.

A drawback of the limited amount of episodes and their short timespan is that the three main characters aren’t really fleshed out much so they do alas remain rather typical copies of generic character templates.

Azuki is your run-of-the-mill energetic, lively girl while Maccha’s serious demeanor and stern expression make her Azuki’s polar opposite. Both girls having rather close friendship with some suggestive skinship makes Yuzu a perfect addition to the cast, her being the typical all-round good girl with a surprising (yuri) fetish.

Lively Azuki is voiced by Outsubo Yuka, who previously voiced Wakaba in “Vividred Operation”, Kurei in “Haiyore! Nyaruko-san”, Kyouko in “Yuru Yuri” and this season also voices Shiho in “Wake Up, Girls!” and Akari in “No-Rin”.

Ohashi Ayaka voices serious Maccha, she previously voiced Uzume in “Fantasista doll”, Ringo in “Mangirl!”, Ran in “Aikatsu!” and Fleur Blanc in “Eureka Seven AO”.

Yuzu is voiced by Kotobuki Minako, she tackled roles like Tsumugi in “K-ON!”, Natsumi in “Natsuiro Kiseki”, Yuuko in “A Channel”, Mitsuko in “To aru Kagaku no Railgun”, Chihiro in “Tamayura” and Sen in “Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls”.

I highly recommend this lovely anime to everyone, even those who are not fans of slice-of-life genre series.
And really, why not give this show a try? It’ll only take 15 minutes of your time.

Regretfully passed up on many tempting figure releases these past years, but when Kotobukiya announced their stunning Tony’s Heroine Collection “Peace Keeper” Daisy figure, simply could not resist and pre-ordered her.

Usually order from online stores like JList or Hobby Search, but this time opted to try KotoEU, having heard through the comrades at Shadonia about this recent venture from Kotobukiya to enable direct sales to European customers.

Am rather satisfied with this first purchase from KotoEU, their prices are competitive and their customer service when I inquired about the figure’s delayed release was impeccable. If I were to fault anything it would be that they offer EMS shipping only, which here typically results in delays at customs and an import fine, this time was unfortunately no different.

Still, was overjoyed when Daisy arrived on my doorstep this week. Cannot wait to unpack and proudly display her.

You can read a full review of this gorgeous figure accompanied by enticing photos at Tentacle Armada.

This season, studio Sunrise brings us “Buddy Complex”, another series based on all the typical elements from the mecha genre which this studio is well versed in, having created and worked on many well known mecha series like “Gundam Seed”.

For my weekly dose of action anime, decided to give this show a try but alas its first episode did not really appeal to me.
Overall it did not especially let me down, nor was it terribly flawed, but it was such a typical opening episode for a mecha series that it failed to pull me into the story or really care about the lead characters we are introduced to. Even the promise of a rather lively plot regarding the relationship between Aoba and Hina is not enough to reel me in.

Upon sharing my first impressions of “Nobunaga the Fool” earlier, also revealed that am not very impressed with the mecha designs in “Buddy Complex”, they look rather unappealing and dull. Although there have been plenty of mecha oriented series that had rather questionable mecha designs, many make up for that by adding other interesting elements in them, the ‘Knightmare frames’ from “Code Geass” come to mind.

While last season’s “Kakumeiki Valvrave” by studio Sunrise was not without fault either, its overall story and mecha designs were far more enthralling than “Buddy Complex”, hence I personally prefer to look out for another mecha anime to watch instead.

Hadn’t mentioned the show before, but so far am really enjoying “Witch Craft Works”, the anime adaptation of the original “ウィッチクラフトワークス” manga by Mizunagi Ryuu.

Labelled as a fantasy action romantic comedy, was pleasantly surprised at how much I do like this series, which although it is the usual standard anime show overall, it does manage to add in a few more unique, quirky elements.

Must admit though that the ending of the first episode -the witches led by Tanpopo transferring into Takamiya’s class- did mislead me into thinking this show would be a harem genre series. Luckily the following episodes quickly dispelled that wrong impression.

Part of what makes this show work well for me as an action series full of magic and witches, is how the overall look and atmosphere of the confrontations is both lethally serious but also full of comedy and usually everything plays out with a comedic twist. Do prefer that lighter side to “Witch Craft Works”.

Animation by JC Staff is excellent and of the quality expected for a series of this level with lots of attention to detail to animate the characters, especially the various witches.
The action scenes are always fluid and have not been repetitive at all, even the fire witch incarnation of Kagari has been surprisingly varied, its fiery red tones occasionally being animated with different purple or green hues giving it an entirely different atmosphere.

Am unfamiliar with the original manga, still am curious to see how Kagari and Takamiya’s relationship will play out, especially with the white princess plot since it feels like there’s the possibility for some potent storytelling and I wouldn’t want it to turn out too predictable.

