Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid

Here it is, NUMBER 50 of this calendar year.  That's one mighty leap in MAL account statistics that 2021 brought along!

 

 Okay, so the second season of this anime that Noshi loves has just finished airing, so in order to enjoy that together with her, I battered down the hatches and went through season 1.

 

 

And might get to learn her adoration for Kanna in the process...

 

When Miss Kobayashi sets out for work, she is greeted by a huge dragon, Tohru.  Apparently, the night before in a drunk stupor, she invited her to come live with her, and the dragon has accepted on this to become her maid.

 

 

Apart from the fact she doesn`t know anything about being a maid, or how things work in our world...  but they set out and slowly she learns the ropes.  One day, she is found and joined by another young dragon, Kanna, and the three of them move to a bigger appartment as a result.  During the homewarming party, two more dragons, Quetzecoatl (or Lucoa for short) and Fafnir, come over to visit. 

When they also decide to settle in the human world, what follows is a very fun rom-com anime.  Episodes like of course to the beach, but also one about comic con's in Japan, about the origins of Tohru, Kanna wanting to go to school... they all create some fun events to enjoy.

For me, it gave of that same "warm feeling" like Date-a-Live does, and that is a good thing.  Even though Noshi was amazed when I told and showed her Date-a-Live is actually the older of the two series...

 

Now to go watch all the specials and OVA's, so we can start watching season 2 together.

Gigant volume 3 - Hiroya Oku

 Time for the third volume of the recently ended, 10 books long, manga about an adult actress turning giant sized saviour of the world.

And so far, I have been really enjoying this series.

Picking up where volume 2 ended, with a Lord of Destruction reigning dead on the Roppongi district of Tokyo, Chihi comes to the rescue of Rei.   Meaning a large demon and a giant, naked pornactress battle it out in the streets of the city.

She defeats the monster, and in the aftermath is introduced to Rei's parents.  But with the age gap, his mother does not approve of their relationship at all.  Chiho gets arrested for being identified as the giant woman, and found guilty of insurrection right at a time ETE predicts a fleet of UFO's abducting people.  The death penalty is spoken out for her, but then giants (think Attack on Titan style) start attacking Tokyo...

Another fine volume (and at times, ecchi) of the series, and I must say I`m becoming a real PaPiCo fan as well.  Time they release a figure of her, and make an anime adaption ;-)

Unboxing Itsuki Nakano

 Okay, so this recently discovered anime for me and Noshi has really become a guilty pleasure one: The Quintessential Quintuplets.

So much even, I decided to collect all five siblings.

Now, there are two brands making their school uniform series, being Taito and Good Smile Company.  I looked at both of them, and while the Pop Up Parade version is slightly more expensive, I decided to get the full series of the Nakano sisters over time.

And the first one, I picked up a few weeks ago during the opening of the Nendo Addicts store in Antwerp, Itsuki.

Let's have a look at her unboxing as such:

 

 

A nice figure and well made (like, so far I must say, all the PuP models) with some excellent detailing on them.  

 

Now, which one to collect next...

GAT-X207 Blitz Gundam

 Its the beginning of november, and it finally happened!

I picked up my paint brush again for some wargame models.

The lucky model in question being a gashapon model of the 1/400 scale Blitz Gundam from Gundam SEED Destiny, to be used in either Future War Commander or in MechaTop, but that is something for next year when we hopefully can get back to the club.

But for now, he stands ready.  He will get an octagonal base once I get the printer up and running again at last, but he is already suitable as he is right now to play some games with.

Now to slowly but surely start painting more of them again, and maybe, just maybe, I might end up with some kind of decent tally in the end of the year after all...

The Haul Report 296

 It's Gashapon time this week!

I ordered a fresh box of Capsule Box, since it would contain something from That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime.

So check back yesterday's post to see the unboxing I`ve done with Noshi!

 

Santa also came early, because apart from some Nike's for the gym, I also got some Nike Flight Legacy's for work from "la mama" already ;-)

For the coming week, I`m expecting a box or two of figures, IF BPost cooperates a bit, so I -might- do it by video once again, we'll see about that and how busy work will be.

See you next week!

On the Painting Desk 195

 Ages, it has been ages since I painted something.

Since half of july to be precise...

Now technically, this is more of an "On the Drawing Desk" post, as I've started on a second anime painting, this time one to go inside my own home office.  So making use of my hyper modern drawing screen, aka the second monitor and some cellotape, it was time to start drawing.

And what better then my guilty pleasure discovery of this year, the Nakano siblings from The Quintessential Quintuplets.

