Gashapon: One Piece Nyan Piece Mascots

Gashapon are one of my favorite things about Japan! I would love to be able to walk down the street and check out the new toys in the capsule machines. Furthermore there is no stigma involved that these tiny toys are only for children, which explains why you can get toys from all sorts of franchises.

The whole Nyan Piece gashapon collection.Today I am going to write about a gashapon series from one of my favorite anime. For years I was not interested in One Piece at all, but now I am up to date with the manga and I am always catching up with the anime. Due to its huge popularity in Japan, there are regular One Piece gashapon releases, but in January Bandai totally hit it out of the park with this adorable and creative Nyan Piece Mascots series. If anybody important at Bandai is reading this: I would absolutely not mind having a second series with more characters! Continue reading Gashapon: One Piece Nyan Piece Mascots

Petit Chara Land: Sailor Moon ‘Three Lights’

This is my second post about a Megahouse Sailor Moon Petit Chara release. Click here, if you are interested in the Sailor Moon Yukata Special!

Petit Chara Land: Sailor Moon Three LightsDesign of every stand.Petit Chara Land: Sailor Moon Three LightsAnother limited release from 2016 is this four piece set, which includes characters from the last Sailor Moon season, Sailor Stars, from the 90ies anime. Being a limited release the figures come in a special night blue cardboard box with shiny foliage silhouettes of the Sailor Starlights on its lid. Inside the box, the figures are protected by foam and they also come with their own stands. Most of the time, Petit Chara-stands are designed differently for each individual figure, but in this case, they are all the same. They are a dark matte navy with the golden Starlights-symbol and stars on it. Continue reading Petit Chara Land: Sailor Moon ‘Three Lights’

Yotsuba &! Figure Collection vol. 1

Sometimes everything is going backwards: The second volume of the Yotsuba &! figure collection showed me, what I would be missing out on, if I would not acquire the original collection as well. It’s nice to have full sets and matching reviews, so let’s get started with this amazing and lovely release!

1) SIT SQUARE

Yotsuba sitting squareThe first Yotsuba is a set out of two pieces, since the green pillow Yotsuba is supposed to sit on, comes separately. One side is completely flat, but the other side is moulded to fit her legs; so there is no wobbling around. Her pose on the pillow is absolutely perfect. I know how hard it is to sit like that for a long time; I experienced it during a tea workshop on a farm near Kyoto, where I had to change my sitting position because my legs had gone completely numb. What I absolutely loved about the second volume also applies here: Yotsuba’s head is fully moveable and her sweet expression makes my day!

2) PUSH

Yotsuba pushing her boxThis figure has pretty much the same facial expression that the Suspend figure from the second volume has. The only difference is Yotsuba’s open mouth, which shows how much strength she is putting into pushing something. You can move her head a little bit, but be careful: I moved her head a little bit too much to one side and it suddenly came right off! No worries, thankfully it was also really easy to put it back on!

3) CLIMB

Yotsuba climbingYotsuba climbing from behindClimb is an adorable figure through and through! She is supposed to be put on your cup or bowl and her design perfectly holds its promise and Yotsuba is holding her pose on your dishware! Often figures are promised to stay on your cups, but fall right off. In this case, she is securing herself with both hands and one leg. Her expression looks a bit worried, but who wouldn’t be worried dangling from a cup like that?! You can move her head a little bit, but this pose does not leave her head much space to be moved.

4) DRAW

Yotsuba drawingYotsuba drawing from the side.Yotsuba drawing on the floor is absolutely darling! I love that her little white socks are in the air and how she is concentrating on the invisible piece of paper in front of her. She is holding a tiny black pencil in her right hand and you can freely move her head in each direction! I imagine that this figure would be especially sweet, if you would make a little drawing for Yotsuba herself and give it to her to finish it! πŸ˜‰

5) SLEEP

Yotsuba sleeping.Costume change! Yotsuba’s PJ’s are so, so cute in light blue with mauve colored details on collar, sleeves and buttons. After a long day she is completely spaced out and the only thing she still manages to do, is to move her head to the left and the right. It is hard to pick a favorite out of the bunch, but I cannot help myself to pick sleeping Yotsuba!

When comparing this figure volume with the second one, I would say that they perfectly compliment each other. The sleeping Yotsuba pretty much makes this whole set so worth it for me, but every figure is out of amazing quality and I can recommend it very much! When comparing the facial expressions, I would have to say that I like the second volume a teensy bit more. Hopefully my posts can help you to make up your mind! πŸ™‚

Which figure volume do you prefer? Thank you so much for reading!

