Chucks Anime Shrine

FanService Friday 1/20/12: Nisemonogatari Nadeko

2012-01-20T13:53:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the long delay..so here's ..moved into a new apartment and I've been helping in efforts to fight back those terrible bills that could destroy the internet: SOPA, PIPA and maybe a new player, PCIP. As an anime retailer, I can safely say that piracy is an issue and does hurt sales but nothing like the MPAA, RIAA and others like to make you think is being lost in their content. More o this issue and hopefully some Tenshi-Oni updates soon as well.

So..for now, enjoy this beautiful photo of Nadeko from the Bakemonogatari sequel, Nisemonogatari.

oh and the Tenshi-Oni Sprite Contest has been extended to a future date (it's not 12/31 anymore..will fix that)..so if you have sprites you want to maybe show up in the game...send away.

Merry Anime Christmas From Kenneos

2011-12-23T13:47:00.000-05:00

Kenneos, the artist who's doing much of the art for the Tenshi-Oni game, recently finished this great anime Christmas picture.

Again, pardon the lack of updates and blog posts...there's of course been lots of anime and gaming news that I've been not mentioning but been busy with the anime figure business and work in general ^^;;

No matter what holiday you celebrate or religion you have (or don't have) hope you have some time this weekend to sit back, relax and spend time thinking about something more important in life than work.

Tenshi-Oni: Fumi iPhone 4/4S Case

2011-12-17T13:18:00.002-05:00

Got the new iPhone 4S to both test/debug the Tenshi-Oni game on the newest device and to replace the need for my old 3G beyond debugging the game of course.

Artwork thanks to Eefi

The case can be found here.

New Fumi Animation - Sword Attack

2011-12-17T13:09:00.002-05:00

Not too new but it's been way too long since I've updated the blog (programming the game, did an other anime voice acting class with Edge Studios, x-mas rush with the anime figure business been keeping me busy ^^;;)

Thought I'd quickly let you all see the first true movement of Fumi in the game. Kenneos has been great help with the art for the game thus far and I can't wait to see what Angel and Demon Fumi in-game graphic will look like.

Also, for those who still want to make some game sprites that will be in the game as either a bonus "skin" or at least displayed one way or another...there's still that contest going on...but it's ending soon and since Kenneos was the only one thus far to make any sprites...she'll by default win the prizes ^^;;

Anime Mech Figures

2011-12-04T10:25:00.000-05:00

One section I've been lacking in my anime store for a long while has been mechs. I have a Gundam section but granted the pickings have been rather slim ^^;; Well, I've changed that and now there's an official Mech Section in the anime store.

...Granted, there's still not much to choose from but as sales increase I plan on increasing the number of awesome mechs (both per-assembled like the ones there now and model kits) to order.

Twitter Fail Whale Madoka Ver.

2011-12-03T12:07:00.000-05:00

The site this past week has been a bit sluggish ^^;; Maybe I should post this up when it's slow, lol. Forgot the artist who made this but I will credit them if I can ^^

Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune Fan Art

2011-12-02T09:00:00.000-05:00

I simply love this fan art pic of Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. Thus, here's today's Fan Service Friday post :p

Nendoroid Sonic the Hedgehog

2011-12-01T15:33:00.001-05:00

Good Smile Company announced last night that pre-orders have begun for the Nendoroid Sonic the Hedgehog figure. I like many gamers can't beliv that Sonic is now 20 years old. I remember being young 8 ear old playing both Mario games on the SNES and Sonic games on the Genesis back when Mario and Sonic were mortal enemies.

Anyways, back to the figure... he's set to release in April in Japan (thus probably won't reach US shores until around May). He retails for 3500 yen (about $50 USD)...hopefully the dollar can gain on the yen some more and make these Nendos more like their original $35-$40 pricing but hoping for that is like wishing Sega will get back into the console selling business :-/

Here's his pre-order page for anyone interested in nabbing their own ^_^

and here's some more pics of the figure...

