March 2022 Loot

 The third month already, Thorin turned 2 and spring is starting slowly.

 

But also a month with a truly GIGANTIC loot haul

 

 

And as said in the above video, here are all the links to the sites where I grabbed my stuff.

 

Romani, Pikachu Basket, Sabito, Makomo, Izumi, Asuka, Mt Fuji, Miku, Mu, Maple, Dragon Maid Pillow: all obtained from playing on TokyoCatch during february.

Reincarnated as Yamcha, Yotsuba: these came from NendoAddicts in Antwerp.

Ichika Microfiber Towel: This was won over at Toreba Crane Games.

Yu-Gi-Oh Burst of Destiny booster packs: Game Mania, as I still had a 7.50 euro voucher from them.

Gohan Dragon Ball Lemonade: the local Kamyuen Sino, an asian supermarket here in Deurne.

Nino Nakano: the ever harder to find Quintuplet, I managed to grab her from Dekai Anime.

JK Haru manga, Gachapon, Chopsticks: they where brought back from the Akiba store in Leuven.

Terra Formars 7: I found this tome also in Leuven, in Het Besloten Land, a local comic store.

Saintia Sho 3, The Reprise of the Spear Hero 2: these where obtained from Mekanik Strip, the local Antwerp comic store. 

Until next month!

 

 

The 2022 Hobby Goals: the first quarter

 So the first quarter of 2022 has already passed, time surely flies.

But what does that mean for the goals I set myself this year?  Well, let's have a look!

Painting miniatures sadly still hasn`t been a thing, and my printer is still out of commission to make the bases.  As such, I haven`t even started yet on a single 1/400 scale Gundam so far for MechaTop.  I really hope to get this going soon, but it just doesn't materialize.

On the book / manga reading front I'm behind schedule in a way, yet then again I'm not.  Currently having finished 11 out of 100, I expect a serious boost around summertime for this, when shopping volumes will start in earnest.

A more hopeless situation though is the movies and series department, with respectively 1 and 4 seen.  For some reason, we can't put ourselves to binging that in the evenings / weekends, and the numbers as such are already starting to trail behind seriously.

Anime series on the other hand, with 7 out of 25 finished at the moment, are going smooth.  Though that 200+ episodes series I am watching, Hitman Reborn! is still lacking a bit, with only a 10th finished currently.  I need to rededicate myself some more again during lunch times hehe.

The final goal, getting cosplay fit, is something that probably will kick off better again in the summertime, once salad weather commences again, though it is going rather okay still at the moment.  Slowly it is creeping downwards, so that is a good thing I guess.

But all in all, it isn`t going that fantastic this year yet, let's hope we can make some serious progress on various fronts come the second quarter...

Eromanga-Sensei OVA

 The conclusion to the series, this are actually 2 OVA's bundled together as a single MAL entry.

Talking MAL, if you have an account there, feel free to toss me a friend request, it's always fun to compare what people are watching.

In the first of the two episodes, it all centers around Elf Yamada.  Near the end of the year, she gets a celebration for her novel being adapted into an anime.  her mother also comes to visit, under the impression that she is dating Masamune as she gave some false information to her.  But Elf shows her feelings through a song and dance routine to her mother.

As they walk home, she confesses her true deep feelings to Masamune, and the closing screen leaves a question unanswered: did they kiss or not?

In the second OVA, Masamune comes down with a serious fever.  Sagiri takes it upon herself to do some chores and nursing him back to good health, but this means that she has to leave her room.  Not only does this mean she must see to the house, but also that she must cope with Masamune's friends coming by for various reasons...

Two fun little side stories to conclude this okay anime series, and especially the second one with the picture scene of Muramasa was a hilarious moment.

It was a fun little ride, and me and Noshi got some lewd sniggers from it all, so that's okay after a working day.

Eromanga-Sensei

 While this has been on my to watch list for quite some time (it hails from 2017), me and Noshi started it recently because of the figure of Sagiri I obtained from TokyoCatch.

Labelled a comedy with some ecchi mixed into it, it is time to see this 12 episode long series and hopefully get some smiles out of it as a result.

