[QuesQ] Moriya Suwako Figure Review

July 6, 2011 was when my first figure from QuesQ arrived. I really had no expectation from a company who I have not yet purchased from. So I could not say how the figure would turn out. I would be delighted if it turn out like the prototype. But most figures I've preordered had been spectacular and I haven't been devastated yet. Lets hope it doesn't start now. Read on for the full review.

I first read about it on Nekomagic, my one stop place for figure news. And instantly I was sold on the face. Usually if I buy a figure its because I love the face. While the pose or other elements are important, when I look at something, its the face. Regardless or if its a person, an artwork, a photo, everything.

First thing I saw when I looked at the box was... its SMALL ! D8 Kind of the same feeling I got when I received the the Ameri figure. Then I looked at the box, and didn't find a scale ratio. Boo.

But size isn't everything, yes, it looks strange when put beside my other 1/8 Touhou figures, see below.

But adding details on small figures is much more difficult than on larger ones. Atleast thats what I believe.

In terms of the photos, I first took them using the photo shooting box my dad got me a long time ago in broad daylight. I thought it was fine, but when I got on my computer they were dark +_+. Someone must have messed with my camera setting cause when I checked it afterwards, the exposure setting was set to -1.0 (0.0 is normal). Not cool. And by then it was already evening, so I took the stuff up to my room and shot it there with a desktop light lying around.

Here was the contraption, because the nature of the lamp, the colour was tinted yellow. (Don't give me those eyes if you see spongebob, its a great show. And I happened to have won it at Seaworld on my trip to California.)

This was taken in the morning with the reduced exposure setting. But notice how the image is not tinted yellow like in the ones below. Would be perfect if the settings wasn't changed.

Anyway, moving on to the review.

Luckily, the product arrived as anticipated from images I've seen online. Not much deviation was spotted and I like it as much as I did the prototype images. Great thing considering prototypes are usually meant to be perfect copies for the product to appeal to customers.

The face still captures me like a rock versus paper... (ok, thats bad.)

Smile ! ^_^

The colouring was well done upon closer inspection (Unfortunately, macro shots are not possible with my camera, so you'll just have to take my word. Sorry, hope to get a macro lens later.). Also, I didn't see errors like chipped or cracks. I think for quality this is pretty well done.

The gimmicks are pretty nifty too. It comes with 2 right hands which uses a tube mount to connect to the figure. Part of the tube and the mount is squared so you wouldn't be able to rotate the hand and there is only 1 correct way to connect the hand onto the figure. This is actually nothing new but as T's System's Kochiya Sanae had it too for the head (Though, why the head was removable on that figure remains a mystery to me.)
The second thing was the hat. It sticks on magnetically, just like the Pixie Hiyori from Good Smile Company, but a bit poorer made. The hat on Hiyori didn't have grooves from inserting the magnet, but it clearly shows up here. Luckily, if you put on the hat, no one knows. They won't even see the line across the forehead thats on basically every figure.

Magnetically attached hat but you can see the groove where the PVC was cut to insert the magnet.

The left hand softly wraps around the hat when you put it in place. Very life-like !

Nice detail on the clothes, the decal (?). Those are frogs because Suwako is portrayed as a God whose a frog. However that may work.

The pose fits the character, Moriya Suwako very well as being cute and childish. While I don't exactly know her personality in the official Touhou Games by ZUN. But fan works have given her that kind of chara. She can also be portrayed as a dark character. Clearly not the case here.

I've rarely regretted buying anything and certainly I haven't regretted buying this. Though the price was somewhat expensive for something this small. Its a nice piece of addition to any Touhou Project fan or just any collector looking for a cute figure.

My display case as of July 6, 2011. The new figure is on the top level to the right.

Gallery is below, thanks for reading.

[QuesQ] Moriya Suwako PVC Figure

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[T's System] Kochiya Sanae Figurine Review

Recently, I bought another figurine from Amiami, I tend to use them more than HobbySearch or BeNippon (Previously shopped at, online retailers).

