autaku

Wallpaper Gallery: K-ON! (OPs and EDs)

Steve — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 14:57:57 +0000

This month’s wallpaper gallery brings you a range of images taken from some of the opening and ending sequences of K-ON!. Specifically, I’ve gone through Cagayake! Girls and Don’t Say Lazy from season one, and Go! Go! Maniac and Listen!! from season two. I’m sure I’ll add wallpapers from Utauyo! Miracle and No, Thank You once I’ve got the appropriate source material, but for now you can check out the first four.

As screenshots from the series itself, these wallpapers are in a widescreen resolution of 1920×1080. I haven’t watermarked them because of course I don’t own the images (and besides that, I dislike watermarks on wallpapers) but I did take the screen-caps so if you do share anything, I’d appreciate it if you linked back here. Enjoy!

Anime: Code Geass Gaiden Knightmare Frame Design

Steve — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:34:27 +0000

There hasn’t been much news about Code Geass Gaiden: Boukoku no Akito (Akito of the Ruined Nation) since the initial reveal (check out the details and trailer in this post), but a new issue of NewType magazine includes concept art of one of the anime’s new Knightmare Frame designs. It was designed by Akira Yasuda, who worked on the Knightmare designs for both seasons of Lelouch of the Rebellion. I’d say it’s a slight departure from the Knightmare Frames we’re more familiar with, but not so much so that it doesn’t look like it belongs in the Code Geass world. Unfortunately my Japanese ability isn’t quite up to a full translation of all the text, but the image captions seem to discuss details of the design rather than give away too much about the Knightmare itself. I’ll be sure to add translations if I can, but for now let’s just enjoy getting to look at something from the new Code Geass anime!

Source: Yunakiti

Figures: Chrono Trigger Formation Arts

Steve — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:54:53 +0000

Chrono Trigger, an RPG masterpiece developed by Square-Enix (then just Square) for the SNES, is one of my all-time favourite games. I’m certainly not alone in that regard, so it’s quite surprising that Chrono Trigger figures are so scarce. In fact, as far as I can tell this set in Square-Enix’s Formation Arts line of blind box/trading figures may well be the first. We can only wonder as to why Square-Enix, a company who’s no stranger to milking all sorts of merchandising out of their franchises, has taken so long to grace us with these, but in any case they’ve now rectified the problem and have thankfully done a pretty good job of it.

As you’d expect from a set of trading figures, these are quite small at around 6cm to 9cm tall. However, Square-Enix have managed to cram quite a bit of detail in both the sculpt and the painting of each of the five figures. As you’ve no doubt noticed, Square-Enix have managed to include all seven party characters from the game – Chrono, Marle, Lucca, Frog, Robo, Ayla and Magus – into five figures by modelling dioramas rather than individual characters. This was a wise choice, as it’s great to see the characters together and thanks to the care that’s gone into designing every part of each diorama the overall effect is very nice.

The sculpting is mostly sharp and nicely detailed, and generally the paintwork helps it shine with much better shading than I’d expected from this set. There’s also some effective use of translucent plastic in a few of the dioramas; the water on the Chrono/Frog diorama is particularly nice. There are a few paint defects – see, for example, the splotch of red on Chrono’s chin in the Chrono/Robo/Ayla diorama – but these are far more noticeable on camera than in person, and considering that these are relatively cheap trading figures the overall quality control seems fairly satisfactory. The dioramas come in separate pieces to keep the packaging size down, and in most cases they fit together easily but very snugly. There was only one piece that wouldn’t quite fit perfectly – Robo to the base in the Lucca/Robo diorama – but it’s close enough. I’m actually quite impressed by how well everything (barring that one example) fits together: once assembled, pretty much everything looks just right. If someone is supposed to be sitting on something, they look settled and natural. If a hand is supposed to rest against something, it does so.

