Saku's AFK Corner » Otaku

My Saber Netbook Case

Saku — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 03:57:53 +0000

My friend recommended me this site called Arts Cow where one can customize items with an image that he/she uploads. Now, I know it sounds pretty standard since many websites offer you the same services but this one offers you many items to customize ranging from netbook cases, cushion, dog tags, hand bags to umbrella. The quality is pretty awesome for $10. Shipping is also $10 but they have a lot of free shipping promotions on their site so it actually costs you only $10.

The store is actually based in Hongkong (assuming there is an actual/physical store) and what’s even more awesome is that I didn’t get charged by custom for GST/PST ^^. If the website looks sketchy and you don’t trust them with your credit card, look at the bottom right of the home page, you should see VeriSign secure site, thus, you can rest assure that the company is legit.

Speaking of price, $10 is really cheap for a customized item if you compare it to other online retailers, for example, Zazzle.com. if you know a great place to customize item similar to Arts Cow, please share ^^. I am looking for a site to customize a PSP case.

The back of the case is black and you slide in your netbook. The size should fit 10/11 inch netbook perfectly as you can see the picture below.

For something worth $10, the quality of paint is more than amazing. More closeup pictures below.

Image via AnimePaper.

Wonder Festival Summer 2010 Wish List

Saku — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 01:32:18 +0000

Tokyo Wonder Festival or most commonly known as Wonder Festival ((ワンダーフェスティバル) or WonFes (ワンフェス, wanfesu) is an event held twice every year: Summer and Winter. The purpose is to show various garage and/or resin for future releases. At the same time, various sculptors show off their creations in wonder showcase, however, our attention were mainly focused on major manufacturers such Alter, Good Smile Company, Max Factory, Kotobukiya, Griffon Enterprises, MegaHouse and many more.

We all wonders what kind of figures/nendos/figma will be released in the near future. So far we can all agree that we may need to file for bankruptcy before the end of this year ^^;. Ok, maybe not all but I know I am going to. Without further ado, here is my wish list from WonFes Summer 2010.

Hitagi from Bakamenogatari

Lovely pose from Hitagi. Her trademark staple makes her even more adorable and her pose was taken from the covert art of DVD volume 1. She is not yet painted so I will have to see if she will be worth buying, although, she is looking good so far.

Fate Testarossa in casual version

Alter does know their customer really well with this Fate Testarossa casual version not along after Fate Testarossa ~Phantom Minds~ is available for pre-order. Is this a way for milking $$$ from Nanoha the movies ? It sure does work on me.

Nodotchi (のどっち) and Koromo from Saki

I enjoy the series so that is why these figures are in my wish list. I may pass on Koromo but Nodotchi looks great and promising. Looks like there are quite few details on her clothing. Not to mention her wings and scarf makes her more appealing.

Phantom Xecty from Shining Wind

Now this looks very interesting since she looks top-less and her ‘top’ part is sculptured with great details ^^ . Since this is Kotobukiya, I have to look at painting quality before deciding to get her since it’s most likely 50-50 chance.

Alicia Melchiott from Valkyria Chronicles

Now, this one is a pure win. I’ve been longing for Alicia figure from any of well-known manufacturers since I played the game and watched the anime many months ago. The anime version is not as good as game and the game received several recognition as the best strategy game. This is definitely in my buy list and I will take my chances with Kotobukiya.

Mina Tepes from Dance in the Vampire Bund

For those who have watched anime, I am sure you remember her seductive pose at the end of anime ending. DFC and loli fans must be really excited to acquire her as their collection. Her pose is the most appealing point for me and which is why she is in my wish list ^^.

Yuri and Tenshi from Angel Beats

This is a tough decision. I have to choose between Yuri and Tenshi when the time comes. Tenshi’s pose is more appealing to me ^^.

Nemu Asakura from Da Capo

As a fan of Da Capo series, this nendoroid of Nemu Asakura is too good to pass it up. It includes the white cat (I think?) that always appears in Da Capo series. I couldn’t recall what its name >.<. I rarely buy nendoroids since I am not into those but I do make exceptions in case of my favourite series.