Masamune and his adoptive younger sister Sagiri live alone since the death of their parents.  Sagiri is a hikokomori, having herself shut in for a year now.  Masamune on the other hand also writes light novels as a form of income, and his art is provided by a lewd drawer called Eromanga-Sensei.

But during a leave stream of the artist, he finds out that this is actually his little sister!  In the meantime, Megumin, a classmate of Sagiri, is trying to get her to come to school again, and wants to go to great lengths to achieve this.  Masamune has other things on his head though, as Elf Yamada, his rival novelist, has come to live next door.  They start a challenge that who gets to write the most intresting novel, would get Eromanga-Sensei to draw the art for it.

Having to keep the challenge a secret, he has a fall-out with Sagiri who thinks he is in love with Elf.  As Masamune wins, he shares his dream with his step-sister, and she decides to stick with him to reach this goal.  They confess each other's love towards one another, also realising it can't be though.  Masamune needs to bring Sagiri girls so she can see their panties, in order to keep her inspirational juices flowing for her art.

When he gets sidelined for a year for the release of his new book, he bands together with Elf for a solution.  He gets entered in a competition by his editor, but he has to face the top novellist Muramasa Senju for the spot that grants publishing rights...  But in turns out Muramasa is actually a great fan of him, and when she gets accidentally disqualified after winning, second place Masamune gains the publishing spot.

 

 

They all go on a writer's camp at Elf's family island, where both Elf (who also discloses her real name) and Muramasa proclaim their love for Masamune. As Masamune and Sagiri look back at their youngest days, they unknowingly have motivated each other to become a writer and an illustrator respectively.  So when she organises a mini festival at her home, she finally opens her window to the outside world, beginning to break her shut-in lifestyle...

A funny series for sure, and to be honest, I think the controversy is highly overrated.  Yes, the elements and insinuations are there, but then again they aren`t as much as the internet tends to burn this series down for.

So yeah, in the end it is just a fun little series, with some stunning paralel designs and feels in animation to the about the same time released Miss Kobayashi's, Sagiri having a striking resemblance to Kanna for one.

Dual unboxing Demon Slayer Sabito and Makomo

 Coming from the huhe TokyoCatch haul of february that has arrived, are these two mysterious children that help Tanjiro through his entrance exam of the Demon Slayer Corps.

And mysterious in that, well, they died apparently during an exam years ago... yet their apparitions teach our hero how to fight the huge demon.

 

So in this video, I`m opening both of them for my collection, so let's take a look at the figures! 

Pretty good looking figures for these minor characters in the end, which is always great that such figures do get a release!

The Haul Report 312: Happy Father's Day to meeeee

 Father's Day has passed by here last weekend, and my wee little warrior had this to awesome gift for me.

Finally some anime chop sticks, from Studio Ghibli's My Neighbour Totoro.

These are so fraggin' awesome!

I also treated myself to some manga from the local comic store.

 

 

A modest, but very good loot for sure this week once around!

On the Painting Desk 199

 So, that has been 3 months again since an instalment of this series...

But in order to put some focus back in my peasoup of a brain, I spend past sunday doing some work on the Quintuplets piece.

I managed to complete the hair on all the girls (Miku is really difficult tbh, I don`t have that sort of brown hinting purple), and some work on their outfits.

Beginning with Ichika's red tracksuit, as that is the middle one giving a nice "sectional" feel for the others to work from.

And so we have made some very nice progress this session.

Now let's try to do the next one a bit sooner hehe...

Unboxing Bofuri Maple (Wool accents colour)

 A recent arrival from TokyoCatch, and part of a manga and anime I still have on my To Watch / read list, is Maple.

Produced by taito, she comes with her wooly winter clothes outfit.

So let's have a look at the figure

I must say I really think this is a cute figure, and it wants me to start watching the anime soonish to find out more.  As I'm currently watching 86, I guess this will become the next series to start watching after that for sure.

But for now, my knowledgde will remain limited with this cute little warrior!

Unboxing Eromanga Sensei Izumi Sagiri

 A controversial anime it seems, who is now on my watching list, is Eromanga Sensei.

But as I stated above, as I have not finished it yet, I can`t form an opinion on that topic, though at time of filming this I am actually watching the series with Noshi.