While plenty of care was taken in some areas, there are a couple of elements that don’t quite match up. First, the faces are somewhat hit-and-miss. Some of the expressions and gazes give a natural sense of focus, while others appear to be staring off into space. Second, it can be difficult to find the optimal viewing angle for some of the dioramas. In some cases there isn’t really one at all, you simply have to choose which character you want to be the centre of attention. The two dioramas involving Robo are perhaps the only ones with a clear ‘best’ angle, and they’re all the better for the more straightforward design. That said, I appreciate what Square-Enix was trying to do with these diorama and it does work in its own way; it just means that still photos don’t entirely do these justice. In person, when you can adjust your view as you please, the effect is much more pleasing. Finally, the Chrono/Marle diorama doesn’t sit entirely flat; the base sort of curls up towards the left, as you can see in my photos (as highlighted by the reflection). Enough of the base is flat to ensure that it doesn’t wobble and, like the minor paint defects it’s less noticeable in normal viewing, but in an otherwise very well-fitted set it stands out.

With those issues – which are relatively minor, especially in the context of the price and format of this set – out of the way, I can conclude by saying that overall Square-Enix’s first(?) foray into Chrono Trigger figures is a successful one. Despite their diminutive stature, these dioramas pack in plenty of detail and the decision to incorporate multiple characters into each one works very well and should be appreciated by fans of the game as recognisable moments are recreated. I hope these aren’t the last Chrono Trigger figures we see – I’d even just love a bigger, better version of the Chrono/Robo/Ayla diorama from this set! – but for now, fans of the game should be quite pleased with the Formation Arts set. I’ll leave you there to have a look through the rest of the gallery below!

Square-Enix’s Chrono Trigger Formation Arts figures can be bought in a box of six “randomly packed” blind-boxes. While I (nor the manufacturer) can guarantee you’ll get the whole set in one box, this was my third time buying a box of trading figures and the third time I’ve found the full set inside.

You can buy a box from trusted retailers such as AmiAmi and Hobby Search.

Japan: Osaka by Night from the HEP FIVE Ferris Wheel

Steve — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 09:25:22 +0000

When this site was first launched (under a different name and at a different address), I wrote a series of articles on various places in Japan that I visited in March 2009. To bring them to the attention of autaku‘s growing readership, I’ve decided to republish these articles, revamped with more and higher quality photos and maybe a few adjustments to the text itself. This article was originally posted on July 26, 2009.

Not only is Osaka by night a pretty sight, there’s a fairly unique way of taking it in available: from a ferris wheel on the seventh floor of a shopping mall. The HEP FIVE building in Osaka’s Umeda district is largely a fashion centre, but the top floors are dedicated to amusement with arcades and, yes, a big red ferris wheel that provides a great view of Osaka from 106m up at the apex. HEP FIVE is just a few minutes from the JR Osaka and Hankyu Umeda stations, and is pretty easy to find since it’s the only building with a ferris wheel on top.

Food: Some More Japanese-Style Cooking At Home

Steve — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 11:39:55 +0000

Here’s a quick look at some of the dishes I’ve put together over the last month or so. In this instalment you’ll see gyuudon, tofu and udon soup, chicken katsu and kakiage, my first attempt at mixed tempura and, for something a little different, a matcha (green tea) chiller.

First up is gyuudon, also known as beef bowl. The beef for gyuudon is cooked with onions in dashi, similar to the chicken in oyakodon. I also added ginger to the mix for some extra flavour, and the result was a very refreshing taste. After the beef is cooked, it’s placed on top of rice along with the dashi broth which helps bring the flavours down into the rice. Very easy, very tasty!

Left: tofu and udon soup | Right: mixed vegetable tempura

Of course, being in the southern hemisphere means it’s been WInter for the last few months here, and nice hot soup is always great in colder weather. I’m pretty comfortable with making dashi-based soups now, so all that’s left is to play around with various ingredients. This one was fried tofu with udon noodles and crunchy green veges. On the right you can see my first shot at ‘regular’ mixed vegetable tempura, and as I expected it’s going to take some practice to get everything just right. Still, it turned out alright and I’ll definitely be trying again to see if I can improve.

