episode 12

Could they have used those episodes to more effectively dole out haruhi goodness?  Well, certainly.  Was it an utter disappointment to countless fans across the globe?  No doubt.  Was there anyone involved who actually supported the insanity?  Not the seiyuu nor many others it seems.

episode 13

Despite all that, as a one off, epic wtf arc that I was really only half watching anyway while doing other things… excellent!  I had already given up on there even being another season of haruhi so as a casual fan, anything new was agreeable.  Loved how kyon’s helplessness at the end of each episode was practically palatable.  And to boot, a haruhi tsundere moment at the finale ^^

episode 14

My biggest gripe was mostly that given the title, after episode 2 you had a pretty good idea that it was gonna be 8 episodes of insanity.  There was maybe a slight chance it’d be a 3 or 4 episode arc… but definitely after 4… I’m sure everyone assumed correctly that it was going for 8.  On the one hand, that should’ve helped set expectations that the 8 episodes were actually just 1.05 new episodes of content.  On the other it really made the later episodes predictable and even more difficult to sympathize with kyon’s struggle.

episode 15

If kyoani had just announced that they were only going to do 4 new episodes instead of a full season (with 1 of the episodes actually being the 8 episode endless arc) perhaps it would’ve gone over better.  I kind of see it that way, which, combined with my haruhi apathy, is why I don’t really feel outraged and enjoyed it.  Or maybe I enjoyed it the way reading forum flame wars is amusing… ^^;;

episode 16

At any rate, it’s gonna be interesting to see how dvd sales are (and if they don’t bundle all 8 episodes for the price of 1, the person in charge of sales marketing is an utter idiot).  Niconico users who haven’t seen it yet or want to relive the glory can watch all 8 episodes simultaneously in this glorious video.

click for the niconico video

My peculiar tastes aside, the question just begs to be asked… who the hell is at the helm of this accursed haruhi ship and why are they sailing it to obscurity and ruin?  I just don’t see how this could be good for the franchise in any way.  Perhaps the folks in charge are under the illusion that they have some ace up their sleeve to redeem themselves with?  Can’t really see that happening at this point but if somehow… somehow, someway they made an epic comeback… well, at that point maybe I’d put it on par with #37.

episode 19

p.s. it’s funny that this blog actually has quite a bit of haruhi fandom built into it, despite my aforementioned apathy.  Not only the name of the blog itself, but you’ve probably noticed i end each post with 「以上！」, (ijyou!) which is taken from the very first episode — haruhi’s weird way to end her weird introduction ^^;  (not a weird thing to say, just in that context it’s weird.  usually means something like, “that is all.”)

以上！

If you don’t get it, you need another dose of nagato fanboy power and rewatch ep 1 of haruhi s2 :P

調和　－　ちょうわ　－　chouwa – harmony
変革　－　へんかく　－　henkaku – change/reform/revolution

Click for gelbooru

Happy tanabata everyone! (if I timed this right, the post should be going up automatically during tanabata in japan ^^;)

For reference, I believe the sort of standard, polite way of writing one’s wishes is:

~~masu you ni (i.e. the -masu form of the verb + you ni (remember that’s ‘yo’ with long ‘o’, not ‘you’ in english)

For example:

メロンパンをいっぱい食べますように (meronpan wo ippai tabemasu you ni – I hope to eat lots of melonpan)

Err one last reference if you don’t want to be bothered watching the episode again:

以上！

Max Factory nailed this one. I think it’d be hard for a haruhi fan to go wrong in acquiring this version, she looks great. 1/8 scale standing 21cm tall and retailing for 7800 yen… (7057 at hobby search, 7429 at hlj)… make sure to gets yours while you can :P

Box is nice and vibrant to match the energy of the figure

Everything’s attached so no need to mess with attaching the guitar (thank goodness). Just pull off a little protective plastic and you’ll be face to face with the goddess herself.

I haven’t gotten a Max Factory figure in awhile so haruhi was a refreshing reminder of the quality they can put out.

She looks pretty good from any angle, though most interesting from the front due to the detail they put into the guitar ^^

Shot against some good ‘ol poster board for a change.  Had a feeling that my slightly improved lighting situation would make it acceptable… definitely think these turned out better than anything from my white satin experiments.