However, when this cute figure appeared on TokyoCatch, I played for her, and succesfully added her to my loot for february, having her shipped out near the end of the month and now it's time to unbox her!

A very kawaii looking figure, that found her place in our living room display cabinet as a result. 

Unboxing Sakura Hatsune Miku

 The period of the blooming cherry blossom trees is upon us, and what better way to celebrate then unboxing a sakura edition of Hatsune Miku.

The model, made by Taito, was won over at TokyoCatch in february, and arrived this month.

So, with spring slowly coming in the air overhere, let's unbox this figure!

A truly "happy" addition to the collection, miss Miku puts a smile to your face in this pink edition.

Unboxing Evangelion Souryuu Asuka Langley SPM

 Shamefully, I still have to watch the final Evangelion movie, though part of me keeps putting it off because it is the closure to the whole franchise, one I adored since my steps into anime decades ago.

But I won this SPM "vignette" figure at TokyoCatch, and so let's have a look at the figure!

Now, I must say, Asuka was always my least favorite of the girls (yeah, even Mari passed her in the Rebuild project), as Rei Ayanami was kind of my very first anime waifu crush.  

 

Never the less, that doesn`t mean I won`t enjoy having this figure in my collection, I`ll just need to see to get the Rei one from one of the local stores if lucky.

The Haul Report 311: the Leuven Loot

 Last weekend, Noshi and me went to Leuven on a relaxing citytrip.

And of course, part of that visit was to go to the local Akiba store.

In there, I went for a nice pile of gachapon balls, to go into my tube for the end of the year.  And picked up the second volume of JK Haru as well...

While strolling through Leuven, we came across the comicbook store Het besloten Land, where I managed to snag up the 7th volume of Terra Formars.

So a lovely city trip with some good loot to be had!

But that was not all, as part of a prizes shipment from Tokyo Catch also arrived this week.

 

 

So that makes the week even more epic.

Unboxing Fate/Grand Order Romani Archaman

 A character that plays an integral part in the Fate/Grand Order series, and responsible for creating Mash, Romani is now in my collection.

And he looks, on picture and box art, so nice and crisp.

 

Won over at TokyoCatch, I`m unboxing him in this short video:

 

 

So nope, the figure didn't disappoint, even though the base might have been better in a more contrasting black colour if you ask me.

 

But overal, I`m happy with the bloke to join my growing Fate prize figure collection!

Opening 2 Pokemon Vivid Voltage boosters: These are FAKES

 Well, I grabbed these boosters with our left over prize tokens at a fancy fair, during our recent trip to Leuven with Noshi.

And now we are ripping open the booster packs, and see if any gems are hiding in these two little packs.

So, I taped the opening, but then my alarm bells went off, something wasn`t feeling right with these particular cards.  Never the less, I kept the little clip of the opening of the packs, as I was checking them out and after cutting the camera, started to notice all sorts of strange things on them.  But at least it shows these packs actually exist out there...

Because both the packs and the cards are fakes!!!!

I sensed something was off when I only had 19 instead of 20 cards after opening both boosters, and no online code cards.  So I went in to look deeper.

For starters, they feel course and not smooth like a real card, and the colouring of the backs in in various blue hues.  At first I thought they might have been stored badly, but then I went to look closer.

For starters, the booster pack doesn`t have the "6+" age mark above the letter N of Pokemon.

Further inspection on the cards themselves show that some have very vague printings, while other look a bit faded in colour.

But it gets "better" when looking at the rares: the Galarian Darmanitan V actually is a few milimetres shorter then the other cards, while the Orbeetle V is cut wrongly at the bottom.

So these are straight to the garbage can cards, elaborate fakes they might be though!

Unboxing Saint Seiya Cosmo Memoir Mu of Jamir

 A recent win from TokyoCatch, the Cosmo Memoir model of Mu of Jamir, the gold Aries saint, is now in my possession wiiiej.

And in this short video, we are taking a look at the warrior blessed with the skills to repair other clothes, but who is as much a fearsome warrior himself!

 

 

A pretty neat figure all in all, and I still hope they will do the whole line eventually (Hyoga!  Deathmask!!!) but I guess that will be a case of wait and see...

I just haven`t figured out the whole standpole thing though... even now, after taping the clip.