Considering the nature of Takamiya’s character as the weaker male who’s protected by Kagari, their pairing will need a balancing element in that aspect as well.

Kagari as a character is undeniably a real fire-starter, an all too perfect Yamato Nadeshiko injected with several shortcomings or other traits that ultimately make her even more likable, she has been one of the series’ highlights. The fact Kagari does have more depth than most of the other rather generic characters definitely increases her appeal.

Kagari is voiced by Seto Asami who previously voiced Shouko in “Kakumeiki Valvrave”, Chihaya in “Chihayafuru”, Lan in “Rinne no Lagrange” and Haruna in “Stella Jougakuin Koutouka C3-bu”.

Kayano Ai voices Honoka’s younger sister Kasumi, she also voiced Mashiro in “Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo”, Inori in “Guilty Crown”, Lucy in “Servant x Service” and Chisaki in “Nagi no Asukara”.

The white princess Evermillion is voiced by Noto Mamiko, she’s tackled roles like Shimako in “Maria-sama ga Miteru”, Himegami in “To Aru Majutsu no Index”, Tomoe in “Queen’s Blade”, Enma Ai in “Jigoku Shoujo” and Saya in “Black★Rock Shooter “.

Scheming loli witch Chronoire is voiced by Kugimiya Rie who needs no introduction having voiced well known tsundere characters like Louise in “Zero no Tsukaima”, Shana in “Shakuna no Shana”, Nagi in “Hayate no Gotoku!” or Taiga in “Toradora!”. She also voiced male characters like Alphonse in “Fullmetal Alchemist” and Hasuta in “Haiyore! Nyaruko-san”.

Overall this show might end up being a typical magical action anime, which is fine since it doesn’t really pretend to be anything more, instead it has consistently delivered entertaining action of witches duking it out, all spiced up by the rather quaint pairing of Kagari and Takamiya.

Do hope that the show’s balance between the serious action plot and comedy won’t tip over into a more dark, dramatic plot.

Recently upgraded to a new computer with Intel’s latest Haswell generation and Microsoft Windows 8.1. Although its performance has been stellar, a few days ago unexpectedly ran into severely degraded performance.

Saw in the Task Manager that all available memory was taken up by the Non-Paged Pool. After a system reboot the memory used by the Non-Paged Pool quickly started to increase until all memory was taken.

Looked up what information could fine online about memory leaks in Windows 8.1 and came upon this forum post in which others detailed similar experiences when using Windows 8 on hardware equipped with Qualcomm’s Killer ethernet networking products.

The actual cause of the memory leak seems to be the Windows Network Data Usage Monitoring Driver service which in combination with a Killer network driver starts to fill up the Non-Paged Pool memory.

Considering that my MSI H87-G43 Gaming motherboard is equipped with the Killer Ethernet E2200 and am using the Killer Network Manager driver, knew it had to be the same cause.

Applied the suggested fix of altering the registry key value in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\Ndu\ to disable the Windows Network Data Usage Monitor Driver from starting and after a reboot the issue seems properly solved!

Recently purchased some t-shirt creations from Murasaki.me adorned with adorable Moekana designs, was anxious to try these lovely outfits on my Dollfie Dream.

Although winter has been unusually mild here, most days were gray and overcast. When the sun was finally out, quickly grabbed my camera to snap some photos of Dollfie Dream Akiko wearing the pink Moekana kimono design shirt.

The chibi style illustration of Mirai in kimono fits perfectly with the pink color cloth used for the shirt sleeves and collar. Its soft hue is a good match for Akiko and her purple Hisyo-Hisyo eyes, added a hair ornament to accentuate her girly and innocent look.

Purchased items from Murasaki.me in the past and have always been satisfied with their quality, this time is no different as these shirts are excellent.

The fact they select black or colored cloth that does not stain the Dollfie Dream vinyl skin is a definite bonus point which often makes their clothing creations fit for prolonged wear. Also appreciate that the long sleeves are long enough to cover all the arm joints.

Also purchased the Moekana tora design t-shirt, but with short sleeves. Will soon share some photos of Dollfie Dream Shizuko wearing it.

Am quite tempted to create a photo series of Akiko and Shizuko posed together in these Moekana design shirts.

If you are interested in these Moekana shirts for your Dollfie Dream, you can order the various designs at Murasaki.me.

You can see more of my photography on Flickr.

Previously shared some photos of Akiko in a Moekana print t-shirt by Murasaki.me and promised would soon upload some photos of Shizuko in a matching outfit, so here they are.

When seamstress Kuraikawai from Murasaki.me advertised some new Dollfie Dream shirts with cute Moekana characters printed on them, didn’t only acquire the pink kimono design model but also got the tora model.

Always adored the tora design of Danny Choo’s mascot Mirai used for Moekana and while haven’t been able to acquire the adult sized shirt, couldn’t resist this Dollfie Dream version.
Am glad was able to request yellow sleeves for it since that color perfectly matches the character print and Shizuko’s look.

