The Haul Report 338

 Some fresh manga arrived this week, due to my My Box at Archonia.

Though I couldn`t do an unboxing, as it also contained about a dozen other books, which are my christmas present from Noshi, so I`ll have to wait for those.

But apart from them, I can now continue in the adventures of Rimuru, got the pre-order volumes from Blue Period (next box, there will be some already released ones for this series) and the Saintia Sho volume they had in stock.

 

So this was a very good week, even though I have to wait more then two months for the majority of it hehe.

On the Painting Desk 215

 After last week's intermezzo of building Caramel, it's time to turn back to Freedom.

And some good progress was made on the kit in the past week.

All the blue has been done now, so only the dark grey has to be done and then we have completed the "main sections" of the model, meaning I can tackle the smaller areas and colours.

But first, let's see if we get that grey done, so check back in the next instalment of On the Painting Desk!

In between, I also began painting Caramel, starting to put a base layer on all the areas that need to end up beige, with Coat D'Arms Dark Sand as first colour.

The other base colours where added as well, but now I need to prepare mentally to tackle my most detested colour... yellow.

How that goes, is something I`ll be able to show in a future update!

Komi Can`t Communicate

 Okay, so it wasn`t the intention that I was going to watch this series.

But Noshi did, and I saw the last few episodes of the series.  Then, a second season arrived on Netflix, and as Noshi started watching that, I tagged along... and in the meantime binged through season 1 to be up to date.

Shoko Komi is a stunning girl, long dark hair, flawless skin... and totally socially inept.  She has such an anxiety that she can't even communicate with those around her.  A family trait, as both her younger brother and her father have the same issue.

At her school, she tries to make friends, and does so with people like Tadano who just wants to blend in, or some more outspoken people as well.  The situations this leads to are pretty funny, as she manages to get by just by not communicating bar through a notepad.  This Tadano had figured out after everyone belives she is mysterious, but when alone in a classroom with her she takes to the blackboard to talk to him.

He becomes her confidant, and she secretly develops a crush on him, making some of their interactions even more awkward for her though.  But he goes by her side, interpretting her signals and keeping her out of socially required talks, and thus becoming her first ever friend.

A really nice and gentle series, and with some great comic touches to a very real problem out there.  heck, even I have that in gatherings, though not that extreme...

Shaft

 One of those things that happen while on holidays, is that you see movies you probably never see otherwise.

And so we saw Shaft on the cable while in Bredene.

This 2000 movie starring Samuel L. Jackson is of course a remake of the old 70s movie and was actually quite enjoyable.  In a bungalow.  At the seaside.  With no access to your regular poison.

When called in to investigate a brutal assault outside a restuarant, street-way style using officer John Shaft arrests Walter Wade Jr, a wealthy son of a real estate magnate.  While there was an eye witness, a waitress called Diane, she refuses to issue a statement.  The victim goes in seizure and dies, but as Wade mocks him, Shaft punches him.  This is enough to let him walk free, much to the frustration of Shaft.

When Wade comes back from abroad two years later, Shaft arrests him again.  In jail, he meets and strikes a deal with Dominican drug lord Peoples Hernandez, but yet again Wade goes free on bail.  Shaft turns in his badge and vows to bring justice in his own way.

He searches for Diane, while Wade does the same by hiring Peoples and his gang.  Even though Shaft manages to set up a couple of corrupt cops that work with Peoples, it's only after an intense firefight that he and Diane manage to get away from Peoples and his men.  Diane confesses she took a pay-off from Wade, but Shaft convinces her to stand witness at the trial after all.

Peoples attacks again, but is shot after a long chase by Shaft, but at the trial itself Trey's mother shoots and kills Wade and is arrested, having brought vengeance for her son her own way...

So yeah, this was a good police movie, with an excellent performance by Jackson, so okay to watch on a late summer evening with a bag of nuts and a cool beer.

The Devil is a Part-timer season 2

 After 9 years, Satan is back working part time at MgRonald's!

And so it was time to sit down and enjoy the ride once again!

While contemplating their bad finances, the band is gathered when a golden apple appears.  This containes Alas Ramus, a young baby girl claiming she is the daughter of Maou and Emi, who both are very taken a back by this!  Maou, Emi and the others have to settle into a surrogate parents role, taking the baby out to an amusement park and all, but Gabriel's angels appear wanting to reclaim her to reignite the Tree of Life.

Emilia and Maou start getting closer to each other thanks to Alas Ramus, and the baby stands up to an angel when he comes to retrieve her.  Emilia chases her off, but the Sacred Sword gets destroyed in the process, and Alas Ramus, being a shard of the same branch from the Tree of Life, takes the form of the blade to reside in.

