Random Thoughts

Purchase:
My Final Fantasy Mini Trading Figures is now processed for shipping. It got discontinued the moment it was in stock. I don't have any problem of getting it because I have pre-ordered (early bird) very early. Currently two orders on the way to my doorstep; Suzuka guidebook and 3 clear Bandai action bases.

I'll change the shipping for AMG Belldandy Kotobukiya figure to EMS to avoid the incident with ARIA Solidworks collection and also to avoid the busy end-of-year peak postage.

I'll be getting the Ah! My Goddess OP & ED single by Jyukai together with the OP single for crescent love. Waiting for my new credit card before I place the order with Play-asia. The order will comprise Crescent Love OP and AMG new single.

I have 6 manga that I want to place order with Bookcafe but still wondering if I should get Tsubasa Chronicles manga 1-20. A large order would reduce the cost of each book from AUD $7.77 to $6.74 including shipping. But of course, I'll be spending over AUD$175 on 26 manga which is quite significant (insted of $47 for 6 mangas). I have also intended to get Prince of Tennis manga once it's finished, currently the CN's up to 38 volumes!


Manga:
Hatsukoi Limited 5: Terai was weak in physical activities. His friends suggested to Dobashi in training him and she agreed. After slurring out that he rather be weak so that she could continue teaching him, she suggested of dating. Terai got third in track and gave the medal to her. She gave him a hug as consolation. However, the relastionship sort of hang on a cliff without a clear indication.
Hatsukoi Limited 6: Arihara told Bessho about his sister Ayumi and ended up arguing. Chikura suggested that they should check out each other's sister. Compared to Arihara, Bessho's sister, Koyoi is more fond of his brother. Later, Ayumi told Arihara that she's in love with Zaitsu. Arihara wanted to demonstrate something to Bessho and ended up sticking a chuppa chup into her mouth.
Tsubasa 171: Kendappa told Tomoyo to set a barrier so that Syaron could duel against Seishiro. Yui realized that Tomoyo had paid the price so that they would appear in Nihon after Celes.
Tennis 363: Fuji gained 6-5 against Niou who imitated Tezuka. Fuji remarked that Niou is far from Tezuka's level. Niou then changed his illusion to Shitenhouji’s Shiraishi who had beaten Fuji in the semi-final. Fuji countered by saying that he won't lose to an opponent twice.
Tennis 364: Fuji beated Niou 7-5 with his 6th counter, Hoshi Hanabi.
Cross Game 102: Koh pondered on the Wakaba look-alike girl. Aoba also saw the girl as she ran to meet her friends. Summer festival coming and eveyone felt uneasy possibly because it reminded them of Wakaba.

AMG 230: Welsper told Keiichi and Belldandy their real names. Belldandy commented that she still like him even then. The cue of goddess prompted Keiichi to remark the wish that he had made before. This cause an activation and their memory were restored. I wished this arc has never started, what a waste of time.
ARIA SP: A special chapter of the orange princess, Alice being lonely and couldn't find an excuse to see Akari and Aika. One night Aika and Akari appeared in her room eating banana. They came to eat the new pizza together with Alice. Alice told them about her schedule and how she couldn't think of any reason to meet together. Akari told her that she didn't need any reason since she is Alice. Alice got revived by Akari and Aika's companion.


P/S: Sent an email to HLJ last week regarding the MIA order;
With reference to the email and reply dated Thursday, 18 October 2007 4:20:13 AM, provided below. I was advised to wait 90 days before HLJ would take action for order 774212.

However, I have just received a second parcel from HLJ. The order with invoice 784928 was sent on the 5th Oct and I have received it on the 27th Oct, taking around 3 weeks. I have mentioned that it took around 3 weeks for order to reach me from past experience.

Now my order with invoice invoice 774212 is already more than 52 days and it does appear to be lost. Please advise what appropriate action would HLJ take in relation to this, instead of just asking me to wait till the full 90 days.

HLJ Response:
Thanks for writing.
We still have to ask you to wait the 90 days, as we do with all our customers. Because SAL goes space available, there's no way to predict in what order packages will arrive, and if it is on its way back to us for some reason, that will take longer.

Alicia Florence Goodsmile Figure

I had hope it was ARIA Solidwork Collection but it wasn't, it's the Alicia Florence 1/8 figure from Goodsmile. Well, at least when compared to the the gashapon, I rather have the gashapon MIA instead of this Alicia figure. The figure is released early this month and it's out of stock at HLJ and in most places.

The Alicia Florence figure is around 18.5cm tall with a distinct pose. She came with ARIA sachou figure, around 5cm tall. The figure is quite delicate as it has 4 pieces of plastic to protect certain parts; the back hair, tip of hair, back of figure and the right heel. The left heel has two screw attached which is good. Reference: Promotion picture.




Some photos of Goodsmile 1/8 Alicia Florence Figure


Goodsmile 1/8 Alicia and BEAT 1/6 Alicia. The colour scheme for GS Alicia is a better and smooth. The toning of the hair looks fabulous in photos, looks golden.