Its mainly because selection is good and I've only looked at some Touhou goods. But I like Amiami's service. Its quick and its done right. Not that I've had any problems at any retailer thus far. All I needed were a paypal account and an account for their website. Full review below.

Lets start like always with the box. Nothing too special there. Its a very plain box. By very plain, I mean, VERY PLAIN. As you can see below.

The front of the box. All there is, is the company which sells the product and a hole to see the front of the figure.

Same with the back, just a couple of words like where its made, who the sculptor is, and a couple of warnings.

Personally, I don't mind the box, since its just a box.
The insides are whats important.

The base wasn't that great. Like the box, it looks plain. Though that can be said for most figures. Atleast the Griffon Enterprises Touhou figures has a nice name tag on them. The T's System's figures doesn't have anything on the base. Oh well, thats just too bad.

As plain as you can get.

The 4 dots are there to make sure Sanae is nice and snug. Wouldn't want to be bumping left and right. Right? They fit nicely into the shoes of the figure. As expected. Though the leg had to bend slightly to fit. I don't think its a problem though.

Moving on.

The figure itself was well done. It felt like any other professionally made figures. I've never bought anything from T's System so that was my main worry when ordering this. I love the face on this Kochiya Sanae. Also, its not like Griffon Enterprises made any figures of her either.

Cutest/Bestest face ever!!

*Aside

Kochiya Sanae is a shrine maiden in the Touhou Project games, similar to the main character Hakurei Reimu, but the shrine they each belong to is different. Sanae serves as shrine maiden of
Moriya Shrine. Serving the gods Yasaka Kanako and Moriya Suwako. You can read more about her at the Touhou Wikia. Where you can get more information than you ever need. Thats not in the scopes of this review, so I will just give you a link.

Touhou Project is originally a shoot em up game made by Team Shanghai Alice. But has seen been expanded to include music, doujinshi, and doujin games. You can find them all over the web. Just search Touhou.

End of Aside*

I think the figure looks great. It was the reason why I bought it even though it costed quite a bit more than any Griffon Enterprises ones. It looks calm, a good representation of who Sanae is. Though in fan fic, shes seen to be excited with robots. Lol. I'm excited with robots myself. GUNDAMS ! Can't wait for PG Strike Freedom. Though thats completely irrelevant.

Love the face and pose. Its got a calm aura about it. Maybe it will make me feel less stress from school and work.

The figure feels heavy, atleast it feels like its a product for sale. The details on it seems appropriate and professional. There were few errors with paint or other things. Something completely different from Orchid Seed. The two figures I have from them both have some sort of imperfection. This one from T's System is much better. No scratches, no junk stuck on the figure.

The snake looks well painted.

As the shoes. Not to mention the nice details.

And on the hairpin.

Mmmm... I like this angle :P The wrinkles adds nice depth to the figure.

The paint and decals on the dress are well done as well.

I also love the hair. Long flowing hair is so alluring. Damn.

Long hair *_* !

Theres 2 things which I would have liked more. Because you know, nothing is perfect.

1. I wish the finish could be more transparent. Im not saying that its not good as it is. Because its pretty faint. The lines that shows the different PVC pieces used. Or whatever those lines are.

Weird lines? Or are these showing me that they used several pieces of PVC to make the dress? Either way, if it wasn't meant to be seen, I would like it if it didn't show up. But its great nonetheless.

2. I wish there were some things I could do with the figure, I don't mean moving hands, or legs like those figmas, but more in terms of castoffable or even some things you can put on and off, like the Marisa and Flandre figurines from Griffon Enterprises.

But I like the figurine alot as it is. Of course, more never hurts.

Oh, and the head comes off. I haven't figured out why it comes off, but it does. Here are some pictures. If you have any idea, feel free to express your opinion in the comments below. I'm guessing, maybe its for swapping heads of other T's System figurines. But that would be bizarre.

The headless Sanae O_O... Wah?