Their place however needs to get seriously repaired after the attack, and Maou and his friends take boarding and a job at the niece of their landlady.  One evening, strange forms appear in the fog, and these turn out to be demonic citizens.  They are snatched away by a mysterious whirlwind, but one of Maou's servants, Camio, manages to escape it and shelters with the gang, though turning into a magical chick to regain his strength.  He tells them the demon realm is in chaos, but also that their current landlady is the power that snatched them away, as she seemingly possesses godess like powers.

Still looking for a job, they go to Chiho's aunt to help and work the land.  But when Emi barehandedly defeats a hungry bear, saving the family in the process, she becomes a sort of local celebrity.  But thieves are roaming the area, stealing produce from the farms and the gang take it upon them to seek them out and stop them.

Back in the city, Maou decided he needs a television to stay up to date in the world, but as they go shopping, a mysterious event destroys all the screens in the store.  While Emi goes to the hospital to look for a woman who might be her mother, she finds Chiho there in a coma, also a result of the pulse.  This is due to the arrival of the angel Raguel the Watcher, as Lucifer learns from Gabriel.  While his motives are unknown, the group decides to band together in order to stop him sending out pulses.

They confront Raguel and Gabriel, aided by Chiho who has her body willingly possessed by Emi's mother.  The angels are driven off, but Emi learned that her whole reason for becoming a hero, to avenge her father, was in vain, as her dad is seemingly alive and on this world.  Now the band decides to gather their wits together and aid her out...

So this was a fun series, and it is to be continued, hopefully not as long though as between seasons 1 and 2.  The only downside is that it was perhaps a bit less slapstick then the first season, and that is a shame as it made up a whole lot of the charm of the anime.

My Dress-Up Darling volume 3 - Shinichi Fukuda

 So who was that soaked girl Gramps let inside the house at the end of volume 2?

She is none other then Sajuna Inui, aka JuJu-san, a famous cosplayer and idol of Marin.

And she gets to meet Gojo when she comes out of the shower at his house.  She has sought him out as she saw his costume for Marin, and wants to commission one of her own, amazed by the fact that that was his very first efforts at making one. 

Marin, totally star-struck, convinces her to do a group shoot, meaning poor Gojo now needs to create no less then two costumes instead.  He goes over to her house to discuss the project, which she sees as a home-date, as she is totally falling for the silent introvert, even doing an effort to cook for him.

Later on, they meet with Sajuna and her (very big) little sister Shinju, who does the photography of JuJu, and she teaches Marin and Gojo of the tricks and twists of photography, as they go an look for a set to do the shoot.  They settle on an abandoned hospital, which actually unsettles JuJu quite a bit.

But school also has to be done, so after the exams at the start of the summer break, Marin takes Gojo to the oceanside, which he confesses is the first time he's been there.  Marin pledges to take him to more places he never visited... by just the two to them.

The romance continues to grow in this volume, and it remains a great romcom slice of life anime to read.  Onwards to the next volume now!

September 2022 Loot

 Another month has gone by, and so here we are again with the monthly overview of obtained anime loot.

And as always, below the clip are the necessary links.

And it has been a bit of a varied month this time round, still though focussing on manga.

Glow in the Dark Ikki, Dress Up Darling 2 to 4 and 6, Reincarnated as a Slime 3, Terra Formars 9, Saint Seiya Gashapon: the monthly box of goodies from Archonia that came in.

Demon Slayer tissue holder: this came through the TokyoCatch online crane game.

Lot of gachapon: these came from the machines of Akiba in Antwerp Central Station. 

Fun stuff, and next month it'll have a nice biggie as well, so make sure to check back!

The Haul Report 337: a hero arrived by boat

 A new month has begun, and right after I completed the september loot taping, my favorite hero / villain, depending on your point of view, arrived from AmiAmi.

And that is of course none other then Quattro Vageena.

Or better known as Char Aznable, in his tutoring guise from the Gundam Z series.

I also "inherited" some cellphone covers from Noshi, as with her new phone these don`t fit hers anymore, so that's covers from Date A Live, Mirai Nikki, Guilty Crown and No Game No Life 0 for me.

So this was a great week for sure!

On the Painting Desk 214

 Well, life is getting a bit more normalised after the very busy weeks, and I managed to sit down a couple of times.

Resulting in first and foremost putting together the Caramel mecha, whom I also put on a round base.

It's pretty cute, standing about 7 centimetres tall.

Something my pintsized assistant agreed on as well.