Three of my favourite anime heroines; Alicia Florence from ARIA, Belldandy from Ah! My Goddess and Lacus Clyne from Gundam Seed.

AMG Tatakau Tsubasa OP ED

The duo Jyukai 樹海 has once again been selected as the singer for Ah! My Goddess Tatakau Tsubasa (ああっ女神さまっ闘う翼) OP and ED. The single will be on sale on the 28th November. The OP theme is 愛の星 (Star of Love) and the ED theme is ハナムケのメロディー (Farewell Melody). The single will be Jyukai 6th single since their debut.

＜収録曲＞
１・愛の星（オープニングテーマ）
２・ハナムケのメロディー（エンディングテーマ）
３・帰り道
４・愛の星（Instrumental）
５・ハナムケのメロディー（Instrumental）

The probability of getting this single is high because I really like the vocal and their albums have been wonderful. At the moment, it's available for pre-order at AJ. Play-asia and Yesasia have not picked it up yet.

Random Thoughts

Sorry for being away for so long, that's if you're still visiting the blog. :P I'm currently busy with assignment marking.

I have lost hope for my ARIA Solidwork collection, most likely MIA. I think I'll choose EMS next time for shipping my figures. My ARIA Alicia 1/8 figure and Suzuka guidebook have been shipped separately. Hope they will arrive safely.
Update: I really think it was divine intervention (secret). Just reached home and I received a post notice to collect a parcel. Is it the MIA parcel??? It's been 51 days .. could be... but I have another parcel sent 17 days ago. Could it be the second parcel from HLJ? The worst would be the replacement CD case from Yesasia, but that can be slipped into my mail box rather than require collection. Anyway, I'll find out tomorrow morning. Hope it's ARIA Solidwork collection!!!!!
Update2: It's not ARIA Solidwork collection. It's the 2nd order from HLJ, Alicia Florence 1/8 Goodsmile figure!!!!!!!! Am I suppose to be happy or sad???

Mood: Sad


Manga:
Hatsukoi Limited 4: Kei nominated by her class as the cheerleader. Kusuda voluntered. In the end, the girls have to wear the male school uniform. I think I'm not going to write any thought or comment for this series. Boring, the only thing keeps me reading is the illustration.
Tsubasa 170: Cool, Syaoran against Seishiro next chapter!
Tennis 362: Fuji against Tezuka imitation, will the well-known Genius be able to beat "Tezuka". Match score 5-4(Fuji).
Cross Game 101: A new noodle house under construction beside Koh's house and a new girl who looked like Wakaba appeared.

Last week:
Manga:
Hatsukoi Limited 3: Uemura has aspired to be a mangaka and Yuu agreed to help him. However, he met a lot of competition in drawing Yuu's attention.
Tsubasa 169: Kurogane received a mechanical arm. Yui paid a price with his blue eye magic that possess magic power. Now it became gold.
Cross Game 100: No, he wasn't able to and they lost the game. Aoba asked Ichiyo how would Wakaba react if she was there.
Air Gear 180: Kururu and Tool Toul To members activated the Pledge Regalia. Something suspicious about Hako again.
Tennis 361: We get to know that Tezuka lost to Fuji when they played during childhood. Fuji is in lead over Niou imitation. Graham approached Setsuna.

Suzuka Release

Suzuka guidebook has been released and available at HLJ and Amazon JP. I requested for it to be available at HLJ last week. Update: Wow...2 days and HLJ out of stock, probably they don't keep much stock since guidebooks are not on their lucrative list. Lucky mine's processed for shipping already.


In addition, Suzuka JP last volume V18 has also been released.

It features Suzuka high jump action on the cover page. Available at Amazon JP.

Aside: Pastel JP V17 has also been released.

Available at Amazon JP.

ARIA where are you?

I just realized that it has been 41 days since my ARIA Solidworks order has been shipped by HLJ and I haven't received it!!! Usually HLJ SAL order will reach my doorsteps no more than 3 weeks. I went to my local post office and they said there's no parcel for me from last month. I have email HLJ for advice, I just hope the parcel is not lost because it's discontinued at HLJ!!!

Checked JP Post and the only possible indication is an increase in time for quarantine inspection in Australia (26/09) but it's only about 2days for SAL!


Update: I never received an item from HLJ that's more than 1 month in shipping but HLJ has different opinion. The 43 days are not enough for parcel to be classified MIA. Below is the response from HLJ, the predictable response.
------------------------------------------------
Hi

Thanks for writing.

We're sorry to hear that your package hasn't reached you yet. It was shipped to you by the Japanese Postal Service on Sept. 5 by SAL class as you requested. Unlike priority EMS class, economy SAL class moves on a space-available basis (by ground over land and by air over water) and does not have a tracking number or code number.

Because the postal service moves SAL-class packages on a space-available basis, it's unfortunately not possible to predict exactly how long it will take for a package to be delivered by SAL class. In addition, your Customs department may have selected your package for inspection, and there may be a backlog of packages being inspected.