Tenshi-Oni Update: Super Attacks

2011-11-28T13:50:00.000-05:00

New screenshots from the Tenshi-Oni game in production ^_^. Added two new attacks. 1) Doing a charged sword attack in Super Mode shoots that quick star burst across the screen...will probably change it to feathers in Angel form and skulls in Demon form.
2) Doing a charged attack in Super mode freezes you in place as you do a constant charge beam that decimates enemies ^^

(Don't mind the Resume and Quit buttons ^^;; The pause screen will be made to look much better than that)

Funny thing is...these aren't the true super attacks I plan on adding. I plan on adding an individual "Final Super Move" for each form that depletes the special bar.

There's definitely more to come...

Tenshi-Oni Designs by Eefi

2011-11-27T15:30:00.001-05:00

Pardon the lack of anime news and blog posts as of late ^^;; Been busy with the anime figure business due to the holidays, still stuck at that darn p/t job (-_-), and as you all know (if you follow my Twitter feed), I've been working late at night coding the Tenshi-Oni game that's based on our mascots.

I want to take this time to announce that now the fan artist, Eefi has her own section in our CafePress section of the store. This image of Angel Fumi above is one of the couple great fan pics submitted and now you can have them on jewlery, iPhone cases and clothes.

Check it out and do note that most profits of such products go right back to the fan artist who created it.

....
Got any fan art of Fumi and the others you want to submit? You too could have a section of your work too ^_^

Full Metal Daemon Muramasa: Muramasa Sansei Figure

2011-11-18T12:21:00.001-05:00

As sort of a duel FanService Friday post and an anime figure post, here's the lovely new figure announced by Good Smile Company: Full Metal Daemon Muramasa: Muramasa Sansei.

She's scheduled to come out around March in Japan...so probably April here in the states. She's 1/7th scale and yes...as you see,her maid skirt is castoffable ^^;;

Here's her product link in the store if you wish to pre-order her and here's some more pictures ^^:

TenshiOni: First Video Preview

2011-11-10T14:14:00.001-05:00

Here's the first (rough) video preview of the Fumi game (TenshiOni) in production ^_^ It was a bit tough to video for now (will improve the video quality, etc. in the next previews), but you can see a quick glimpse of the gameplay.

I'm also a big reddit.com fan...so I'm making a reddit community page for the game here: (www.reddit.com/r/tenshioni)

On there people can post fan art of Fumi and the mascots, game enemy/level/move suggestions, and eventually bug reports. As of this post, there's really nothing there but that'll change in the coming days and weeks ^_^

Though very rough video, I hope you all like it thus far.

(Here's the video descripton I posted on youtube that give a bit more detail on what's going on)

The game's engine is that of the Space Game starter Kit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmI1OGtId2c
It still has the backgrounds and enemies of the Space Game Kit but you can see a bit has changed.

The main character of the game, Fumi has the ability to transform into an Angel, Demon or back her normal state. Each form has advantages/disadvantages based on the enemies she is facing. You can see that some of the blast/hi animations change based on the strength of the hit.

Sprites are still pending but some of the dynamics of her transformations have been added; a two-finger tap changes her form, Red aura representing Demon, White-- Angel, None--Normal. Her movement is controlled by the accelerometer (but was a bit tough to film at the moment ^^;;) A left to right swipe is a sword attack and if you hold down an attack, she charges up and can release a charged blast that differs in color based on her form (akin to say, the Megaman xBuster).

Not seen is a "Super Mode" that will last for a short period of time that boosts the player's power.

That "boost" powerup seen is left over from the initial Space game setup ^^;;

This is being tested and was recorded on my old 3G iPhone so there's a slight bit of lag due to mainly the 3G's processor slow handling of particle effect arrays. It runs very smooth on the 3Gs and above.

