New Books and Dark Souls

Picked up Dark Souls for the 360 from Gamestop this week, since Best Buy sold my Collector's Edition I ordered from them. Having played Demon Souls the starting areas of the game where fairly easy since I knew the controls and attack patterns of the basic enemies. I'm currently past the Boar in the Undead Parish and it's getting a bit harder. Preparing for the fight with the Belfry Gargoyles.  Anyone else playing Dark Souls? How are you enjoying it?

Also got some new books. The new Percy Jackson book is out "The Son of Neptune". I got 5 of the "New 52" DC Comics consisting of Wonder Woman #1, Superman #1, Green Lantern Corps #1, The Flash #1, and Teen Titans #1. And two new manga volumes, Negima 31, and Higurashi: Eye Opening Arc 3. I liked the way Teen Titans started with their #1 issue. It was the only one to open in an origin story style with the Teen Titans not having been formed yet. What's everyone else take on the "New 52"? Read more On "New Books and Dark Souls"!

Yotsuba and !

Purchased some new manga this week. Got Yotsuba&! volumes 8 and 9. I really love this manga. The entire managa is about seeing the world through Yotsuba's eyes. How many of you were like Yotsuba when you were her age?

My other manga acquisitions were Negima! 29 (NEWS: There is a new anime to be released this year), Higurashi: Beyond Midnight Arc 2, and K-on! volume 2.

I also picked up Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Battle of the Labyrinth. Fox totally messed up when they made their movie adaptation. If they had stuck more to the book, instead of butchering it, they probably would of had a good 5 movie franchise on their hands.


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Labyrinth and Dark Crystal Manga

The last volume of Return to Labyrinth is finally out! It's been over a year since volume 3 came out, but we can finally learn what happens to Toby, Sarah, and their friends in the Goblin Kingdom. Also out this month is Legends of the Dark Crystal volume 2. It's been an even longer wait for this book, the first volume released in 2007. And I've heard Tokyopop isn't planning to continue the series. That's to bad because Labyrinth and Dark Crystal are two of my favorite Jim Henson films, and I have enjoyed being able to return to those worlds and experience new adventures.

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While at the book store I also got Rosario+Vampire Season 2 Volume 2, and Negima! 27. I got The Lightening Thief because I just watched the movie today, and needed 4 dollars more to be able to use a coupon I had. I enjoyed the movie, so the book must be a pretty good read.
Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it. Read more On "Labyrinth and Dark Crystal Manga"!

Heavy Rain and Some Manga

Picked up Heavy Rain for the PS3 and some manga this week. Heavy Rain is a really good game. It's classified as an "Interactive Drama" Because while you do control the characters in some instances such as searching areas for clues, the majority of the game is made up of Quick Time Events (QTE). Over the coarse of the game you control 4 different characters as they attempt to discover who the Origami Killer is, and save his latest victim. If one of the characters dies during the game they remain dead for the remainder of the game unless you reload the previous chapter to try and not get them killed. The action sequences are exciting as you try to keep the character alive during a fight or while driving a car into oncoming traffic.


The manga I got this week was Trigun Maximum vol 2, Yotsuba&! vol 2 and 3, and Negima! vol 25 .



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Manga and Video Games

Picked up some new manga and video games this week. Got the final volume of Karen (AKA Chibi Vampire). I was a little disappointed in the ending, not because it was a bad ending, but because it wasn't the way I hoped it would end. And that's all I'll say since I don't want to spoil it for anyone. Also picked up Rosario to Vampire volume 5. This is a really good series, and I need to get around to watching the anime soon.


Other manga acquisitions were Negima!? Neo, and Higurashi Cotton Drifiting Arc volume 2. I wasn't a huge fan of the Negima!? anime, but I think they are actually doing a good job with the manga and look forward to reading future volumes. Higurashi was a good read to. The next volume will be the Cotton Drifting Answer Arc, the Eye Opening arc. I can't wait for Manga Gamers release of the visual novels the manga is based from. This is also another series I need to watch the anime of.


I also got a couple used games from Gamestop. I had been reading about Crackdown 2 in last months Game Informer, and it sounded like it would be a really good game. So I decided to go get the original Crackdown to play it before the sequel comes out. A friend of mine talked me into getting Two Worlds, which from what little I've played so far seems almost like a cross between Oblivion and Diablo. Both games feature co-op play and if anyone's interested my Gamertag is Ziroc Stormkiler.

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Negima! Movie Announced

In response to the strong sales of the 3 part Negima Ala Alba OVA, and the demand for the 4 parts Negima Another World OVA Kodansha has announced a Negmia! motion picture to be released in 2011.

I just watched the first episode of the Another World OVA, and it was awesome. It follows the Magical World arc from the manga starting with Club Negima arriving in London and then heading to the Magical World via the Gateport near Negi's village.