Finally, its a size comparison with something else I own. A 1/144 HG Double 0 Gundam. I never bothered measuring the figure, but it felt pretty big. Though when I put it with my other Touhou figurines, the size wasn't too much bigger. Maybe I should get real measurements someday. It is suppose to be a 1/6 scale figure though.

Notice the 00 Gundam's stance. (Hehe, no, Sanae is not that young, wikia says "mid-teen")

I quite like posing the HG gundam, because they balance easier and they have less parts. So even if they fell and broke apart (pieces still intact), its relatively easy to rebuild. While for the MG, they are difficult to pose and some of them (my ZZ and Unicorn) are extremely feeble.

In case you were wondering what Sanae wears underneath her skirt. Two NSFW pictures below.
Here and here.

I am very happy to have bought this figurine. One because I'm a Touhou fan. Two because its of high quality and looks nice to have on my display case.

After this instance, I can trust the quality of T's System. If you, the reader didn't think this post was any use to you, atleast know that theres one person who owns something from T's System and that their quality is comparable to other big name companies in this industry.

Gallery link: Here.

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Interesting Fanmade Video

Something I found while surfing the web. I thought I would post it. The fanmade video is above, the characters in there are from Touhou. After the jump is the original version.



The original is from an eroge called 魔界天使ジブリール4 or Makai Tenshi DJibril 4 in Romanji. The maker is FrontWing (NSFW). I never played it and probably never will. It doesn't really have a good story. The first and 2nd of the Jibril series were put into an anime (of course, its for 18+).

On another note, I thought the fan made video was very good and professional. So I thought I would help spread the word.

Video Explanation: I will try to explain as much of the details on the video so you can comprehend the effort put into this.
- All the background pictures were changed from the original to a more Gensokyo like theme, with old era buildings. PS Gensokyo is where the Touhou world exists.
- Character animations were changed, as were the still pictures.
- The weird pink logo at 0:27 is Youmu's ghost half, Myon
- The title got changed to Meikai Kenshi Yoyomu 4, and Myon is written on top of the "4"
- ZUN is the Touhou creator. He started it all.
- The characters in introduction order:
Konpaku Youmu (spelled Yomu in the video) (Gardener)
Hakurei Reimu (Shrine Maiden, and main character)
Kirisame Marisa (Ordinary Magician, 2nd main character)
Saigoyoji Yuyuko (Manipulator of Ghosts, is one herself)
Yakumo Yukari (Manipulator of boundaries, a Gap Youkai)
Cirno (spelled Chiruno which is how its spelt in Japanese, since they got no "r") (Ice fairy, the Strongest, she is labelled as 9 for "baka" or stupid because of this pic, legend at bottom says 9 is "baka")
- The tree at 1:00 is the Saigyou Ayakashi, it holds a significant important to Saigyouji Yuyuko, who happens to be Youmu's master (or mistress).
- Twin BBAs probably refers to Twin Baabaas, for twin old ladies. They're not twins, but they are expecially close, video here. Also, they're called old because the majority of the girls in Touhou look like children. But their ages are mostly all in the hundreds because they're considered Youkai (monsters, if you will)
- The picture of Reimu at 1:27 is her with a donation box. Fan works always make her seem poor and asking for money. There is alot of fanpics of her donation box with other people as well.

And there you have it. Those are all the things I can point out, but if you're a Touhou fan, you might find out more than what I have. I've only been a fan recently. I admire the music greatly, especially a few groups like Silver Forest and Liverne.

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[Osu] Addicting song on youtube.

The song name is 美也と天国と地獄 in Japanese and Miya to Tengoku to Jigoku in romanji. The music for the melody is from an old song called Can Can. The voices are probably all based off of the character Tachibana Miya from the anime Amagami SS.

I found this song after seeing this song on osu! After which I searched for the youtube video and found that. It was originally posted on nicovideo but converted to youtube.

Below are some osu videos of the songs. All which I played. As you will be able to see, I've been playing that game for a while now. Still not especially good. But not too bad either.