(Music credit goes to my fiancee Danielle ^_^)
(art credit goes to Kenneos (http://kenneos.deviantart.com/))

Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Tomoe Mami 1/8 Scale Figure

2011-11-10T12:42:00.001-05:00

As some of you know, just last night, Good Smile Company announced the pre-orders have begun for the Tomoe Mami 1/8 Scale Figure. She looks stunning of course. Mami retails for 7800 yen (roughly $107-$115 USD, damn weak dollar -_-) and should be out around April or May 2012.

Here's her pre-order page in the store section and below are the rest of her stock photos ^_^

Moe Monday 11/7/11 Toradora! Taiga

2011-11-07T14:47:00.001-05:00

It's been too long since my last Moe Monday.... here's a very nice, (but a bit sad ^^;;) image of Toradora's Taiga

Don't worry, as we know, Taiga is freaking hilarious at times.

Gurren Lagann Riobot 04 Figure by SEN-TI-NEL

2011-10-31T13:17:00.000-04:00

Got word this morning about this figure and of course anything Gurren Lagann catches my attention. The anime figure company SEN-TI-NEL is planning on releasing this studding action figure of Gurren Lagann. Granted, for the size, it's a bit steep in price at about 9000-9100 yen (~$130) for a figure that appears to be no bigger than Revoltech's own version. Yet, as some of you may know...many anime store have jacked up the price of that Revoltech figure to almost this price anyway -_-

This one is also set to probably hit higher prices after release due to it's Japan exclusivity (that I am bypassing) and limited production.

Here's the pre-order page in my store for it.

Due note that there's a very high chace it'll sell out, so act soon. Stores have until 11/6/11 to request more than their initial orders so the timeframe is definitely short ^^;;

For now, here's a bunch of images for my fellow TTGL and mech fans to see:

Fanservice Friday 10/28/11 Halloween HOTD

2011-10-28T12:50:00.000-04:00

Happy (early) Halloween! To celebrate another Fanservice Friday, here's a High School Of the Dead fanservice pic. If you haven't seen this series, it's definitely worth a watch and for those like me who've seen it since it first came out in Japan, there will be a second season.

Tenshi-Oni Update: Fumi's First Game Sprite

2011-10-21T10:58:00.000-04:00

Kenneos does it again and sends us the first look at a Fumi game sprite animation. For those of you doing the contest, don't fret... I plan on having your entries involved in the game one way or another, be it unlockable skins, or part of an in-game art gallery. Again, her sprite can be this style or pixel art since some artists prefer one or the other.

As you can see, Fumi is in her normal human form. The game will have her "flying" through another dimension, hidden in the shrine (powered by her aura akin to say DBZ).

Simply love her look...actually resembles that of a Nendoroid. More to come and hopefully some actual game screens soon too from the Tenshi-Oni game in progress.

Fanservice Friday 10/21/11 Yoko

2011-10-21T10:43:00.001-04:00

Time to break out of the blog hiatus with a #FanserviceFriday post. Here's a stunning fan art of Yoko from Gurren Lagann. If I can find the artist behind this, I'll gladly link to their site.

New Contest: Fumi Game Sprite

2011-10-13T08:58:00.000-04:00

As some of you know, a few months back I also tagged a second contest to the Kawaii Blog banner contest. This one was for a chance to win the Mischievous Kiss K-Drama DVD set, I'm also adding a free Crunchy Roll 2 day all-access membership pass as well as the beautiful Nendoroid: Sora no Otoshimono Forte: Ikaros Figure. Originally, it was for ANY fan art or even game sprite of our mascots. Now, I'm making it a bit more specific...

Currently I'm working on the long overdue video game that is based on our mascots, named Tenshi-Oni™ Since 2003 it was called "Project Fumi" and is finally being developed by me for the iPhone and iPad (before the iPhone was created I started in Flash actionScript). Thanks to a game "engine"/starter kit I purchased (see video), one can see that I'm utilizing the feel of a space 2D shooter. Of course that will be replaced by Fumi and her ability to transform into her forms...with a bunch more features than what you see in the video.

