Well, it’s been a while. Here’s a post with some new recent things I think that I haven’t blogged about.

I’m lazy and will just upload a batch of pictures, they all include:

Xecty Goddess Ver. figure
Gertrude figure
Sanya figure
ARIA vol 1-12
-SAKI- vol 1-7
DECO*27 CD
Angel Beats! OP & ED Single
Supercell Single
Umineko game OP
Umineko Chiru first OP

Let’s skip my shpiel and cut straight to the PV.

Making its debut at the recent TGS, Alchemist is bringing us not only the highly anticipated seacats PS3 port but also Galgun, a very unorthodox rail shooter where your objective is to blast girls with love bullets until you can find the protagonist’s true love. If you’re as loving of moe highschool shootouts with tentacle beasts as I am then you’ll be crying yourself to bed tonight for not owning a Japanese Xbox 360.

Though ill-advised by SBO staff, camera footage and stream recordings of the recent 2010 Super Battle Opera matches have slowly begun to trickle onto the internet. As always SBO assembles the strongest players for each respective game and this year does not disappoint in skill level.

Street Fighter 4 — 3 vs 3, 32 teams

1. Kindevu (Rufus), Momochi (Akuma), RF (Sagat)
2. Daigo Umehara (Ryu), TKD (El Fuerte), Bonchan (Sagat)
3. Tokido (Akuma), Mago (Sagat), Nemo (Chun-Li)
3. Denpa (Sagat), Dashimaki Tamago (C. Viper), Nen (Rufus)

Grand Finals:
Kindevu (Rufus), Momochi (Akuma), RF (Sagat) vs Daigo Umehara (Ryu), TKD (El Fuerte), Bonchan (Sagat)

Street Fighter 3 Third Strike — 3 vs 3, 16 teams

1. MOV (Chun-Li), Kuroda (Ken), Nitto (Yun)
2. Kokujin (Dudley), Haitani (Makoto), Nuki (Chun-Li)
3. Raou (Chun-Li), Mesuta (Yun), Higa (Ibuki)
3. K.O. (Yang), Ochibi (Yun), Tokido (Chun-Li)

Semi Finals Opening:

Grand Finals:
MOV (Chun-Li), Kuroda (Ken), Nitto (Yun) vs Kokujin (Dudley), Haitani (Makoto), Nuki (Chun-Li)

Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo X — 3 vs 3, 16 teams

1. MAO (Claw), Ito (Dee Jay), Futachan (Ryu)
2. Abebin (E. Honda), Sasori (Ryu), Oonishi (Dictator)
3. Tsuji (Boxer), Inro (Old Chun-Li), Danjiri (Dhalsim)
3. Nuki (Chun-Li), Muteki (Guile), Shiki (Boxer)

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift — 2 vs 2

1. Chou (Litchi), Tsujikawa (Taokaka)
2. Satoshi (Bang), Hiroshi (Jin)
3. Hima (Arakune), Dora (Bang)
3. Fumo (Arakune), Goro (Lambda)

Grand Finals:
Tsujikawa (Taokaka) vs Satoshi (Bang)

Tekken 6 — 3 vs 3

1. Sumairu X (Marduk), Nesuchan (Devil Jin), Tatatatatatatata (Lars)
2. Daipan (Steve), Pekosu (Bob), Pandamania (Panda)
3. Addung (Asuka), Narakhof (Marduk), Naengmyun Sungin (Roger)
3. IDE (Bob), Agichi (Leo), Seikingu (King)

Semi-Finals (Korea vs Japan):

The King of Fighters 13

1. Oeppu (K’, Mature, Raiden)
2. Jaian (K’, Mai, Iori)
3. Kyabetsu (Andy Bogard, K’, Kula)
3. Ho Kun Xian (Elisabeth, K’, Takuma)

Semi-Finals:
Kyabetsu (Andy Bogard, K’, Kula) vs Oeppu (K’, Mature, Raiden)

King of Fighters 2002 Ultimate Match

1. Oz (Hinako, K’, Nameless )
2. M’ (K’, Kasumi, Nameless )
3. Oogosho (Ralf, Ryo, Jhun )
3. Score (K’, Kasumi, King )

Melty Blood: Actress Again — 2 vs 2

1. GO1 (F-Akiha), Ieda (C-Kohaku)
2. Hato (F-V.Akiha), Leo (C-Warc)
3. Kaimaato (F-Kouma), Inoshi (F-V.Sion)
3. Tatsuya (C-Ciel), X (H-Nero)

First Semi-Finals:
Hato (F V.Akiha), Leo (C Warcueid) vs X (H Nero), Tatsuya (C Ciel)

Second Semi-Finals:
Ieda Nakau (C Kohaku), GO1 (F Akiha) vs Inoshi (F V.Sion), Kaimaato (F Kouma)

Grand Finals:
GO1 (F Akiha), Ieda Nakau (C Kohaku) vs Hato (F V.Akiha), Leo (C Warcueid)

Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core — 3 vs 3

1. Shounen (Testament), RF (Faust), Ogawa (Eddie)
2. Inoue (Order Sol), Machaboo (Testament), FAB (Potemkin)
3. Isamu (Venom), Roi (Sol), LOX (Jam)
3. Ina (Millia), Nage (Faust), Mitsurugi (Zappa)

First Semi-Finals:
Ina (Millia), Nage (Faust), Mitsurugi (Zappa) vs Inoue (Order Sol), Machaboo (Testament), FAB (Potemkin)

Second Semi-Finals:
Shounen (Testament), RF (Faust), Ogawa (Eddie) vs Isamu (Venom), Roi (Sol), LOX (Jam)

Grand Finals:
Shounen (Testament), RF (Faust), Ogawa (Eddie) vs Inoue (Order Sol), Machaboo (Testament), FAB (Potemkin)

Virtua Figher 5: Final Showdown — 3 vs 3

1. Serori (Kage), Hiraganadeaoki (Jacky), Morimoto Reota (Vanessa)
2. Kurobo (Lau), Jaga (Goh), Yoroshiko (Jeffrey)
3. Joseph (Akira), Yuutenji (Lau), Gorgeous (Eileen)

Arcana Heart 3 — 2 vs 2

1. Kasumi LOVE (Akane) / Tono (Konoha)
2. Shirogoma (Angelia) / Kyouken (Zenia)
3. Banbaban (Heart) / Andou (Catherine)
3. Buchi (Yoriko) / Ooen (Kira)

If you’re really interested in all the Vanilla matches then just check out 0xkeNzo’s youtube account. I’ve yet to see them all but I will say Justin’s attempted reverse OCV was pretty hype (blasted Marn and Ricky are useless!). I’m a bit disappointed with Kuroda’s choosing of Ken in 3rd Strike grand finals but the level of skill in the entire set is as impressive as always and pro Geneijin combos always put a smile on my face.

BBCS has got my applause with the hype Tao player Tsujikawa who lead his team to victory. I’m also impressed with Melty Blood in that while many players switched over to H-Sion as she became very good in MBAACC, giants like GO1 and Hato still claimed victory in top 4 making it perhaps the first Melty Blood SBO top 4 without an Egyptian in it. Expect more SBO vids to end up on related youtube videos and be sure to look out for the DVDs arriving later this fall. Now if you’ll excuse me I’ll be hunting down Arcana Heart 3 finals vids. （ ￣з￣）

Sengoku Basara was at SBO ?_?

Book eating story, Bungaku Shoujo, has been slowly releasing its anime adaptations in a most confusing order. Originally created as light novels, it has now received an OVA, preludes, and a movie adaptation recently released on DVD & Blu-ray. The story follows a peculiar girl named Tooko who eats the pages out of books, literally indulging herself with its contents. She can’t seem to taste normal food but finds rich flavors within different varieties of literature.

From the OVA and prelude we aren’t given much, but still enough to leave a taste of what to expect from the movie. The prelude starts us off with a little background history of Tooko, a self proclaimed bungaku shoujo (literature girl) and notorious consumer of books. She ends up discovering a discarded draft for a novel at a publishing company and almost instantly falls in love with it upon reading it. She then forces a the publishers to give it a second read. The novel, “Similar to the Sky,” becomes a success thanks to Tooko. But to her devastation, she later discovers that the author of “Similar to the Sky,” pen name Inoue Miu, has decided to quit writing. But of course, as fate would have it, she discovers that Inoue Konoha, the supposed writer of “Similar to the Sky,” happens to be her underclassman at the very same school she attends. One day Inoue Konoha discovers a beautiful girl with long braided hair sitting under a tree, feasting on a book, and from there our story takes off…

Originality was what caught my interest and kept me interested in this show. It’s rare that I find a series that can still be called original. Sure it’s another case of boy-meets-strange girl, but how many of those has a paper-eating bookworm as the main heroine? Kana Hanazawa does the perfect job executing Tooko’s eccentric spirit and love for literature, especially during her literature story acid trips. Bungaku Shoujo stews charm, story, and comedy into a well mixed blend and I’m definitely going to be keeping up with this show’s odd releases so expect more delicious book eating posts to come.

My copy of the second volume of Spice & Wolf has finally arrived. It’s very nice in that unlike the previous volume, this issue and those in the future will have the original anime style art featured on the actual cover and the free dust covers provided will have the “westernized” art on it, whereas the first volume was the opposite.

The novels themselves were quite popular in Japan, most likely for featuring an often naked wolf as the lead heroine. While I don’t find the author’s writing to be particularly outstanding, I do enjoy the often humorous and clever bantering that occurs between Lawrence and Holo. I never finished the anime myself but reading the novels are a different experience from what I remember of watching it. When watching anime, one automatically watches it from a Japanese point of view, but the novels are unique in that by reading them you can still acquire a very western tone, where the only thing reminding you that this is still a Japanese novel is the inclusion of a naked wolf goddess with a taste for apples.