God I enjoyed that cute little slice of life anime...

But that means that I can be spending those odd half hours left or right of free time to get some painting done again.

 

BECAUSE after a nearly 6 month hiatus, I started preparing a couple of figures for gaming again, namely 1/400 scale Gundams as well as some Saint Seiya models, respectively for MechaTop and for Constellation Warriors to game.  And duly started painting on the first mobile suit.

Let's see how this progresses!

Unboxing the October 2021 CapsuleBox

 I bought another CapsuleBox this month, the october version, because it should contain an item from That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime.

And I recently saw that there where some small scale figures of the series, so I HOPE it is one of those, but we'll see what it actually is inside.

I sat down together with Noshi to delve into the box, and avoided the spoiler paper first in order to be pleasantly suprised as a result.

The box contained 6 balls this time round, so we got cracking right away, pulling out balls at random from the box.

 

And the first one immediatly was the Slime one, and it indeed where those new figure series of three.  A bit of a pity I didn`t get Milim, Shizue looks adorable holding a tiny blushing Rimuru.

 

 

The next thing is a cat on a barber chair, not from any anime but some fun balls in Japan, and they included it in the box as such.

 

 

Thirdly it is the "traditional item" they always include in the boxes, a kitsune bringing a fortune wish with it.  Nice little beastie, and it goes in my nicknack closet as such.

 

 

"We have a Pikachu" Noshi proclaimed as I handed over the fouth ball, and it is one of the Halloween mascot set ones.  And imho, the most fun of the series as it is Pikachu playing ghost with a blanket.

 

 

A JuJu Kaisen figure was the fifth one in the box, and we drew Toge Inumaki.  Now, we haven`t seen that anime so far, who knows maybe in the future...

 

 

The final ball contained an acrylic clip from Yuru Camp, a nice little stationary item I`m definitly keeping as well.

 

 

So, that was the contents of the october box.  I`m delighted with the Slime figure, love the Yuru and Pikachu items, and think the kitsune is cute.  Both the cat and the Juju Kaisen item don`t do anything for me though, so they will end up in a give away one of these weeks over on Instagram that I`m planning, with some more items from older boxes whoch weren't down my alley.

 

 

But, I`m overall very pleased with the contents, and if the theme's or named series that will be in the box are down my alley, I will definitly be ordering from them once again, all IOSS woes included!

 

And, we got some bonus candy as well once more :-) 

Gigant volume 2 - Hiroya Oku

 I finally obtained the second volume of this "adult star turns superhero" manga by Hiroya Oku, and happy I can continue the story now.

 

 

And the events of disaster foretelling website ETE continue.

 

But during that time, Rei convinces Chihi to let him be her boyfriend.  While reluctantly at first, she soon develops a deep loving feel for him (and takes his virginity), falling more and more as they continue going on dates.

 

When a giant creature comes down after a poll that won, to reduce the population of Tokyo, Rei and his family get caughed in the metro of the city.  Chiho rushes to his rescue as she thinks he might not survive this, and enlarging herself engages with the giant!

 

But what is that mysterious space station shortly observed?

Action packed for sure, especially in the second half of the book, I`m still enjoying this series.  And Papico is definitly wifey material, lucky Rei ;-)

Grote Schijn 2021

 Grote Schijn is a nocturnal lightshow walk in the Rivierenhof park here in Antwerp, taking place 500 meters from my front door.

So yesterday evening, Noshi, my dad and me went out to participate in this event, and indulge ourselves in a magical atmosphere.

Making use of light effects and fantasy like music, they create a spectacle on the existing trees, immersing one into a very fae-like world.  With all the blue tones and hues, you take the trail for about 1.5 kilometres along places you walked before a hundreth times, but never paid attention to in that way.

But now the trees and the park seemingly have come to life, and you expect to see dancing faeries and gnomes around every corner, all the while enjoying the soothing music that plays.

While on the background, you hear the constant pulsing of what seems the heartbeat of the park, emmanating from the Atlas statue that is located near the center of the park.

The main attraction of the walk is about halfway in, as on what is normally a largy tree surrounded field of grass, there are now projections of all kinds of wild animals, and they move due to ingenious use of the lights.  A flying owl, a jumping dolphin, a howling wolf... they are all present.

This is a truly soothing and relaxing experience, and we even where so lucky to have a dry night, always a risk as you have to book tickets in advance and november is a rainy month in Belgium.

Sadly, after about an hour of walking in this mystical world, the sign appears and it is back to reality...

But I loved doing it, and will be going back in the next edition.  And in a few years, my little warrior will be accompanying us for this for certain!