Picture and news from Animenation News Blog

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New Manga Loot

Bought a few new manga today. Got the next to last issue of Shojo Bear, which be ending it's run with next month's issue. I was really disappointed when I heard this. I've been reading Shojo Beat since Dec. 2006, and it introduced me to several really good manga I might not of read otherwise. Since I'll no longer be able to buy Shoho Beat after next month decided to pick up my very first issue of Yen+. If I like the manga it runs, I might continue buying it. Anyone have any opinions of Yen+?



Also picked up Negima! volume 22, and Rosario+Vampire volume 1. Haven't read any of Rosario+Vampire or seen the anime, but have heard it's pretty good.

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Movic Yue and Nodoka Gashapons

Just got in the last two figures I needed to complete this set. I had been looking for Yue and Nodoka for awhile, but could never find them being sold by themselves. So I broke down and bought a complete set giving me extras of Asuna, Konoka, and Ako which I am selling on Ebay. I decided to spruce up my pictures by taking a shot of the figures in front of my Negima 200th chapter Pactio Card set. Ako didn't have card included in the set so I left her out of the picture.

More after the jump...



Yue and Nodoka are two of my favorite Negima characters. And these gashapons capture their Pactio card designs wonderfully. Only thing I don't like is Yue's witch hat. I think they could of made it to fit lower down on her head like how it looks on the card. As it is the hat falls off her head very easily.


While putting Yue together I inadvertently broke the peg that holds her spell book. Luckily after a couple hours of searching I was able to find the broken piece. I put the broken piece into peg hole on her arm before trying to glue it back together. It was a really tight fit so it's no wonder it broke.


This is an example of how detailed these gashapon figures are. They even gave Yue her side tie panties that she wears, since she has to take her panties completely off when she goes to the restroom.


Nodoka's figure looks really cute, although there were some scratches on the paint of the book to her right. Nodoka is probably my favorite character of all. I like how she went from a shy, insecure girl who was afraid of boys, to probably one of the strongest characters in the series. She's not physically strong like Negi or Asuna, but she's willing to do what ever it takes to help out Negi and the rest of her friends despite having no offensive abilities like them.

This is a really great set of of gashapon figures, and I wish Movic would make some of the other characters. Maybe a couple different versions of Chisame in some of her cosplay outfits she makes from her Pactio card.


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New Negima OVA Announced

A new Negima 4 part OVA has been announced. The OVA will follow the manga's "Magical World" plot line, and like the Ala Alba OVA series it will be released as bonus discs with 4 volumes on the manga. Kodansha producer Yoichi Ishimoto also confirmed the possibility of a Negima theatrical movie if sales of the OVA are good.

News from Animenation News Blog
Image from Kurogane's Anime Blog

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My Collection part 5

This is one of 2 Burger King Return of the Jedi glasses I have. Behind is McFarlane's Dragons: Eternal Clan Dragons. That line has some really nice dragon figures, but this is the only I've bought. Anyone else have any of the Dragons figures?

More after the jump.




The second my Burger King Return of the Jedi glasses, and the Toynami Robotech Masterpiece Collection Vol 1: Rick Hunter's VF-1J. Robotech was one of the first anime I ever saw, and it's one of my favorites. I still need to get the DVD's for "The Macross Saga" and "Masters" though. What was the first anime you ever watched?



More Negima figures. Asuna, Konoka, and Ako Gashapons. This set also includes Yue and Nodoka figures, but I haven't been able to find them sold by themselves. After I bought these 3 at least 3 auctions popped up on Ebay selling all 5 together, just my luck.



This is part of my collection of movie buttons. These are given out to employees at various stores for them to wear to advertise the release of a new movie on DVD. I used to work at K-Mart and got a ton of these. I have extras of some of them in anyone wants to trade a Yue and Nodoka from the set above for them. Heh. Well it's late so that it's for this post. I'll post more pictures tomorrow. Look forward to them!

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My Collection part 2

Well here is the second part of my figure collection posts. I would of posted something sooner, but I've spent a lot of my free time this past weekend figuring out how to get certain things to work on blogger. Making expandable posts for example. And they still don't work right, as it adds a "Read more!" link to the end of every post even if there is nothing more to read. Because of this I will be adding "END POST" to the end of any short posts, so you will know there is nothing else to read. I still haven't finished messing with the way I want things laid out, so if you visit the site and it looks weird it's just me trying to get something to work the way I want.

Here are the next figures from collection. Again sorry for the poor quality. I'm saving up for a real camera, but it will be a little while before I can get one. There are some Negima Figumates I have. 6 of them are from the limited edition DVDs, and the other 5 are the Negima! Vol 2 figure set. I have close up pictures of them after the jump.





Asuna, Ayaka, Makie, and Konoka

Asuna, Ayaka, Makie, and Konoka

Setsuna, Chacamaru (Maid), Chacamaru, and Evangeline

Evangeline, Kaede, and Yue

So who is your favorite Negima! girl? Mine is Nodoka. I like how she started out shy and unsure, and has slow become more outgoing and confident as the manga goes on. And the fact she looks a lot like Love Hina's Shinobu has nothing to do with it. :)

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