For this contest, I'm asking for simply one game sprite animation of Fumi in her normal/schoolgirl outfit. You can send and work on her other forms if you'd like but for now...just to start (since doing the full game would involve much more work that I do plan on contracting an artist to help...to be paid via $ and/or anime figures) The sprite can be pixel art or, even better, like the sprites in Guilty Gear. From the video of the game template I'm working off of, you can see it'll be a profile/side view. The video shows the ability to fire an attack, I have so far added a charge attack (with awesome particle effects). This can be the direction of the sprite frame animation.

Just to recap...

The prizes:

Mischievous Kiss K-Drama DVD
Crunchy Roll 2 day all-access membership pass
Nendoroid: Sora no Otoshimono Forte: Ikaros Figure

Deadline: 12/31/11

Email me for your entry or any questions you might have ^^

Sweet Kawaii Contest Winners

2011-10-12T18:12:00.002-04:00

First off, thank you to all who participated in the contest ^_^ I had a tough time picking just one winner this time. Eefi's banners (shown below) were great and so was the first entry by Nina Kho (shown above). The two other entries (the bottom two) were by Cheryl Leong and by Audrey P. Both of those were very cute and added them to the Kawaii Blog. (They don't seem to be of our mascots, but fit the theme of the kawaii blog ^^) Both Nina and Kennoes got one free Madoka Nendoroid and Figma Madoka. (the Nendoroid just arrived and the figma should be here soon for me to ship to you two ^^;;)

The second contest that I had going on still (the one for the K-Drama, Mischievous Kiss), is now being extended and will have a few more surprise prizes. The only stipulation is that instead of submitting just any image of our mascots...it'll be game sprites of Fumi. ...more in the next post on that.

Again, thanks so much for the really cool banners ^^

Contests Update

2011-10-02T16:22:00.001-04:00

Ok, as some of you may know, there are 2 contests going on. One for the chance to win both the Madoka Nendoroid and Figma and the other to win a copy of the Mischievous Kiss K-drama series.

The deadline was September 30th for both contests and I did get some lat minute entries. For the contest to win the Madoka Figures...I've come down to 2 finalists of the batch that submitted a banner for the Sweet Kawaii blog section of the site. I'm still undecided on who gets the prizes and I might do a vote with the help of my 2300+ twitter followers.

As for the second contest..I'm going to extend it until the end of this month...Oct. 31st. I'm also going to change a bit of the rules for it. Initially I said submit any picture regarding the mascots on the site. I'm going to fine tune that (since everyone actually submitted for the first contest ^^;;) and ask for game sprites of Fumi for the Tenshi-Oni game I'm producing. Nothing big, it can be one sprite, or an entire animation and just Fumi in her school girl/ normal form. The game is being made right now for the iPhone and iPad and it's using this as it's game engine, so pixel art can be used but even hand drawn sprites akin to say Guilty Gear can be used. Site artist, Kenneos is adding her skill into this and the game but even if she ends up as the game's main artist...I would love to make bonus "skins" of Fumi and her forms all designed by different artists. In addition to the Mischivous Kiss DVD box set, I might add another prize in there too, but at the very least, it'll be the the DVD set. ^_^

Now, all who entered in the Sweet Kawaii banner contest...in the next day, you'll see your work on the section (grand prize winner or not). Pardon the delay in updatng the site ^^;;

tl;dr version:

Sweet Kawaii Banner Contest (w/ Madoka Nendorid and Figma prizes): Winner(s) will be announced shortly, contest is officially over
Tenshi-Oni graphic Contest (w/ Mischievous Kiss DVD box set prize): Date extended until October 31st. To enter: submit game sprites of Fumi in her schoolgirl/normal form (other forms in addition only if you want)
for questions, concerns, entries... email me here.

