More on Fate/unlimited codes

A week ago a new trailer of Fate/unlimited codes PORTABLE was released, and besides casual wear Rider, hoodless Caster is also confirmed:


A few more sample pages of the the "Extended Edition" artbook were also released:


As well as a colored pic of WonderGOO tapestry:

As I said before, I'll end with 2 copies of the game and I'm selling one of them. I have a buyer that is half-heartedly willing to buy it, but anyone who wants it takes priority over him.
Only an unopened game will be included, and I'm selling it for 5,000 yen -shipping cost included- via PayPal . Interested people leave a comment.

Doujinshi purchase

And the only doujinshi that I purchased is this one released at Comic1 convention by circle King Revolver; Itsuki-chan To Yatteshimau, featuring Itsuki from Sora Wo Kakeru Shoujo, a series that I don't watch because is the typical Sunrise mecha anime... and I'm not very fond of the mecha genre.

Hybrid Active Figure Saber by Azone

Yesterday I went to Osaka with another companion from the university.
I think I'm getting a reputation as a doujinshi freak, because she wanted to buy BL doujinshi and asked me to show her the way to K-Books.
Since is still Golden Week, yesterday DenDen was unusually crowded, even with the rain.

While she was doing her purchases, I went to Lashinbang because there were a couple of things that I wanted to buy. One of them, a telephone card featuring a fox-eared Illya, was already sold. I'm not a big fan of telephone cards, but I systematically buy all the TYPE-MOON ones that are in the 1,000 yen price range (not so many, because the usual price is 2,000 yen or more).

The other thing was 1/6 Hybrid Active Figure Saber by Azone.
It was released in early 2007 for 23,000 yen, but since it was so expensive and I'm not a fan of dolls, I let it go until now, that I found it for 11,000 yen.

The quality is really astonishing, so you can see why is so expensive.

Here displayed without the armor parts.
 

 The face was done by Ouzaka Miki (Cherry Blossom). Is not great, and with that pseudo-happy face it seems that is high on drugs or something...

 Every piece of armor is metal, even the armored parts of the boots and the hanging details in the robe.

Caliburn is also cast in heavy metal, so heavy that the doll arm is unable to hold it properly...

Since is the Fate/hollow ataraxia version, it includes the new outfit. 

 I don't want to change the clothes, so here's a pic with the casual clothes, from Azone webpage.

In the official Azone shop in Osaka I purchased a couple of stands, one for the newly acquired Saber and one for Shiki, 420 yen each.

Fate/stay night Volume 9

Yesterday I purchased Fate/stay night volume 9 by Nishiwaki Datto.


As I said in previous posts, I don't like this manga, and I'm just buying it because is Fate.

I'm heavily biased against Nishiwaki's drawing style since the beginning, but lately his style is evolving in the wrong way; males with over-manly faces and necks as thick as the head and females with an almost perpetual grin that reminds me of a pissed Suzumiya Haruhi...


The story is not bad, since it tries to cover the 3 archs of the game without doing the weird stuff that appeared in the anime (like the story-wise irrelevant bondage Sakura). But the problem is that it doesn't add anything new. The manga version of Shingetsutan Tsukihime adds a considerably amount of new info that blends well with the story and makes it a bit better than the original game, and the manga of MELTY BLOOD uses a lighter tone and somewhat manages to keep the story original.
The manga of Fate is just like the game, so a familiar story with not so graceful drawings makes, in my opinion, an overall not recommended reading.

And as a sidenote, Hiroyama's Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya manga is having a follow-up under the name of Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma☆Illya 2wei! (intended to be read as Zwei!, "Two!" in German). I enjoyed that manga, so it's a really good news.

Fate/unlimited codes PORTABLE

Well, today I crossed the line: I pre-ordered 2 copies of Fate/unlimited codes PORTABLE in 2 differents shops just for the extras.

Fate/unlimited codes, was released in arcades in June '08 and in the PS2 in December '08.
The PSP version will be released on June 18, and for now the only anounced differences with the PS2 version is plain clothes for Rider, a new "Reflect Dash" counter move and a simplified command system input (a Godsent for me, since I still have an old PSP-1000 that makes all the fighting games barely playable).

For now, this is the only interesting "extra" in the PSP version...

A few weeks ago, several shops anounced their own "limited editions":

Capcom announced the "Extended Edition" for 6,240 yen.

The only extra is a 32 pages artbook containing the promotional pics for the game.


Amazon announced the "Deluxe Edition" for 9,240 yen.

The extras are a set of pins, a colection of cards with each character moveset and a cheap-looking mousepad.


And Sofmap announced the "Collectors Edition" for 8,980 yen.

The extras are a wallet, a clear card set, a case and a 140X50 cm tapestry of Saber.
2 days ago the design was revealed to be this:

Photo from AkibaBlog.

But today, searching in WonderGOO, I saw that they don't have a "limited edition", but as they did with the release of Fate/unlimited codes for PS2, their shop exclusive is another tapestry:



A few days ago I ordered Capcom's Extended Edition and I was planning to purchase the Sofmap tapestry via Yahoo! Auctions, but today I also pre-ordered the WonderGOO version... Orz

Since I'll end with two copies, if someone wants to purchase an unopened Fate/unlimited codes Portable leave a comment!!! I accept PayPal and I can send anywhere in the world. If nobody is interested, I'll sell the copy to a 2nd hand shop...

D-Frag! Volume 1

This morning I received a box from Amazon. It contained D-Frag! vol. 1 by Haruno Tomoya.


Haruno did several doujinshi based in TYPE-MOON works under his circle name Harutomo, and collaborated in TYPE-MOON Ace vol. 1, in Fate/tiger colosseum Upper, did the Kara no Kyoukai 4-koma for the 5th movie, and was the person who drew the mangas of Akiba in the anime Kannagi.

Since Haruno is one of the TYPE-MOON's merry friends, Takeuchi did a small illustration and a comment for the obi, and that's the reason of my purchase.


I saw in several places the title romanized as Day Flag!, but the intended meaning is D-Fragments.

The story is about the typical hoodlum, Kazama, who gets involved with the wierd girls of the "Game Production Club". But things gets even more complicated with the appearance of Takao and her "Real Game Production Club"... I'm pretty bad at summarize stuff in Japanese...

The "Game Production Club" girls. From left to right: Oosawa Minami, Karasuyama Chitose, Mizukami Sakura and Shibasaki Roka.

Takao, Kazama and Roka are the main characters, at least in this first volume.

I also purchased a wifi adaptor to use with XLink to play with the PSP online, but for now I was unable to make it work.

Random Japan

On Friday I began with the classes, so the blog wouldn't be updated very often until I get the dynamics of the classes again.
As expected, I ended in the level 3 group. The main focus of this level is speech skills and vocabulary, and we will have a vocabulary test of about 20 new words daily... in the level 2 we had test every 3 days so is quite an increase.

Anyways, since I don't have anything new to write about, I'll upload a few random pictures that I took during the past 7 months:

Iga region of Mie prefecture, a very rural place.

Shop selling tanuki statues, also in Iga.

The Glico man in Ebisubashi bridge, Osaka.

Osaka Castle.

Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion, in Kyoto.

The Kyoto Tower.

Maruyama Park, Kyoto.

Togetsukyou bridge in Arashiyama, Kyoto.

Another pic in Arashiyama.

Nara Park, with wild deers freely roaming around.

Toudaiji Temple in Nara.

Inside is the Daibutsu, a 15 meters tall statue of Buddha.