Hardest Difficult (Relax mode makes it easier than it is, despite 90% accuracy and B, when I tried with failoff, I had 65% and D.


Second Hardest Difficulty. Normal Play.


Third Hardest Difficulty, Hard Rock, Double Time, Hidden Mods Used.


osu song link: Here.

PS. Don't ask me why the mapper of that song decided to put a picture of Byakuren Hijiri there.

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Photoshop Tutorial: Changing Daylight Conditions

I found a picture of Reisen Udongein Inaba on Danbooru (NSFW) the other day. I quite liked it, however, to be shrunk and used as a MSN avatar was quite poor. The reason being, it would end up too small and dark that no one could see what was what.

So I ended up doing some photoshop on my own. I have never learned photoshop from a professor. Everything I did was purely through intuition.

The first picture above was what I had editted it to. The picture below was the original.


This picture was trying to make a sunset colour background however things didn't seem to be working out. So I just dumped the yellow background all together.


As for what exactly I did.
- First, I applied a curve adjustment layer to the whole picture to light it up.
- Then I had to select the background (I used the polygon lasso to select) since I wanted to change the background colour and brightness.
- I had 3 adjustment layers (probably 2 is sufficient though). Brightness/Contrast, Hue/Saturation, and Curves. Select the checkbox for "Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask".
*Note: I could not find out how to attach a clipping mask to an adjustment layer, but I know its possible.
*Note2: I had never really learned the difference between Levels and Curves. From experience, they seem to do pretty similar things, but in Curves, you can also adjust the RGB colours individually. So I never use Levels anymore.
- Start adjusting. I started with Hue/Saturation, then Curves, and finally Brightness/Contrast
- Finally, I made 2 additional layers (without clipping masks, but you can add it if you like) for the gradient for the sky. Bright in the top right corner, darker in the bottom left corner.

On a closing note, I know I called this a tutorial but I personally don't have too much knowledge in photoshop. I only consider myself a man who likes art so I post what I think looks right. Please take this tutorial with a grain of salt.

Should you have any questions about anything or perhaps you are indeed an artist who can provide some sort of advice for future work, I'll gladly hear it in the comments.

Source: Here.

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Motivational Poster: Pride doesn't give you FOOD!

My first time making one of these. Theres probably too much black space and the border is too thick. I'll try to make it better in future work. Image source after the jump.

I made it because I saw a funny video on youtube. So I took a snapshot and editted it in photoshop.

Source: Here

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FIXED !

Bawahahaha !

I still don't know a piece of html, other than the span codes to make the stuff hidden (maybe theres more uses for it but I don't know about them). But using some thinking, I was successful in adding the picture to the blog. As shown to the right side above the search bar.

Basically what I did was, take a look at the html from one of the posts which had an image added. Copy that code to the search gadget, then replace all the URLs of the image with the new image.

Of course, that image is still hosted at tinypic, and it may one day be brought down. Should that happen, I shall upload it on picasa and change the URL to there. So its here to stay!

Unless of course, something comes up and I feel a need to change it. Although, with my art skills, odds of making something better are slim. But dear readers are free to submit an art for the cause! Of course, your name/pen name/nickname/(whatever you choose) will be included so you may get internet fame ! LOL !

On another note, heres something I found. Shocking as it may be.

Video: Here (Possibly NSFW)

The download link is in that video's description. Though what the video shows you have more features than the one you download.

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Aww...

Today, I spent a long time drawing something I wanted to implement in the blog. I wanted to include a logo in the search bar to the right side of the blog (where all the gadgets are). However, google restricts the size to 100x100 or the height no more than 50 pixels, depending on the 2 possible choices. The image is below.

Hinanai Tenshi from Touhou Project 10.5, Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, final boss.

I'm not an artist, I acknowledge it. You and I both can probably point out millions of flaws. But the effort is what counts! Right now, its hosted on tinypic (Here). I don't know how long it'll stay for.

But right now, if you do a search using the search bar gadget, you should see the 100x100 pixel version of that picture, clicking on it will turn it into the original size.