Left: matcha chiller | Right: chicken katsu and kakiage

While it’s always fun to try making new things, it’s nice to go back to more familiar recipes too. Chicken katsu is one of those; usually I make it with curry but it’s great on its own too. Even better, after my successful first attempt at kakiage I was keen to make it again and it went nicely with katsu. Above left is a matcha chiller, something I’ve been hoping to make for quite a while. I used to be able to get green tea chillers here in Perth, but they don’t seem to be so easily available any more. I managed to grab one at Starbuck’s in Japan on my trip last year, but it was only recently that I found somewhere in Perth selling matcha (a kind of powdered green tea) so that I could make a decent one at home. As you’d expect, with the right ingredients there’s really not much to it. Put some matcha (of course), ice cream, milk (I used soy milk) and some crushed ice in a blender and you’re good to go. If you like green tea, give it a try sometime!

iPhone: Custom Totoro Gelaskin

Steve — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:03:45 +0000

I had a white iPhone 3G and I was really hoping to grab the white iPhone 4 to follow it up, but with that version delayed with no specific release window I settled for the standard black version. A big part of that decision was the potential compromise offered by GelaSkins.com, who sell removable adhesive covers for just about every major gadget or device you can think of. I’m not a fan of putting covers or cases that add bulk or significantly change the aesthetic of the tech – especially with such a gorgeous piece of design like the iPhone 4 – but GelaSkins are, as the name suggest, a thin skin that can offer scratch resistance and augment the device without adding any bulk at all. Better yet, you can choose from plenty of existing designs (including licensed stuff like Marvel Comics) or upload your own images to create a custom design.

To bring this back to the beginning, I decided to order a predominantly white custom GelaSkin to put on the back of my iPhone 4, creating the same white back/black front styling of the white 3G/3GS models. Having spent a few weeks with the iPhone 4 and now a couple of days with the GelaSkin on, I think I prefer this to the upcoming double-white iPhone 4 model as the black front hides the various sensors and inputs more effectively and is perhaps a more subtle frame for the screen while using the phone (see this image for comparison). GelaSkins for iPhone 4 do include strips that cover the top and bottom sections of the front (leaving a small border around the screen, as seen in this image) as well as the sides if you do want a more complete colour/design change, but I’ve opted to just change the back in this case. I’ll probably pick up a clear protector for the front just to complete the scratch protection, but I don’t want to mess with the actual design of the phone too much. It’s for that same reason that I kept the custom design for the back fairly minimal, sporting a similar layout to the existing design but with all the legal-type stuff removed and the Apple logo replaced with the Studio Ghibli logo. Behold, the totoroPhone!

GelaSkins are made with a tough anti-scratch coating (which I’ve read is very effective) and a re-usable adhesive that can be removed and re-applied as many times as you like. Once the skin is applied it doesn’t slide around at all nor do the edges tend to peel up – in short, it stays on like it’s part of the phone – but when you do want it to come off, it’s not a big hassle. That means that putting it on is painless too, since you can just keep trying until you get it lined up just right. It’s not too hard to get that alignment either, thanks to the camera lens and flash: line that up and you’ve got it. The print quality looks nice, and although the skin has a sort of honeycomb pattern – I’m guessing it’s something to do with the scratch resistance or the re-usable adhesive – it’s only noticeable from certain angles when it catches the light and is fairly subtle. Basically, it looks great, holds fast and does everything it sets out to do.

The flat-backed design of the iPhone 4 means that the skin is able to fill the whole back just about perfectly, and with a tasteful design you can keep Apple’s elegant aesthetic intact. If you’re looking to customise your iPhone or one of over 100 other devices, it’s well worth considering GelaSkins. They’re fairly well-priced, the quality is good, they offer protection without bulk and the ability to create your own design is a huge plus (although there are plenty of nice designs ready to go on their website). Thanks to the re-usable adhesive, you could even grab a few different skins for the same device and swap them around as you please; I might end up doing just that myself.