Nanoha Takamachi

And of course more Nanoha from the first movie as if we don’t have enough figures from Nanoha series already. She is only 1/12 scale but she takes a lot of space with her magic circle and divine buster pose.

Fate Testarossa

Since Nanoha and Fate go hand in hand, releasing only Nanoha sounds little bit weird so here goes another Fate. Majority of people probably will go with Fate but personally, I would choose Nanoha because her divine buster pose.

Rin from Fate/Stay Night series

Didn’t expect to see more figures from Rin especially in Unlimited Blade Works. Her hair is just great. Must be really hard trying to sculpt her hair.

Hatsune Miku Tony's Illustration version.

Her pose is taken from Tony Taka’s illustration in form of desktop wallpaper. You can get it from here. Her stunning pose is probably the highest appeal point in this figure. I am not a fan of Hatsune Miku per say but I do enjoy Tony Taka’s work so depending on the price, I most likely will be getting her.

Dark Sakura from Fate/Stay Night series

Best dark Sakura that I have ever seen and look at her clothing. There are a lot of details and pattern on her clothing. This is a must buy for me.

Mina Tepes ~Awakened Version~

Earlier, you have seen Mina tepes in her loli form and for those who are not a loli fan, you can rest assured that there will be awakened ver. of Mina. Her pose looks promising so far and I cannot to take a look at her painted.

Dizzy from Guilty Gears

Now , this is something that you don’t see everyday. A figure from Guilty Gears game and they chose the best character in Guilty Gear. I can only imagine the amount of details/efforts in the making of this figure since technically it’s a 3-person figure: Devil/Necro, Dizzy and Angel.

Images via Hobby Search

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Distant Worlds: music from Final Fantasy will be in Toronto

Saku — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 02:45:54 +0000

For those who live in Toronto and nearby area and an avid Final Fantasy series or even a fan of Nobue Uematsu, you may want to mark your calendar on November 27th, 2010 as Distant Worlds: music from Final Fantasy symphony concert world tour will perform at Sony Centre for the Performing Arts this year in Downtown Toronto. For those who live outside Canada, check out their upcoming events as they may come to your cities.

Ticket can be booked from ticketmaster.ca and it ranges from $35 to $125 depending where the seats are located.

Ticket price by seats:

ORCHESTRA : CA $83.50 – CA $123.50
MEZZANINE : CA $98.50
BALCONY: CA $35.00 – CA $83.50

My friends who happened to attend Dear Friends concert couple years ago told me that they really enjoyed it and it’s totally worth every penny spent ^^;;.

Here is the full list of songs. They are in no particular order and it may be subjected to change. I am hoping that they can add more theme songs from FFXI since that’s probably the longest Final Fantasy game that I’ve ever played.

1. FINAL FANTASY series: Main Theme

Main Theme

Swing de Chocobo (the theme song that keeps me company while I am doing a mini game of Chocobo digging ^^;;)

2. FINAL FANTASY I-III: Medley

3. FINAL FANTASY IV: Theme of Love

4. FINAL FANTASY V: Dear Friends

5. FINAL FANTASY VI: Opera “Maria and Draco”

6. FINAL FANTASY VII: One-Winged Angel, Opening – Bombing Mission, Aerith’s Theme

One-Winged Angel

Opening – Bombing Mission

Aerith’s Theme (is this everyone’s favourite ? )

7. FINAL FANTASY VIII: Liberi Fatali, Fisherman’s Horizon, Love Grows, Don’t be Afraid

Liberi Fatali

Fisherman’s Horizon

Love Grows

Don’t be Afraid (FFVIII battle theme song if I am not mistaken)

8. FINAL FANTASY IX: Vamo’ alla Flamenco (lol reminds me of funny scene in FFIX. See the youtube video to refresh your memory)

9. FINAL FANTASY X: To Zanarkand (never play FFX but I enjoy this song a lot)

10. FINAL FANTASY XI: Memoro de la Stono – Distant Worlds (This is the theme song from the final cs in Chains of Promethia(CoP) Expansion pack. It reminds me of staying late until like 4am in the morning and tried to beat those ridiculously hard CoP missions (SE made them easy afterward ^^;;)

Ronfaure (not part of their list but it was played during some of Distant Worlds concert)

It’s hard to believe that a game series like Final Fantasy lasts as long as FFXIV but with high quality music composed by maestro Nobuo Uematsu, it becomes one of the appealing factor to all major Final Fantasy branding (with some exception of course as he is not involved in FFXIII in order to work FFXIV). Gameplay, Music/Theme songs and Storyline become what defines a good RPG is.

