Saku's AFK Corner

Final Fantasy XIV Open Beta

Saku — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 01:26:14 +0000

Approximately about 1 hour left at the time I am writing this post, FFXIV open beta will start. Everyone can join in and all you need to do is register on Square Enix site, download FFXIV client , update patches, grab FFXIV open beta registration code and play. Regardless you were on alpha/closed beta or not, you can join.

Note that open beta was supposed to start yesterday, however, due to critical error, Square-Enix had to postpone to today. Thankfully it’s only one day delay because yesterday, they announced that open beta was postponed. Not a great move by Square-Enix postponing open beta especially with bad press all around internet concerning alpha/closed beta and the rumoured fatigue system. I guess they probably forgot to remove the fatigue system ^^;;.

I believe this is a great opportunity for not only those who have been looking forward to play it but also those who were skeptical about getting FFXIV due to bad first impressions from alpha/closed beta tester. Everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion so the best way to check if FFXIV is a game you should look forward is to get yourself involved in this open beta.

FFXIVcore.com provides a simple and straightforward guideline on how to get you going and they even have the patches uploaded on Megaupload and other file sharing sites. If you are trying to get updated patches from FFXIV official client, I have to say good luck with that as it’s really slow ^^;;, thus, it’s better if you use utorrent or any other torrent client.

Don’t forget to watch the latest FFXIV Prerelease Official Trailer (North American version but I think all regions have the same trailer). It really kicks @$$.

Asakura Nemu 1/8 by Circus

Saku — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 05:10:32 +0000

Surprise, surprise, a figure photoshoot from Saku, you may want to refresh your browser to make sure you’re not dreaming; hit that F5 button on your keyboard ^^. How long has it been since my last figure photoshoot ? this is my first one in 2010 ^^;. I should have done more figure photo shoots since I have quite a few figures still in their boxes but it’s tough when there are real life stuff that got in the way then Starcraft 2 came out. I was not even planning to get it but peer pressure from my co-workers sure did the trick.

The lucky figure to be the first photo shoot of 2010 is Asakaru Nemu from Da Capo anime/eroge by Circus and it’s distributed by Good Smile Company (GSC).

I had never owned a figure by Circus before so I have no idea about its quality but I was willing to take the risk since I just love Da Capo series especially the first season and Nemu is my favourite character in the series. Yes, it’s not Kotori Shirakawa who I bet has gazillion fans out there.

From my previous about this figure preorder, the base was going to be a clear plastic but couldn’t really count on those preview photos since more often than not they are unreliable. Lets take a look at her base. It has pink/sakura colour which is perfect with the whole theme/story plot of Da Capo ie the magic Sakura tree. “D.C. ～ダ・カーポ～” print with couple sakura leaves is a nice touch on her base. In case you are not aware off, a great base is really important for me since I believe it just adds more awesomeness that can turn a mediocre figure to a great one which looks good for displaying purpose. So far, the base gets +1 in my book.

Now ,lets divert our attention to the top view. You can see some very minor imperfection in term of sculpture on her head (not sure if you can see it from the picture above but if not, click on the picture to bring you to my flickr page), .

I am not a huge fan of open mouth figure but I think she is much more appealing when she just lightly smiles instead of opening her mouth. DC characters design is generally nice and two thumbs up for the sculptor on here.

I am impressed by details on her shoes and not just paint but the sculpture itself. Look at those curves on her socks.

Her name would not be Asakura Nemu with her trademark cat bell on her neck.

Another minor imperfect paint around her school uniform buttons at front. Note that there is lightly blue shade on it which adds a nice touch instead of plain white.

Obviously, we cannot forget Nemu’s bows on her head. They just look lovely on her ^^.

I flipped her skirt just to see what colour of pantsu she is wearing ^_~.

Another great details on her cute bag with a drawing of her cat, Utamaru, which always appears randomly in the series.

In addition to Utamaru, there is also Mysterious-san, the black cat. Not a great paint job on its eyes.

Another +1 on her skirt which was nicely sculptured and it’s cast-off able.

Now, her side is probably the most annoying this about this figure due to being castoff able. I am not against castoff-able but in this case, I am not a fan how it looks like. Not to mention, it’s hard to take off her uniform. I think she is a much better off without the castoff-able.

Another bow on her back around waist area which mimics like one in anime/eroge.

Nice little decoration on her bra.

Her body is detachable just around her waist since you need it to cast off her uniform and skirt.

As I mentioned previously in my preorder post, her body looks little bit too thin for me.