As for those rare people who wants to save it or manipulate it. You may do as you please.

Oh. If you like, please do send some advice on how to draw. Although I can't see myself doing much in the near future. It is one thing I would like to learn.

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How to Distinguish Real and Fake Touhou Figurines from Griffon Enterprises

My mom recently returned from her visit of her parents in Hong Kong. And as we probably all know, no expedition is complete with out a souvenir. Since I've been a Touhou fan for a while and since its DIFFICULT to find any goods from them, I asked her to help me look for some. Judging from the title, you will probably have the idea on what she bought.

It was a fake Marisa figure from Griffon Enterprises. Not being there myself in Hong Kong to do the purchase, I have no idea what the environment of the store was like. So I can't say that I blame my mom for such a purchase. If anything, I should be grateful, it allowed me to make a post about it.

*Note: The "real" one that I assume to be true was bought in Akihabara on my Japan trip last summer, in a store called Gamers"*

So let us begin this investigation.

First of all, we should start at the box, since that is the first thing you see when you think about buying a figurine.

There is nothing much I can really say, the box is made to mimic the official box from Griffon Enterprises. Since I don't own an official player 2 colour Marisa figure from them, I can't compare the numbers and other details. Although the box looks nearly identical, there are several things that sets them apart.

*Note: for any of the images uploaded below as a guide, the same images are also available in the gallery.*

1. The colour of the paint on the box is poorer than the official product, that is usually the case which allows the product to be sold cheaper than the original goods. However, that isn't something you can easily tell if the original box is not present.

Fake (Left) vs Real (Right)

2. In the original box, there was a sheet of paper that presents the other Touhou figurines that Griffon Enterprises was releasing along in the same batch. However I do not know if that is restricted to the mass produced models (1P colours) only. Since again, I don't have an official 2P colour version of Marisa to compare with, that is the best I can do at this point.

Fake (Left) vs Real (Right)

In terms of other features about the box, I could not tell you how to differentiate them. If you do happen to be stuck in a situation where you think it may be fake, do advise before you buy it. Or you can read the next section which talks about the differences in the figure itself.

The 2 figures changes significantly when inspected. This was not a real shocker because I didn't expect them to be anywhere near similar (as seen here). Here are what you should pay attention to:

1. Take a GOOD look at the base of the figurine, that is where you'll see the MOST difference. The official figuring has a name plaque that looks like metal and bolted onto the plastic base with 2 nuts. However, in the fake one, it looks like a sticker. Also, notice the spelling mistake.
*Note: I do not think it will be possible to see the base when the box is unopened, so this may not be helpful if you are at a store.*

Fake (Left) vs Real (Right)

2. The base connectors to attach the figure on looks different between the real and the fake, both securely fasten the figure on the base, but they still look different.

Fake (Left) vs Real (Right)

3. The fake figure tends to be more glossy, that applies to pretty much everywhere. The main distinction is from the face, arms, legs (skin area), the white apron, shoes, and hat. This seems to be a trend amongst knockoff products (refer to nendoroid petit comparison post, here)

Fake (Left) vs Real (Right)

4. The broom doesn't fit into the hand socket. Therefore the broom moves around in that general position.

Notice how the fake figure has the broom touching the base, thats because its not tightly attached to the hand (via bad mold)

5. The head position of the fake Marisa is straight while the real one is slightly bent to her right.

No, it actually looks like this. I hope you can notice the difference.

6. The fake figure is generally made with lower quality plastic or PVC (or whatever that is made with)

Fake (Left) vs Real (Right)

7. The crack at the head is much worse on the fake figure than the real one (but this might be different from one to another)

Fake (Left) vs Real (Right)

Final note: It would probably be easiest to identify the authenticity of the figure by holding it near a good light, because the main noticeable difference would be the glossy finish of the fake which would differentiate it from the real. This might be a little troublesome because of the plastic that protects the figure and keeps it from moving inside the box.

For those who are in a hurry. Though I highly encourage reading the whole thing incase I missed anything in the summary.