The difference in lightning between the above photos and below ones is simply due to the fact they were taken on separate days.

By the time had set up my equipment to photograph Shizuko that first day, the sun hid behind the clouds so the lighting changed from bright sunrays to indirect light. Luckily such lighting is perfect for captures with a soft look.

These last photos were taken on a cloudless day, took advantage of the wonderful light cast by the setting sun which has a unique quality to it. Although it can be tricky to get the white balance and overall color atmosphere identical for all photos taken around that time of day.

If you are interested in these Moekana shirts for your Dollfie Dream, you can order the various designs at Murasaki.me.

Considering comrade Kuraikawai herself encourages the idea of a photo series of Akiko and Shizuko together, will try my hand at such a photoshoot someday soon.

You can see more of my photography on Flickr.

Since last year’s “Made in Asia” convention was a terrific experience for me, there was no doubt would attend this year’s edition of the event as well. Considering many visitors and anime fans that attended this sixth edition of “Made in Asia” could often be seen with a rather impressive amount of purchases, my loot is more modest.

クリスティーナだ! Missed out on Good Smile Company’s scaled figure of Makise Kurisu in her regular attire, so did not hesitate to acquire the alternate, white lab coat version of the irresistible tsundere from “Steins;Gate”.
While the regular version has some key charm points, do especially like the dynamic, flowing sculpt of Kurisu’s lab coat.

Also purchased a wallscroll with an illustration of Mami Tomoe from “Puella Magi Madoka Magica” created by artist Kamiya Maneki that is featured in the ‘Sweet☆cat’ doujin.
Had never seen any tapestries made from their art before, a quick Twitter message with Kamiya Maneki confirmed it is actually a bootleg product. Am nonetheless happy to have bought it since it is a gorgeous artwork to display.

Couldn’t resist to pick up the badges and key chains of Sana, the adorable mascot from Shadonia. To close off my “Made in Asia” loot, was lucky to win a “Black★Rock Shooter” t-shirt in a janken competition.

The sixth edition of the Made in Asia convention, an event all about Japanese anime, manga and other asian culture, took place last weekend at the Brussels Expo. For the first time, Made in Asia ran a full three days and I was fortunate enough to attend the convention each day.

Seems that each year anime events usually have a surge of cosplayers from a specific series or franchise, whether it be in Asia, America or Europe. Noticed that cosplay from “Sword Art Online” saw a huge boom when the anime aired last year, but this year’s edition of Made in Asia was definitely all about “Attack on Titan”.

There were dozens of cosplayers in the signature uniforms from “Attack on Titan” and even a few titans too.

This franchise also seems to appeal to female cosplayers, in fact the majority of “Attack on Titan” cosplayers I saw were girls, who for once do not have to go around scantily clad to be dressed as characters from their favorite series, something I can actually appreciate.

There were only a few booths from trustworthy stores for those interested in purchasing anime figures, with Archonia, La Cité des Nuages, Kingplayer and of course Good Smile Company.

The booth from La Cité des Nuages seemed rather small this year, but Archonia was present with a large booth although they mostly had manga, artbooks, DVD and BluRay for sale compared to a modest selection of figures. Archonia was the only store I spotted that also offered manga translated in English though.

Next to the fansites, artists and other cultural oriented booths, the majority of the sales booths focused on specific trinkets, some of the more shady booths unsurprisingly had bootleg items for sale.

For the manga fans, there were several large stores present at the event, offering a large selection of manga for sale, there was even a booth specialized in yuri, yaoi and hentai manga. However, since all those were French language editions, they did not appeal to me personally.

Another highlight of the Made in Asia weekend was that I got to meet up with the comrades from Shadonia again, they had a lovely booth with several display cases filled to the brim with figures as well as a case dedicated to Dollfie Dream.

They also held an informative workshop each day about counterfeit figures and provided good advice to fellow fans and figure collectors.

Was able to participate in the Dollfie Dream display at Shadonia and brought Ayuko on Friday, Shizuku & Akiko on Saturday and Kyouko on Sunday.

The glass paneling of the display case made it ideal to safely showcase the dolls to the public but alas rather tricky to properly photograph due to the reflections, so was not able to snap as much good photos as I would have liked of all the cute Dollfie Dream gathered for display at the event.

You can see more photos from the 2014 edition of Made in Asia on Flickr.

Spotted an announcement on Shadonia that the new scaled figure of Tsurugi Yagami by Max Factory is now available for reservation.

Originally revealed at last year’s summer edition of Wonfes, this 1/7 scale figure of the eldest Yagami sister from “Sasami-san@Ganbaranai” is irresistibly cute. She was easily my favorite character from the series, in part thanks to Chiwa Saito’s excellent voice work as Tsurugi.