Poster board is pretty restrive though.  Have to pay more attention to angles and such to make sure the shot　is framed on the background ^^;  Guess it’s a small price to pay for a cleaner bg.

On the other hand, maybe the ambient daylight coming in through my windows helped a little… usually I shoot at night and limit the light sources to my lamps.  You can see in the above pic some still turned out a little gray due to lack of light.

Mmmm… her face, the mic, guitar, dress, necklace, tights, shoes… lovely!  Here are the things that motivated me to buy:

Bonus points if you recognize all the lyrics/quotes ^^

Mmmm lovely guitar

Lovely tights… or wait, stocking?

Ok, so there were some flaws on her back…

I haven’t tried to clean them up yet, so don’t know how serious the smudges are.  Thanksfully it’s not visible from the usual viewing angle.

Well timed release for whatever haruhi-isms may or may not be in store for fans in the near future.  If nothing else there’s haruhi-chan to enjoy ^^

Someday I’ll learn guitar…

Love how the figure captures the haruhi spirit… and oppai?

Mmm no comment we’ll leave that to mikuru-chan.

I guess another shortcoming is regular pantsu?  :P

Can’t go wrong I tell ya, long as you have a little haruhi love left :P

iHaruhi?

Looks like this brings my haruhi figure count to 5.

People have noted that the previous 1/8 release is smaller… and I don’t think the height difference can be explained by her slightly bent over pose… especially since gekisou version has her legs in a slightly wider pose.  It’s weird… but on the other hand figure manufacturers haven’t been known for their amazing scale accuracy ^^;

Great execution, solid work from Max Factory.  Check out more reviews:

• foobarbaz
• Animatic Figmation
• A Foreigner’s Tale in Japan
• Chappyの日記
• Happy Soda

Hmmm is that it so far?  Those are all that showed up while searching my rss reader…  Well, should be enough to keep you busy for now :P

以上！

The current haruhi collection.

After seeing that I’m sure no one will believe me when I say I’m not really that much of a haruhi fan, but it’s true ^^;;  What you see here is the result of my inability to resist set completion and the power of suggestion… and cute nendoroids ^^;;;

I recently completed (to my satisfaction at least) my set of max factory haruhi releases.

haruhi and nagato were the only ones I was able to secure from stores.  Everyone else was obtained on ebay.

I’ll be “reviewing” haruhi and ryoko… skip to the end if you’re just looking for more group shot shenanigans.

copy cat

出なさい！ {get out of there!}

haruhi is packaged with her pointing hand…

…but as you may have noticed, I’m partial to the megaphone ^_^

Alternate uber director arm band also included, and ryoko gets her choice of bag and knife ^^; Figma like ball joint for swapping ryoko’s parts… first time I’ve seen this kind of joint for 1/8 Max Factory figures. Looks the same over at foo-bar-baz so I’m guessing it’s legit.

Danny mentioned in his kurushima kanu review that haruhi’s pantsu were originally orange! Obviously a check was in order.

Glad they made 'em change the color ^^;

Better check on ryoko while we’re at it…

mmm well, she’s got that knife so we’ll keep our distance and leave it at that for now :P

haruhi demands that erika drink more tea and show more pantsu.

Seemed to have a good amount of light coming in my room, so tried some macro shots again…

Serrated! Ouch! ...and looks like I didn't push that hand all the way in ^^;

Turned out pretty good this time (for me at least ^^;;)

I don't quite get why, out of all the things to list, they include the figure total height on the base ^^;

This figure is making me like the ryoko character more for some reason ^^;

So it seems this haruhi figure came out over a year and a half ago! Luckily she’s had 4 releases and I was able to get her pretty easily.

‘course that also means there must be a million reviews out there. Guess another wouldn’t hurt :P

ryoko came out in November, 2007, so I wasn’t surprised to have to go hunting for her.  Not that I enjoyed scouring ebay -_-

All together now!

Max Factory haruhi girls unite!

Was a relief to finally get everyone in hand.  While I was at it, got everyone else out for a group pic.  Kind of surprised myself that I had so many ^^;

How many haruhi figures are in your collection?