Theri

Yotsuba &! Figure Collection vol. 2

Yotsuba &! is a widely loved manga series by Kiyohiko Azuma and centers around a little girl and her adventures. Her philosophy in life is to enjoy everything and though she is so much younger than me, I can still draw inspiration from her. The manga has 13 volumes out until now; the 13th was only just released past December after a long hiatus from the author. Speaking of Kiyohiko Azuma, he also once declared in an interview that he is very picky, when it comes to Yotsuba&! merchandise, hence why there are only a few choices around. I could not find any in Japan myself and pre-ordered this figure collection about two months ago. Not to be too forward, but it is so amazing that the first volume is now on its way as well! πŸ˜‰yotsuba figure vol 2 boxesYou can get the whole set in a box, which should guarantee you a full set. In stores you can probably also buy the figures individually in blind boxes, which I would never recommend, if you want to get every figure anyways. There are five figures in total and they are tiny preciousness with movable heads! πŸ˜€ Continue reading Yotsuba &! Figure Collection vol. 2

Petit Chara Land: Sailor Moon Yukata Special ‘Let’s go to the Matsuri!’

Set of Petit Chara Sailor Moon Yukata SpecialToday I am going to share my most favorite Petit Chara release, which is the Sailor Moon Yukata Special. It also has the longer title Let’s go to the Matsuri!”. A matsuri is a Japanese summer festival. The set was released in June 2016 and released by Megahouse. Many Petit Chara series are sold in blind boxes, but nowadays limited edition boxes with the full collections seem to slowly become the norm. The Yukata Special was also sold as a full set in a window box. As the name reveals, all included Sailor Moon characters are wearing their best yukata to enjoy the matsuri to its fullest! Continue reading Petit Chara Land: Sailor Moon Yukata Special ‘Let’s go to the Matsuri!’

My SQ 2016 Madogatari Collection

There are some anime that are able to cut deep into your feelings. One of those anime is Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica from 2011 that made me cry my eyes out for hours after I finished watching it. Even now it makes me sad, when I think about tragic heroines Homura and Madoka. Now what does this series about magical girls has to do with the wildly popular light novel and anime-series Bakemonogatari?! Both are produced by studio Shaft, my favorite animation studio (last season’s 3-gatsu no Lion was amazing as well)!

My SQ Madogatari figure collection!
My SQ Madogatari figures: Shinobu, Hitagi and Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-under-Blade!

Due to the studio’s 40th anniversary, Shaft made a Madogatari exhibition last year, in which they did a mash-up of both anime, which are also their commercially most successful. The figures I own are from a brand called SQ and were prizes in claw-machines in Japanese arcades. I will say it right away: Never have I ever won anything by playing one of those! I am the type that either goes to Akihabara or Nakano Broadway to purchase them directly for 10-15 bucks each. If I tried to win them, I would spend more and still had to go home empty-handed. The next problem was luggage-space and so I had to make the decision of only bringing the Bakemonogatari characters home with me. Basically because they are wearing the fancier costumes. Each figure was also available in a sepia-colored version. Continue reading My SQ 2016 Madogatari Collection

S.H.Figuarts: Sailor Moon Crystal Season III

This Sailor Moon Crystal S.H.Figuarts release came out in January 2017!
This happens, when I go freestyle on a figure: Usagi wants you to rock on!!!

If you are new to the world of S.H.Figuarts just like me, the easiest way to describe them would be high-quality action figures. In the past I was somehow always able to resist them, but when the Sailor Moon Crystal Season III figure was announced in the fall of last year, it all changed. She got pre-ordered and finally arrived in January. Continue reading S.H.Figuarts: Sailor Moon Crystal Season III

Tokidoki Blind Boxes: Donutella and her sweet friends

Tokidoki Donutella and her sweet friends Blind-Boxes
Tokidoki Donutella and her sweet friends blind boxes…and a wild Alura appears!

The Italian brand Tokidoki has had quite some collaborations with Pullip in the past, but I still have to get my first Tokidoki-Pullip in the future. In the meantime, I discovered that Tokidoki also sells blind boxes with adorable content. I ordered three blind boxes from the series Donutella and her sweet friends and while I started to take pictures; my adorable Pullip Alura snuck into the shot. She insisted on being my assistent, while being very persistent! Continue reading Tokidoki Blind Boxes: Donutella and her sweet friends