An Old Belgian Otaku goes to Leuven

 Finally!  After a string of events, with Thorin, Covid, Noshi's knee, etc... we finally managed to go on a city trip and make some time for each other.

While keeping it modest in distance, as we settled on Leuven until the little guy is a bit bigger and we can leave a bit further, the student city of Belgium never the less has a lot to offer as well.

Like a fancy fair right in front of our hotel!  Sadly, it didn`t open yet on friday (it will on saturday, so you will see this pop up again at the end).  The hotel Malon, straight across the station, was really cheap (70 euro a night including breakfast for both of us), comfy, clean and had all the things needed for a fall out base.  Because well, we slept there and that was about it, being on a walk during the whole day.

So arriving friday afternoon, we dropped of our suitcase, and went out to explore.  Ironically, the Akiba store was the first thing we passed by, but check THIS post for a full story on that.

Leuven hosts the most gorgeous city hall in Belgium, and straight across was the first place we wanted to visit, the might St Pieters church.  A very "light" church due to the huge windows (and a sunny day), it is a must stop place for everyone visiting the city.  Admittance is free by the way.

That brings us next to the Oude Markt, which hoists student cafe after student cafe.  I tried my first of three special beers from the weekend here, being the Maeght from Gottem.  A bitter blonde, I liked this one and the added hopflower in the bottle is optional to eat.  Beware, that is extremely bitter!

Time for a late lunch, and we hopped to the local Burger King.  Which sadist decided that for the special burgers of the moment, it is either extra cheesy, or extra bacon-ny???

Back to the Oude Markt after that for some more drinking in the spring sun, and this time it was a Taras Boulba.  Not my favorite to be honest.

Dagelijkse Kost is a belgian cooking programme, and we passed by the studio where they tape it.  With all due respect to Jeroen Meeus, Thorin thinks my zucchini mash is better ;-)

 

 

So that leads us to our dinner reservation for the first day.  We went to Het Fonduehuisje, where you can boil meat in oil a volonte.  I`m getting old though, I quitted after the first full plate, common sense is kicking in over the years I guess.  Noshi went for the cheese fondue.

A coffee (with what must be the largest cookie I ever had with one) near our hotel concluded as such the friday.

So rise and shine on the saturday, as the breakfast buffet awaited us.  Functional with all you need without to many special additions, that's all one needs to get going.

Now, Leuven is apart from students also a city of many saints, even Noshi apparently has been such a good girl she got her own street there...

But we kicked the morning off with a walk in the Kruidtuin (again, free admittance) which hosts a large collection of plants and fruits.

This statue creeped me out though for some reason...

And why is this pear called a pineapple???

The cherry blossoms are also starting to bloom, such a beautiful sight for sure.

Walking through the old city alleyways of Leuven, we went to our next destination.

And that was the Groot Begijnhof.  No longer in use for the nuns of the city, in the 60s the university bought it and now serves as a staying place for professors, guests and students.

Our final must visit spot of this trip of course had to be the University Library.  Here you do have to pay a small fee, but we didn`t take the tower addition as our knees won`t forgive us those small whirling stairs at all.

It also hosted two exhibitions of the school, one on belgian composer Luc Brewaeys, and one on small items they found during archeological studies.

And then... yup, terrace time, first with a cocktail (lesson learned btw, go to the regular bars, their cocktails pack more punch and are usually cheaper), in my case a Mexican Mule.

And then something more up my alley, a Paljas beer.  I admit, I LOVED this one!

While walking towards our evening restaurant, we strolled across Het besloten land, a comic store that also sells manga, and I picked up a volume of Terra Formars there.

And then food time, with all you can eat ribs in the Wolfgang!

 

 

 As we returned to the room, the fair was open this time, so we went to do some coin shufflers.  We did rather well, because we got a nice plushy from Planes for Thorin.

But sadly, that was the last activity apart from a good snore and breakfast, as we caught the train back to Antwerp on sunday morning.  Because a little prince was waiting for us eagerly!

Leuven is a very cosy city and well worth the visit, some other great looking restaurants and local beers have passed our way as well, but you can`t try them all.  At least not without having your stomach pumped and your liver in a coma, but maybe we will go back there in the future, who knows what time will bring!