Breaking down by character…

Danny’s coverage and constant praise of the freeing bunny convinced me to get a hold of her. So far I’m not planning to get anymore of them but if I did, definitely ryoko next.

The Max Factory nagato was actually the first 1/8 figure of my collection. I kept considering her while in Akihabara but finally decided to restrict myself to the nendoroid. (good thing too since there was no room in my suitcase ^^;)  Ordered her later online.  Kind of wish I had two to display in each of her configurations.  Stuck with one I’m going with the hat and cape for now.

If I weren’t collecting the Max Factory series specifically, I probably would’ve stuck with just the Alter version in this case. Alas, my wallet weeps silently…

ryoko is the loneliest for the time being ^^;  Looks like the chibi one has mikuru’s ring ^^;

nyoro~n

Once I get my collection back on display I’ll probably have more group shots like this.

…I don’t know how I’m going to fit everyone into the detolf.  Guess I’m gonna have some dusting work to do this winter ^^;;

omake!  Found a bunch of wallpaper on my hard drive, threw them up in the wallpaper section.

No figma shenanigans this time… was trying to get Fate’s hand repaired which really distracted me -_-  Alrighty, that’s a wrap~

Brought to you in full by shennanigans.

I blame Lovelyduckie for this one. Saw her review recently, went hunting on ebay, and now I’ve got a mini-review for y’all ^_^;;;

I had given up on getting this set after finding out it was gonna be pretty hard to get outside Japan… After release I hit up ebay and luckily restrained myself from dropping $100.  Prices are lower now, but was still pretty pricey at $55 (and I bumped up the shipping to EMS for another $20 ;_;) but, but… but it was limited! orz

Well, enuf crying, I have no regrets!  Saber is disappointed in me though.  ^^;

Good Smile Companyの涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱ねんどろいどぷちお中元セット{Good Smile Company's Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu Nendoroid Puchi Bon Festival Gift Set} ... what a mouthful ^^; Presented by Fate!

It wouldn’t be an いつも　いつでも　いつまでも review without nendoroid haruhi~

Tape took off that part of the box on the left... meh, wasn't planning on displaying the box :P

Jail break!

Fate: 「逃がしません！」 {You won't get away!} Miku: 「あわわ～」 {awawa~}

They’ve run away… to conduct a swim meet?

「おい、長門。　競泳する時は浮き輪を使うんじゃないぞ。」　{nagato, you don't use swimming rings during races!}

From all the pics, I never realized there was the usual plastic support in the back ^^;

浮き輪可愛い！ {The swim rings are kawaii!}

Fate finally catches up…

「ただで済むんじゃないよ！」 {You won't get off so easily!}

The starter blocks interconnect so they line up nice and neat without a lot of fuss. And of course, they can be separated…

Fate: 「あたしは誰だと思ってんのよ？！」 {Who do you think I am?!} Saber: 「。。。」

Nanoha to the rescue?

Saber: 「いい加減Testarossaさんを何とかしなさいよ！」　{Please do something about Miss Testarossa!}

konata isn’t one to miss out on such fitting shenanigans!

nagato is greedy.

「あのう～　私のだけを返していいでしょうか…」　｛ummm... can I at least have mine back?}

As you probably noticed, I’ve taken a liking to uncharacteristically-violent-and-cruel-Fate-chan.

Fate: 「覚悟！」　{Prepare yourselves!} Saber: 「いつの間に...？！　私の剣！」 {When did she...?! My swords!}

Was it really worth $15 a piece for these nendoroid puchis?  Probably not.  Are they cute as hell?  Definitely.  ^_^

Gomen if you were hoping for some kiriha coverage.  I have a week off though, so I should definitely get that review done soon!

Update: Make sure to get a full helping of coverage!

• as previously mentioned, Lovelyduckie’s Blog
• Exelica Meteor

GETだぜ！

As you can see my Wave kuze kiriha and my Max Factory haruhi have arrived! This marks the first and last figure order that I will suffer through having items held until all items have arrived. In this case the other items happened to get delayed so it wasn’t until I finally got fed up and canceled every other part of the order that I was able to get haruhi to ship -_- kiriha wasn’t part of that fiasco, but had the normal us release delay -_-;

I think it’s because I don’t have my collection on display at the moment, but when I got haruhi out of her box, it was just, wow, excellent. Looking forward to having everyone out of the box…

ACTION!