(oh, and as for the figures, the Madoka Nendoroid is on the way to me as we speak..the Figma one iis still not in yet from Japan ^^;;)

The World God Only Knows: Nendoroid Haqua

2011-09-29T12:29:00.001-04:00

As of last night Good Smile Company announced the pre-orders for Nendoroid Haqua. She looks so cute ^_^. She's from "The World God Only Knows" which is another on my must-watch list. (time permitting ^^;;)

Of course, I wasted no time in putting her up for pre-order in the store She's set to come out in Japan around January or February (thus an extra month for her to reach stateside ^^;;)

Email requests for here, for those who wish not to use the cart.

Here's some more pics of her:

Fanservice Friday 9/23/11 Steins;Gate Girls

2011-09-23T16:40:00.000-04:00

Yeah, another busy week has one by for us here (hence the lack of blog posts ^^;;;)..but I can't let the week end without a post and without a Fanservice Friday post nonetheless.

I know, another Steins;Gate post, too. It won't end there..I still plan on making a full science post about the series and with the recent really big news from CERN about neutrinos possibly going faster than light speed (thus discovering a possible error for the first time in Einstein's Theory of Relativity)...thought Steins;Gate is very relevant.

...also...it's Feris-nyan and Kurisu at the beach. The Fall may be here today but we can hope for a not-so-bad winter to come here in the northern hemisphere.

Steins;Gate Finale Thoughts (No Spoilers)

2011-09-14T13:11:00.004-04:00

Like many yesterday on Crunchyroll, I watched the simulcast to the final episode of Steins;Gate. A movie is in production now so us SG fans are of course excited. If you haven't started watching this...go now on Crunchyroll and watch it. You won't be disappointed. Like an anime Butterfly Effect based on real (rumored) events, real companies and...if like me you are fascinated by string/M-theory, somewhat accurate depictions of how time really works. Example, the so-called "world lines" is something discussed in Theoretical Physics. Also, the characters in Steins;Gate grow on you. Kurisu and Mayuri are now up there in my favorite list of ani-girls; Mayuri's 'tuturuu!' bit is so damn cute >-<. Okabe comes off as a goofball but as the series progresses, and the stuff he goes through, he becomes probably one of the best male anime characters since Simon an Kamina. I'll more than likely be writing a full semi-scientific post (like I did with Gurren Lagann) about this anime. As a scientist, alot of this stuff is relevant and the whole John Titor reference is even more fascinating when you do a quick search and find that this person does/did exist. Obviously his/her online posts and claims are questionable.

This is by far not a review of Steins;Gate, more of an afterthought from watching the finale. In my next post about this series..there will be spoilers as I describe the real/semi real science /stories behind it.

Here's the awesome opening below.

Just think...there are versions or you existing as we speak in different world lines.

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Swarovski Hello Kitty

2011-09-09T15:18:00.002-04:00

(9/18/11 Update: First batch of them came and went before I could even list them ^^;;, but as of this post, more are on the way...reserve some now before it's too late.)

Some of you may know that before I added the store section to the website, my first entry into online sales was actually Swarovski Crystals. I actually still sell/collect Swarovski Crystal but, I rarely spoke of it here on this blog due to the fact that it's usually not anime related. Being my site is a "shrine" these figures do somewhat fit but now there's been a connection to these seemingly separate businesses.... Swarovski just recently announced a whole new line of crystals that feature a character anime and non-anime fans are familiar with (but we of course know she's from Japan), Hello Kitty.

Here's the Hello Kitty section on the Swarovski site. There's necklaces, bracelets and figurines of her ^_^ Granted, they are rather pricy, with one of them as much as $8000 (which looks like they sold out O_O) What I can do is maybe special order these items for anyone interested. There are MAP (Minimum Advertising Price) policies with Swarovski Crystals but if I can, I'll help ease the pain and make them 20-25% off sticker price.

In the next week or so, I'll post some in the store for you all to sift through. Anything current on the Swarovski site I should be able to get in usually 2-4 weeks. If possible I'll have a regular stock of these but if anyone is up for any of these for the holiday season coming..email here and we'll help you out.

You can't deny the cuteness of Hello Kitty ^^