Listening those songs bring back those memories playing those games. I still remembered how I used to play FFVII and FFVIII while my parents weren’t at home, otherwise, they would have told me to stop ^^. Or all those good time staying up late with fellow linkshell (guild) members doing CoP missions. We were waiting for our 2-hr ability (a special ability for a job that can be only be used once every 2 hour) to cool down in order to give the mission another try.

If this concert happens to be around your neighbourhood, will you go regardless ticket price ? and even if you are not a FF fan, will you still go ?

Broken Figures :(

Saku — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 11:44:01 +0000

My figure wall shelves that I bought from IKEA fell down couple days ago. 2 of my figures become a victim and part of the figures broke -_-;;. Those two are Queen’s Gate Alice and Asa Shigure. Queen’s Gate Alice is one of my rare figure since it’s hard to get another one with reasonable price, on the other hand, Asa Shigure is my favourite character from Shuffle!

For Alice, her tail broke , since she fell from quite a height and fortunately, her tail is the only thing that’s broken.

Does anyone have experiences in fixing broken figures ? I am thinking to glue them back together but highly doubt she will ever look the same as before.

I had 2 shelves in my living room and put them above my tv. Luckily enough, my tv is not close to the wall so there’s some space between the wall and the tv, hence why, the two fallen shelves didn’t hit my TV. Otherwise, I am so gonna very cry if my tv breaks since I spend most of my time in my living room, in front of my tv.

The top shelf fell down first and it hit the bottom shelf. Even though the two weren’t that far apart , but, the force was enough to cause the bottom shelf to fall down also

My guess was that the bolts are not long enough to support the weight of the shelf and not to mention, the wall is not exactly made from bricks -_-;;. I only put 4 figures per shelf so all of them shouldn’t be that heavy.

For Asa Shigure, her was detached from her hand -_-. I like this figure a lot since she is my favourite character in Shuffle! and I did a nice out door photoshoot last year with her.

She may be easier to fix than Alice but you never know since I have no idea where to start other than buying a glue.

Anyone knows what kind of glue/tools should I use ? what brand and where to get it (in Toronto, Canada) ?

If anyone has any tips and tricks on how to fix broken figures, please let me know >.<

Buying another Asa figure is not really an option since she is most likely out of stock everywhere and even if she is in stock, she is probably overpriced.

Does any of your figures break ? how did it happen ? did you buy a new one or did you attempt to fix it ?

Happy Chinese New Year and Valentine’s day

Saku — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:54:00 +0000

Today is just happened to be both Chinese New Year and Valentine’s day. If my memory serves me right, it never happened in the last 10 years. I couldn’t remember when the last time both Chinese New Year and Valentine’s day were on the same day, anyone wanna do some calculations for me ? ^^.

Image via Moe Imouto

Sakuafk.com would like to wish everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day and hope that you spend your day with your special someone. If you are a single guy/girl, Kinoshita Hideyoshi is available for a date as he swings both ways ^^;

Image via Alafista

This year is a year of Tiger so it’s only normal that I put Taiga Aisaka for this Chinese New Year. In addition to Valentine’s Day, Sakuafk.com would like to wish those who celebrate, a Happy Chinese New Year to you and your family. Does anyone get a lot of red pockets (angpao) ? Same as previous year, I got nothing ^^;;

If you are a single guy, scroll further below ;p. I hope the picture cheer you up a bit ^^;;

Keep scrolling……

Image via Moe Imouto

More pictures can be seen in my last year Valentine’s day post (NSFW).

Images source : 1st image, 2nd image and 3rd image