I really enjoyed kiriha’s scenario so I had to get a figure of her… now the cursed set completion mindset is corrupting me… might end up getting everyone orz

Couldn't quite get Fate's arms to mimic the pose ^^;

Alrighty, back to trying to write that H2O stuff I wanted to post…

[update: pics now clickable for full size... not sure why they didn't automatically have that... wordpress must be updating their stuff again -_-]

Some mikuru love incoming, and perhaps some H2O later…

Also got notice of my wave kiriha shipping… fortune arterial fans out there? ^_^

jya~n!

Hlj to the rescue! Soon as I figured out my shipment was delayed I looked around and hlj had her in stock! They also had a couple other things in stock so I kind of went overboard…

3 figmas, a miku, and a side of mikuru please~

the leaning tower of figma

^^;; Anyhow, back to the topic at hand… miku!  Been looking to get a hold of her forever.  She’s just too insanely cute to not have.

haruhi is eager to recruit new talent

Nendoroid owners are prolly familiar with all the goodies that come with her… extra faces, limbs… and a leek!

actually the disembodied parts are kinda freaky...

scene from a horror movie... ^^;

Finally free!

「じゃ～ん！」　{jya~n! (tada~!)}

haruhi gets miku to work right away.

「はい！歌ってちょうだい！」 {hai! utattechoudai! (ok, sing!)}

…haruhi never lets up.

「もう、許して下さい！」　{mou yurushite! (Please, let me go!)}

Ever.

「もう、限界です！」　{mou, genkai desu! (I can't take it anymore!)}

Saber to the rescue.

「いい加減にしろ！」　{iikagennishiro! (behave yourself!)}

Saber just wanted the leek.

「え？　セイバーさん？」 {e? seiba-san?}

One thing I found annoying when changing faces is that you have to remove miku’s two earpieces to do so. Can get a little tiring ^^;

「皆さん、歌いましょう！」 {minna-san, utaimashou! (Let's sing everyone!)}

Run faster miku!

「逃げるな！」　{nigeruna! (Stop running away!)}

Fate to the rescue?

「助けてあげます！」　{tasuketeagemasu! (I'll save you!)}

miku inadvertently steps onto a battlefield… [as always, click pics for higher rez versions]

「何ですか、これ？！」　{nandesuka, kore?! (What is this?!)}

Someday I’ll put my figmas in less violent poses ^^;

「いやあああぁ～」　{iyaaaaaaa~ (aaaaaaaaa~)}

nagato, ever stoic.

「。。。」

miku makes a hasty retreat.

「覚悟なさいよ！」　{kakugonasaiyo! (prepare yourself!)}

…only to be caught by a low angler ^^;

「パンツを見ないで下さい！」　{pantsu wo minaide kudasai! (don't look at my pantsu!)}

I love how her hair is adjustable. Unfortunately you need to keep her on the stand if you want to move it up, since normally it keeps her balanced ^^;

「ひどいです！」 {hidoi desu! (you're horrible!)}

About as much detail as you’d expect from a figure like this. It amazes me that the vocaloid text is so crisp.

「どうしてこんな事に…」　{doushite konna koto ni... (why did it have to be like this...)}

Seems haruhi and nagato decided to retreat for now…

戦勝！　{senshou! (victory!)}

「もしよかったら、このネギを…」　{moshi yokattara, kono negi wo... (If you'd like, please take this leek...)}

Poor miku!

「欲しくな～い！」　{hoshikuna~i! (we don't want that!)}

Be sure to stop by ..:: Anime Baka ::.. for intense miku love more coverage. Fariz Asuka has no less than 39 posts tagged hatsune miku at the time of this post ^_^

aaaand more at Excelica Meteor, Gordonator (ultra kawaii shots in a mini house), How a Girl Figures (miku + Lagann = win), foo-bar-baz, wcloudx, and I’m sure more on my blog roll that I’ve forgotten to list ^^;

And thus my review extras group doubled in size. You’ll probably be seeing a lot more of everyone in reviews to come ^^;

mmm still not really happy with the layout, gonna be futzing around with it for a bit here… gomen!