Really do adore the figure’s playful and relaxed look, her facial expression and overall rendering is lovely so I couldn’t resist and ordered her at the Good Smile Online Shop.

If you want to purchase figures made by Good Smile Company, Max Factory or Phat! that are in reservation period before their actual release, you can always try Good Smile Online Shop, the official online shop of Good Smile Company.

Back to Asus! Although had only assembled my current computer back in November last year, unfortunately it suffered a hardware failure. Not unexpectedly, the timing was rather horrible as the computer gave up on me during the busy weekend of Made in Asia.

After some troubleshooting, it became clear that the MSI H87-G43 Gaming series motherboard was the cause. Immediately registered a warranty claim, but would be stuck without a motherboard pending repair or replacement by MSI, which of course isn’t acceptable for me.

Stopped by computer hardware store Tones to pick up another motherboard and heard they had multiple MSI Z87-G45 motherboards come back with identical failures. So this time, opted for an Asus board instead and bought the Z87-Pro V Edition.

While the Asus Z87-Pro V Edition is a more expensive model than the MSI H87-G43 Gaming, it boasts features that appealed to me like Realtek ALC1150 audio, Intel I217V LAN controller, more USB 3 ports.
After installing the Asus board, must say that not only was the hardware installation more straightforward, the BIOS manipulation and Windows 8.1 driver availability was remarkably easier compared to MSI’s board.

After attending Made in Asia last year with an official company booth, figure manufacturer Good Smile Company returned for this year’s edition of the Japanese anime, manga and culture event.

Was lucky to once again get the opportunity to work together with the Good Smile Company crew for their second visit to a convention in Belgium where they offered fans a selection of figures, nendoroid and figma.

Similar to last year, Good Smile Company had several products for sale at their booth in Made in Asia which are only available at conventions and related events, including the nendoroid Snow Miku: Magical Snow version, normally a winter Wonder Festival 2014 exclusive and the nendoroid Asuna: Titania version, an Anime Japan 2014 event release.

There were many other goods available, like figma Miku 2.0, figma Link, figma Armin, figma Snow Miku, nendoroid Mikasa, nendoroid Shizue, nendoroid Mami Tomoe, along with scaled figures like Meruru, Makise Kurisu, Lucy and the impressive Belldandy with Holy Bell.

Did notice difference in the various franchises and series that made up this year’s inventory. While Miku figures are ever present along with “Puella Magi Madoka Magica” goods, there were no new figures from the Fate franchise.

Although “Fate/zero” was very well represented last year, it was entirely absent this year, replaced by the recent and popular “Shingeki no Kyojin” series.

Am very grateful was able to interact with so many other fans that share a similar passion for Japanese anime, manga and figures.
Being able to play a small part in bringing them their favorite products from a renowned figure manufacturer like Good Smile Company directly at competitive prices was a great experience.

Sincerely hope that Good Smile Company will continue to visit events in Belgium and the rest of Europe, it’s a unique opportunity for fans to have one of Japan’s top figure makers attend conventions here.

Although Kotobukiya does have their official online store KotoEU now, it would be great to see them and other manufacturers like Alter make the jump to Europe too.

Were you unable to attend Made in Asia? You can always purchase new releases by Good Smile Company, Max Factory and Phat! directly from the Good Smile Online Shop. Or if you are looking for reliable stores in Belgium, you can try Archonia or La Cité des Nuages.

Unsure if a particular online store or other shop is trustworthy? You can always have a look at the list of partner shops of Good Smile Company on their official website.

It has been far too long since uploaded new photos of Atsuko, especially considering since she is my personal favorite among my humble Dollfie Dream collection, even though am quite keen on recent acquisitions Akiko and Ayuko too.

When some Dollfie Dream comrades recently launched a friendly challenge to snap and share photographs of our dolls in a ‘cocooning at home on a leisurely Sunday’ setting, was a perfect opportunity to create new captures of Atsuko.

Needed to clad Atsuko in an outfit that would have the look of comfortable clothes one would wear at home. Made a mix and match of different items, using the top from the Sailor Tulle Skirt Set by Volks, a gray cardigan from Nine9Style and short gray leggings by CoolCat.

To complete the relaxing on a lazy Sunday look, lowered the top’s left shoulder strap as well as the cardigan’s sleeves. Also included a scaled MacBook as a prop in some shots.

Although for the previous Dollfie Dream photography sessions usually opted for the light of the evening sun that created a dynamic effect of bright rays and dark shadows, for this particular theme knew needed soft, indirect light instead.

Background used is a simple kitchen chair with a wicker seat and back, purchased it years ago from Ikea though it seems they don’t carry this model anymore. While it did pose limitations for framing and usable angles, liked the color of the wicker for this particular setting.

You can see more Dollfie Dream photography on Flickr.