Figure: Momohime (1/8 Scale by Alter)

Steve — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 13:11:50 +0000

From Muramasa: The Demon Blade – a Wii game with a gorgeous hand-painted visual style – comes the possessed princess Momohime, now lovingly crafted as a 1/8 scale figure by Noritaka Fukumoto for Alter. I’ll admit that I’m yet to complete Muramasa but I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve played so far and it’s just such a beautiful game to look at, so when I saw the previews for this figure I was pretty quick to make a pre-order. It looked incredible in Alter’s official promo shots, but those can often be misleading as certain elements become too difficult to mass produce or, more simply, quality control isn’t quite perfect. As a figure collector, you come to expect those differences and, within reason, accept them. With Momohime, Alter have managed to deliver a work of true craftsmanship that has absolutely no trouble living up to its promise.

Quite simply, I’m yet to find anything to complain about with this figure. Everything about Momohime is impeccably crafted with stunning detail, with a well-realised pose, vibrant colour and a base that contains no extraneous pieces: everything you see is part of the scene, depicting Momohime moving across rocks in a stream. The promo shots included a clear disc as part of the base which would have been fine, but Alter have managed to surpass that by balancing Momohime atop the rocks so that the disc is not needed. The base looks fantastic with a great transparent effect used for the running water, and rest assured that Momohime is very stable and feels very stable despite the relatively small base and her seemingly precarious one-legged pose.

The only notable seams on the figure are high up on the sleeves, one of which (the left arm) is fairly hidden by pieces of armour while the other (the right) exists out of functional necessity. Aside from those, there is a visible joining point between Momohime’s fringe and the rest of her hair, but this is also very well hidden thanks to the comb and flowers in her hair. In short, aside from the right arm there are no prominent seams of joins and from many angles you won’t see any at all. That join line on the right arm is there because you’re actually able to swap out arm and hand parts to display Momohime with her sword fully drawn and with or without the sheath, which is a really nice option and justifies the seam.

Every piece of Momohime’s outfit has been recreated with impressive detail and Alter have achieved a consistent sense of motion with clothes and hair that appear to fold and flow naturally. The various patterns on her clothes and accessories are printed cleanly and sharply, and the black armour has a somewhat rough finish that emulates smithed metal quite nicely. The outstanding detail established by the sculpt have been matched flawlessly by the paint, and the finest example of this lies in the flowers pinned in Momohime’s hair. Individual flowers are clearly defined and further detail is brought out by the use of shading. It’s clear that Alter put a lot of work into this figure and the result is simply stunning.

I could go on, but with no faults to speak of I’ve probably made my point already. If the quality control on the entire run is as good as this – which is to say, about as close to perfect as possible – then Alter have managed to deliver a final product that not only lives up to the promo shots, but in some areas even exceeds them. To call this figure “impressively crafted” would be apt, albeit a grand understatement; below you’ll find plenty more photos that attest to that. With Momohime, Alter makes a fine case for the argument that figures can be works of art that should be a welcome addition to any collection.

Alter’s 1/8 scale Momohime is available (at time of posting) from J-List and AmiAmi.

Wallpaper Gallery: Bakemonogatari – Suruga Monkey

Steve — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 10:02:21 +0000

For this month’s gallery I’ve taken a slice out of Bakemonogatari to bring you 95 high definition wallpapers from the Suruga Monkey story arc. Bakemonogatari has a great visual style that lends itself well to wallpapers, but the screen capture process is sometimes made difficult due to the often fast editing between shots that are a fairly distinctive element of the series’ style. Nonetheless, I’m pleased with how this gallery has turned out and it’s likely that you’ll see more Bakemonogatari galleries here over time. For now, I hope you’ll enjoy this one!

Suruga Monkey, Part 1

Suruga Monkey, Part 2

Suruga Monkey, Part 3

As always, if there’s anything you’d like to see that isn’t here please let me know and I’ll do my best to oblige.