Summary:
- Fake figure has a glossy coat whereas the original does not
- Fake is generally lower quality for the box, the figure material
- Fake has horribly sloppy base with a sticker name tag instead of metal and has spelling errors
- Fake has a straight head whereas real has a bent one
- Probable best method to distinguish authenticity would to be bring it near a good light to check for glossy coat

*Note: In the photos with 2 items, the left is always the fake one whereas the right is real.*
Gallery: Here

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[Griffon Enterprises] Flandre Scarlet PVC Figure Review

While at home for the past week, I was able to take photos and inspect this figure thoroughly (aside other things, here and here). Full review of the figure Flandre Scarlet by Griffon Enterprises below.

Lets start off with here I got this and at what cost. I paid 6560 yen which was equivalent to $74.78 CDN at the time of purchase. I had put in a preorder request at Amiami months in advance because I wanted it alot. (More about purchasing with Amiami here). I will point out in the gallery link at the end of the post, you can see the type of packaging Amiami uses.

On with the actual product.

First of all, the picture on the box, in my opinion, looks terrible, and at first I thought the figure itself was bad also. But when I opened it, that wasn't the case. The box itself and the plastic packaging in the box was no surprise to anyone. I hadn't expected it to be either.

The base looks normal also. I will point out a specific detail to the base though. I personally thought nothing of it except maybe a little smile at how neat it was. Do you know what I'm talking about?
Look harder!
HARDER !!
...
<-- Click But that is such a small thing, can't possibly use that as an excuse to say whether its good or not. So lets move on. Lets talk about the Lævateinn... if you're a Touhou fan, you should automatically know what it is (or maybe if you know a little about Flandre, you would know). To put bluntly, its her weapon. You know how shes kinda crazy and likes to kill everyone? That "double-edged trident" is PRETTY DAMN SHARP! You can seriously hurt someone! And I kid you not. Its comparable to a toothpick, and probably even sharper. I poked myself cause I wasn't careful.

Who thought owning figurines wouldn't hurt?

That hat and the rest of the figure can be blended together, since there was nothing unique about the hat which deserved its own analysis. I found the figure to be very well coloured, atleast in regards to the shading. The pose is also very dynamic and strikes you nearly instantly. (I don't really like dull figurines where they're just standing there to look pretty). There are some imperfections to be seen in the close up pictures. But those are understandable.

I should mention, the hat, like Marisa's, does not magnetically clip on like the Hiyori Pixie's pumpkin hat, but despite this, it is very easy to put on and once on it doesn't wiggle on the head.

The clothing on this figure looks top notch, just like Marisa's. The shading on the skirt successfully captures the motion that it is taking. I would even say Griffon Enterprises does the best shading jobs that I've seen in all the figures I own.

Lastly, I should mention the wings (OMG!). It was one of the main reasons why I bought it, Flandre Scarlet is cool, but everyone has their charm points. For sure, it has to be her wings (unless you're attached to her destructive aura, which is perfectly fine, whatever floats your boat). But the wings were very well done. Very clean. Best of all, it doesn't feel flimsy like it will break from simply blowing at it. I applied some force on the "jewels" to see if it was poorly built, but it held sturdy. I am going to see what happens when I shine light on it, I wonder if it'll reflect in different directions like a precious gem. (Probably not, since its PVC, polyvinyl chloride, some unreactive material). Sadly, again some imperfection can be seen, its not a big deal, but theres a droplet of red paint on the orange jewel. (>:)

I would surely recommend this to both Touhou fans and to people who likes to collect quality figures. Of course, I have never actually built one myself (I'm referring to those resin kits where it comes unpainted and unbuilt). I think it might be fun to buy one someday and attempt to build/paint it. But if I don't even paint my Gundams, how can I succeed in painting a figurine?!

Oh well, thats another story.

And there you have it, my take on what tries to be a review for a figure.

On a closing note, it was made in China.
...
...
Is it still worth buying? The quality of one does not equal the quality of all.

Gallery: Here

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