Absolutely nothing

I haven't posted anything in a few days, but there really hasn't been much happening. I've been on break most of the week, which of course means I spent my time sitting at my computer watching those girl cartoons and playing those silly games. A pretty good week if you ask me.

Today's unrelated pictures brought to you by Kiri!

Easter

No visit from the Easter Bunny this year, so I resorted to stealing some eggs from the Easter Octopus (octopuses do lay eggs right? Not that it really matters since rabbits don't in the first place).

Takoluka not on-board with my plan

Playing with portals

I got onto Portal 2 pretty much as soon as it came out because, despite the godawful fanbase, I thought Portal was a really clever concept with great execution. Not a day later and I've already finished it (though I'm yet to try co-op) so I thought I'd make a few comments on it. Fair warning - I won't mention any spoilers but some details in the screenshots could give stuff away if you think about them too much. I myself was actually spoiled courtesy of /v/, but the event I was spoiled about happened about halfway into the game so it wasn't a big deal.

The game itself is mechanically pretty similar to the first Portal - you have a portal gun, which you use in combination with cubes, lasers and various other devices to make your way through each test chamber. One of the main areas in which Portal 2 differs is that it includes a lot more of these devices that you have to use successfully to continue through the game - including light bridges, tractor beams, jump plates, cubes that redirect lasers and, my favourite, three types of gel that affect the surface they're placed on.

LoL < DotA, prove me wrong

I got back into League of Legends today. Although, "got back into" may be stretching the truth a little, because it's not like I was ever big on it in the first place. I played DotA a lot though, I got into it around 2004 and only stopped playing last year. There's a limit to how many first blood leavers a man can handle - turns out my limit was pretty damn high, but I got there in the end.

Tangentially DotA-related. Hit level 6? Someone's going to die. 

Miku Tony ver.

I've had this figure for days (weeks?) now and have finally gotten around to cleaning my desk to an acceptable standard for her to be placed on. Before I post some pictures, though, I'd like to dispel a common misconception about this figure - that she couldn't possibly strike that pose while keeping her spine intact. I tried to mimic her pose earlier and, while uncomfortable, it's definitely doable. And believe me, I'm no Chinese gymnast. If a Shiteyanyo figure ever gets made (and dear God I hope it does not, that's the stuff of nightmares) then you'll have a valid complaint.

I had a box photo but it's got way too much glare even by my minimal standards so it's straight to the lady herself.

No seriously, you can bend like that.

A cat is fine too

I don't really have much to post about, so here are some photos of the kitten one of my housemates just bought.

hurr

She seemed determined to look everywhere but the camera. Cats aren't known for their cooperative tendencies.

I finished Remember11 yesterday, and can't help but feel a little let down by the ending. I thought the VN was pretty good overall, and definitely had better pacing than Ever17 (as well as less chicken sandwiches), but it really felt like they got half way through writing the epilogue and thought "fuck it, let's just release". I went seeking some explanation from Google and got led to a TLwiki discussion page that made very little sense to me since I hadn't got the particular bad end and read all the relevant tips that are apparently vitally important to understanding everything. I'm not sure if I'll go back and try get 100% or if I'll just move on to something else, I'll give it a few days and see what I feel like then.

I've still got quite a backlog though, with Sekien no Inganock and Symphonic Rain being two I've been meaning to read for quite a while now. I'd love to read Umineko 8, but that'll still be a while.

I still haven't really decided what anime I'll be watching this season. I've got the first episodes for Hanasaku Iroha and Nichijou sitting on my hard drive but I've been neglecting them for House of all things. I watched the first episode of Steins;Gate but it's still too early for me to really tell what that's going to turn out like.

And just in case this post wasn't already fragmented enough, I just heard that there's a site hinting at an upcoming Persona 4 anime, with a countdown to midnight tomorrow night (April 11). I never actually finished Persona 4 since my PS2 emulator deleted my half-complete save file and I can't bring myself to start it again, so I'd be pretty interested in an anime adaption.

EDIT: it looks like (from what I can make out from some moonblogs linked to on /a/) the anime will be done by Shaft. Fuck yeah. I'm unashamedly somewhat of a Shaft fanboy, but I really think they'll be a good choice for this.

Review/comparison of online figure stores (tl;dr)

This is still something of a work in progress, but I'm liable to put it off forever if I don't make myself post at least something about it.


This is also seriously tl;dr, especially if you don't collect figures. Even if you do, you may just want to skip to the end.


Introduction

Everyone has an opinion on what the cheapest places to get figures from are. The problem is that the support for these opinions tends to be anecdotal or based on a tiny sample, limiting their credibility. In the absence of anything better to do with my time, I decided to compare a decent number of figures (not as many as I'd like, but I'm still working on it) across a few different stores and see what conclusions I could draw.

At this stage, the only variable I've taken a serious look at is figure pricing, with a somewhat less thorough look at selection/availability and shipping costs.

I decided to look at five different figure sites, chosen for what I considered to be their perceived popularity and size. I didn't include any stores aimed mainly at the American domestic market as I did not see them offering me (as an Australian) very competitive prices or ranges compared to the stores with an international focus. I initially included an Australian-based store but decided to drop it after the results showed it not being even close to competitive. I also chose not to include eBay stores due to their questionable authenticity, nor did I include second-hand stores as I consider that market to be very separate from the new figure market.

Stores

• AmiAmi - You've all heard of this one. They're the largest online retailer in the Japanese market, and they've only been selling internationally for a relatively short amount of time.
• Hobby Search - another large Japanese online retailer (second biggest I believe). They have been selling internationally for quite a while now.
• Hobby Link Japan - these guys are another big store, and they've been around forever. They sell a wide range of non-anime modelling goods too.
• Otacute - a much smaller operation, although they're probably the best-known store that stocks exclusives.
• Play-Asia - not as popular among the /jp/ community due to them being thought of as expensive, but well known amongst the wider internet community as they stock a lot of asian games and music as well.

You'd think I'd have known better

Against my better judgement, I allowed myself to be convinced to go to Supanova (a local convention) today. Yep, not the best decision I've ever made. You'd think all the horror stories on /a/ and the like would have deterred me, but it would seem not.