As screenshots from the movie itself, these wallpapers are in a widescreen resolution of 1920×1080. I haven’t watermarked them because of course I don’t own the images (and besides that, I dislike watermarks on wallpapers) but I did take the screen-caps so if you do share anything, I’d appreciate it if you linked back here. Enjoy!

Wallpapers: K-ON! (Official Band Yarouyo ver.)

Steve — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 16:12:52 +0000

I was looking around for new wallpapers tonight when I came across the cover to the K-ON! Official Band Yarouyo CD. I loved the stark design and use of colour but the scanned image wasn’t really clean enough to use as any sort of wallpaper, nor is the layout necessarily ideal. Of course that’s no reason to give up on it, so I took to Photoshop, pulled the image apart, cleaned up and edited the pieces and put it all back together again to create wallpapers in a variety of shapes and sizes for use on desktops, iPhone, iPad and PS3. I’m really pleased with how it turned out! Of course, between these four versions you’ll probably find one that’s suited to just about any device you have in mind, so those labels are more like suggestions based on what I had in mind when I adjusted the layout. I’m more than happy for you to share these, but as I haven’t put any watermarks on these – I don’t like watermarks on wallpapers – I’d appreciate it if you gave credit and linked back here. Enjoy!

Download:
Desktop | iPad | iPhone | PS3

Loot: Anime Merch and More from J-List

Steve — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 09:22:38 +0000

After some delays caused by technical errors, I had a bunch of stuff from J-List show up at the end of last week. This order has been kind of a long time coming, not just because of the aforementioned delays (which were handled well by the J-List staff once I brought the issue to their attention, for the record) but because I’ve been eyeing off some of the items for a while, waiting to put them all together in a bigger order to save on shipping. I’m really pleased with everything that made it into the order, which covers a small cross-section of the pretty wide variety of products that J-List offers.

I’ve had a plush Corphish hanging off my keychain for a few years now, but as soon as I saw this very cute Yui Hirasawa plush keychain by Banpresto I knew it was time for something new. Since I almost always carry a bag with me I’m not concerned about it not fitting in my pockets, and having something like this on your keychain makes it pretty easy to find when rummaging through a bag. Besides, how can you say no to that face?

I’ve wanted to try some of these “food drops” for a while. They come in all sorts of flavours from fruits to regional Japanese dishes and even drinks like beer, sake and green tea. I decided to just get one flavour this time, and settled on takoyaki. They’re pretty tasty and actually do a decent job of replicating the flavour of takoyaki, though of course they can’t compare with the real thing. If you want a quick and easy way to enjoy classic Japanese flavours without having to actually cook anything, these are a pretty good substitute!

This notepad will make it really easy for me to practice kanji, and it’s properly set out for composition practice in the traditional Japanese right-to-left vertical style too. J-List has a variety of notepads for kanji and composition practice, but I chose this one because it matches the layout used at my university.

I’ve had my eye on this photobook by Masataka Nakano for a while, as not only do the photos look lovely, the concept is really interesting: as the title – Tokyo Nobody - suggests, the book is full of photos taken around Tokyo with nobody in them. It’s a pretty unique way of looking at a city which most people would consider the epitome of a bustling metropolis, so it’s perhaps no surprise that it took Nakano ten years to complete the project. That turns out to be a great feature of the book in itself, as this look at Tokyo from 1990 to 2000 also gives a bit of insight into some of the city’s history and development. It’s a fascinating book to look through and I might give it more of a spotlight in a separate post, but here’s just a small glimpse inside.

The final part of the order – and the most delayed component – is two shirts, one featuring the girls from K-ON! in a Beatles-inspired design and the other featuring a makkuro-kurosuke (also known as a susuwatari or ‘travelling soot’) from Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away in a really nice inky-looking design.

J-List’s shirts have a small print on one sleeve that says where they came from. I was a little wary of this before ordering – I’m a bit picky with things like that – but they’re discrete enough. The shirts themselves fit just right and the quality is very nice with prints that aren’t too thick and plasticky, so I’m really pleased to have finally received these.