For the usual times for SAL package delivery, please see the "How long will it take for my order to reach me?" section of our web site's FAQ at http://www.hlj.com/faq/q12.html . If your package hasn't reached you within the 90-day time limit stated in our FAQ, please let us know and we'll be glad to help. In the meantime, if your package is returned to us, our shipping department will e-mail you immediately.

Thank you for your patience, and for doing business with us.
------------------------------------------------

SD Gundams

SD Destiny was released much later than SD Strike Freedom. Nevertheless, BANDAI should have made blue "wing" for Strike Freedom as well.

It was last year when I first introduced my brother to SD Gundams on his birthday. Eversince, we have been slowly building his collection. Nowadays, I annoyed him when a new SD is released. Ha ha.




GAT-X105 Strike Gundam: Strike Aile, Strike Launcher, Strike Laucher as well as our custom full-pack Strike.



ZGMF-X56S Impulse Gundam



ZGMF-X09A Justice Gundam



ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam



ZGMF-X42S Destiny Gundam


ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom Gundam


ZGMF-1000 ZAKU Warrior (Lunamaria Hawke)



GAT-X105E+AQM/E-X09S Strike Noir


GSX-401FW Stargazer


XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero Custom


These are some more SEED Series SD Gundam that we have not yet acquired. No Stock (NA) or Not interested (NI):

GAT-X102 Duel Gundam NA
GAT-X303 Aegis Gundam NA
GAT-X207 Blitz Gundam NA
GAT-X105 Strike Gundam NI
ZGMF-1001/M Blaze ZAKU Phantom (Rey) NA
ZGMF-1001/M Blaze ZAKU Phantom (Heine)
ZGMF-1000/M Blaze ZAKU Warrior NI
MBF-M1 M1 Astray NI
MBF-P01 Gundam Astray Gold Frame NI
GAT-X1022 Blu Duel NI
GAT-X103AP Verde Buster NI

We were supposed to get SD Zaku Heine but HLJ messed up the pre-order and shipped SD Stargazer first. Since single item shipping is not economical and SD Zaku Phantom NA, we cancelled SD Zaku Heine.

These are the SDs which I really wish BANDAI would consider. Though I suspect next SD in line would be from the new series Gundam00.
1. ORB-01 Akatsuki
2. GAT-X103 Buster Gundam
3. MVF-M11C Murasame

ARIA The Origination Official

ARIA The Origination has officially taken the spotlight at the ARIA official website. The ARIA the Natural and ARIA the Animation can still be accessed from the mainpage.

The ARIA logo of the three seasons:





Aside: ARIA Manga

ARIA V11 cover page features our new Orange Princess. V11 comprises chapter 51 to chapter 55. Chapter 55 is the chapter where Alice graduated from school and was promoted to Prima.

P/S: I'm glad that my 1/8 Goodsmile Alicia figure has been shipped. The figure is now on discontinued status in HLJ. Lucky I pre-ordered it the moment it was available for pre-order. Hope the AIA solidworks gashapon will arrive this week.

Random Thoughts

Returned from my Malaysia trip. I'm working on a summary of Suzuka manga before the Suzuka aftermath post. ARIA Arietta summary post on hold. At the moment I have not pick up any anime from the new season.

Mood: Happy


Manga:
ARIA 57: Akira was worried that Aika would be depressed because of Alice's achievement. But Aika actually got motivated and Akira was relieved.
Hatsukoi Limited 2: A bit disappointed in Kawashita new work. This week's about Mamoru Zaizu and his neighbour Misaki Yamamoto.
Tsubasa 168: Encounter of Watanuki and Syaoran in dream. We learnt from Syaoran that Syaoran and Watanuki are very closely related. In addition, Princess Tomoyo actually paid a price in advance as well.
Cross Game 99: Did Koh manage to catch the ball?


Anime:
Gundam 00 1: Yeah, new Gundam series. Gundam mecha look nice and characters look decent. Got a bit attracted by a female character, Wang Liu Mei. :P Anyway, Exia is cool when battling with the AEU MS.
Clannad 1: Not yet watch...
Kimikiss Pure Rouge 1: Like the first episode. The characters and the animation are good. Kouichi met his childhood onee-san, Mao who came back from France. His good friend, Kazuki got kissed by Eriko for giving back her paper plane? Recommended for those who enjoyed Tokimeki Memorial.

Purchase:
1. My Alicia 1/8 Goodsmile PVC is now on shipping list. Hope the ARIA solidworks collection will reach my doorstep soon.

2. My brother and I went to the new One Utama on Saturday and I came out with these.

I bought 4 DVD sets. These are original but produced/printed in Malaysia. The quality is good but there are no cover pages for the DVD case. In addition, they used minimal disc without negleting the quality. One thing I liked about asian versions is that they usually have both CH and EN subtitles. Total RM 629.90 or AUD $209.


A gift I bought for my girlfriend. It's a disney Mickey mouse nohohon figure or commonly known as Hidamari no Tami. HLJ had it in 2004. My brother and I each got one which cost RM45 each. A pity that there's no Minnie, otherwise both can be used to hold a deck of cards.