Overall impression, I am really satisfied with the quality of this figure and I believe that she is so under rated out there. I haven’t seen many figure collectors owning her. Despite minor imperfect paint and sculpture here and there, she is totally worth it. I would recommend her not only to Da Capo fans but also non D.C. fans out there. She is worthy enough to be part of your figure collection ^^.

Additional tidbits

Manufacturer	Circus
Scale	1/8
Original	Da Capo
Release Date	Late May 2010
Retail Price	¥9,240 (Price varies due to discounts or other promotions for each store)
In stock	Hobby Search, Hobby Link Japan, Ami-ami (Currently on sale for 5,500 yen. Very awesome deal), Otakumitsukai , Yes-asia and toylet

Rating: 8/10

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.

Claymore Chapter 106 : Phantom’s Ambush

Saku — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 04:29:41 +0000

Chapter Summary

Third day of the Shirou moon, in a Holy City Rabona, soon after Dietrich, current #8 Claymore, tells her intent to follow Denieve and Helen to the West, a rogue warrior known as “Phantom” silently slashes down her ally. Not even Galatea, the former #3 warrior, can prevent her. Phantom Miria is ready herself for her original main goal, to destroy the organization. Wearing her original claymore warrior armor, she sets on a journey to cut down the organization.

Meanwhile, the injured ally, Tabitha, finally awakened from her consciousness. Miria cut her down enough just enough to paralyze her and rendered her incapacitated. Upon her awakened, she was wondering why Miria attacked her. Galatea is kind enough to explain it to her. Since receiving Dietrich’s report, Miria has two options of either going east or west. The organization is currently lacking of warrior and vulnerable since Alicia and Beth are currently away in the west with rest of our main protagonist; Miria thought there’s no better chance than what she has right now to destroy the organization. Unlike her followers, her resolve is truly absolute and her only true goal is to destroy the organization. The time when they all swore that they would join together to destroy the organization, only Miria realized back then that they would have to kill fellow Claymores and humans. Being a good leader, she knows that others might not have the same resolve as her about killing fellow Claymores and humans.

Miria, the former #6, is no longer an even match for the remaining Claymores at the organization’s headquarters. She’s so strong that she can defeat her fellow Claymores without killing them. The current #3 and #5 are merely a child play for Miria. Unknowingly, the organization has something else under their sleeve. Twins warriors appear before Miria. One of them turns into an awakened and the other one controls the awakened being just like Alicia and Beth.

Thoughts

I am glad that Miria got some actions since it’s been a while since I saw her since all our attention was focused on what happened in the west side with Clare and cs, Priscilla and others. The two warriors surely give Miria some trouble but I don’t think it’s something that she cannot handle since she took down #3 and #5 quite easily. Not to mention that those warriors are pretty new and barely have any real world experience, thus, it’s safe to say that those two are still green. I wonder what the organization has in store for her since those two are not their trump card. I bet it has something to do with Raki since we haven’t seen Raki for a while. If my memory serves me correctly, Raki got hit by those spears from the Destroyer and managed to survive. Can’t wait for the next chapter.

Any other thoughts ?

Hatsune Miku Tony Taka’s Illustration Ver.

Saku — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 08:13:48 +0000

My first Miku Hatsune figure that I have ever owned will be released on January 2011. Her dynamic pose is the main reason why I just had to preorder her and besides, I have no doubt in the quality of Max Factory.

She will be my second pre-order from my Wonder Festival Summer 2010 wish list. I had pre-ordered Miku’s figure previously but always canceled it at the end due to either other figures or deemed to be not worth it. Since I have nothing else coming out in January 2011, there is no doubt that she will be in my possession and my first figure in 2011 ^^.

This figure pose was taken from Tony Taka‘s illustration on Comiket 77. He’s well known character designer and his work includes, but not limited to, Shining series, Fault!, Sora no Iro, Mizu no Iro and many others including doujinshi. You can download Hatsune Miku’s wallpaper by Tony Taka here.

As far I can see from the photos around the Net, the details are just very astonishing and awesome. And what’s more is that she’s very well priced for something at 1/7 scale; she is priced at ‘only’ ¥8,400. Pretty affordable, isn’t she ?

All in all, she is more than worthy to be in my pre-order and to be the first figure on 2011 in my possession.

Additional tidbits

Manufacturer	Max Factory
Scale	1/7
Original	Character Vocal Series 01 Hatsune Miku
Release Date	January 2011
Retail Price	¥8,400 (Price varies due to discounts or other promotions for each store)
Available for preorder	Hobby Search, Hobby Link Japan, jlist, Otacute, Play-Asia

Images via Hobby Search

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