Portraits of Tsukiko

Time for some Dollfie Dream photography after the onslaught of preview posts for the spring season’s new anime series. Had gradually uploaded these photos of DD Tsukiko to Flickr the past weeks, now collecting them in one post to share with you.

Gathering various shoots that were spread over several hours or days, these photos hence include different lighting conditions, some having soft, indirect lighting while others have stark contrasting light & shadows.

Starting off with a series of photos with soft lighting that creates an excellent atmosphere which really brings out the terrific appeal of Tsukiko, a Saber Alter 2nd ver Dollfie Dream.

Although but a plain outfit compared to a kimono or the default Saber Alter dress, this off the shoulder sweater look suits Tsukiko well, creating a terrific mix of a more daring vibe yet still elegant. The black off course contrasting nicely against the white skin body.

Natsuiro Kiseki

Was immediately interested when I saw “Natsuiro Kiseki” advertised in the spring season anime line up, because it promised to be an endearing slice of life series telling the tale of a memorable summer in the life of four school girls.

An original anime project, “Natsuiro Kiseki” is apparently based around voice actress group Sphere, of whom members Toyosaki Aki, Kotobuki Minako, Tomatsu Haruka and Takagaki Ayahi are voicing the main characters.

Had earlier thought that main characters Natsumi, Saki, Yuka and Rinko would try to become voice actresses, making this series seem like a non ecchi version of “Koe De Oshigoto”, but they’re actually aiming to become idols, though this series doesn’t resemble “The Idolm@ster”.

While their wish is to become idols, so far this seems more like a plot vehicle that gives the appearance of being the main plot, but it actually isn’t. The other core plot of Saki moving away at the end of summer seems to be the real important story.

Haiyore! Nyaruko-san

うー! にゃー! うー! にゃー! Let’s にゃー! Although had not planned on sampling this show, read many positive comments about it on Twitter and after stumbling on the energetic, incredibly addictive opening track decided to watch “Haiyore! Nyaruko-san”.

Originally a light novel series written by Manta Aisora with illustrations drawn by Koin, “這いよれ! ニャル子さん“ has previously spawned two manga adaptations and a flash anime series. Inspired by characters from the fictional Cthulhu mythos created by horror author HP Lovecraft, “Haiyore! Nyaruko-san” features plenty of alien diety shenanigans.

While the main characters are based on creatures from the Cthulhu universe, Nyaruko being a Nyarlathotep and Kuuko a Cthugha, they are of course always rendered as cute girls, in typical anime style.

The other assorted monsters that appear, along with the bloodshed at their demise, are never explicit or horrifying, showcasing that this series is all about the absurd comedy with some romantic harem style antics which most often feel like a parody of the genre.

Upotte!!

Guns, girls, guns, girls! In a nutshell that’s what “Upotte!!” is all about. A plain, light comedy slice-of-life show about a group of school girls… that also happen to be anthropomorphisms of various assault rifles.

Adapted from the “うぽって!!“ manga by Kitsune Tennouji, was curious about this series due to its peculiar premise and these first three episodes definitely have not let me down.

Was unsure how the main point of girls being anthropomorphisms of guns would work out in a school setting, yet was mostly hesitant considering am not a fan of character designer Takami Akio’s usual signature style, as seen in “Kanokon” and “Ladies vs Butlers”.

There are some ecchi jokes in “Upotte!!”, but they are few so the only link above mentioned series remains solely in the character visual styling. Even with the gun element, this series feels more akin to a slice-of-life school comedy as it focuses most on the circle of girls their daily shenanigans at school.

Shining Hearts ~Shiawase no Pan~

The bread of happiness! While “Shining Hearts ~Shiawase no Pan~” is not a “Yakitate!! Japan” type comedy about baking bread, the first two episodes had a leisurely slice-of-life atmosphere about them which I adored.

Adapted from the PSP role playing game “Shining Hearts”, my main interest in the show stems from the fact the character designs and illustrations for the game are by Tony Taka, an artist whose work I adore.

The original art having been created by Tony Taka is the reason I watched “Shining Tears x Wind” nearly five years ago, which adapted the “Shining Tears” and “Shining Wind” games for the PS2 into a single anime series.

While it was terrific to see the visually stunning character creations by Tony Taka translated into anime form, “Shining Tears x Wind” wasn’t really that great in terms of story, character development and execution. Sincerely hope “Shining Hearts” will do much better!

Sankarea

The anime spring season brings us a double dose of zombie themed shows, next to the hilarious comedy “Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? Of the Dead“ we also have “Sankarea”.

Adapted from the manga “さんかれあ“ by Hattori Mitsuru, the series is labelled as a romantic comedy which made me rather curious to discover how they would mesh a romantic angle with the fact the female lead becomes a zombie.

The first two episodes of the show were good, though overall they felt rather dark, with a dramatic undertone through most scenes where the family situation of Rea who suffers abuse from her father becomes oppressive.

Nonetheless these episodes somehow did not feel too gloomy or depressing, which enables me to hang on to the hope more romantic or comedy moments are on the way. Considering the show is still building up to the core story starting point of Rea becoming a zombie, will give it more time to develop.

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? Of the Dead

No Ayumu, no! You mustn’t become any cuter! Over a year after a first anime adaptation of the “これはゾンビですか?“ light novel series written by Shinichi Kimura aired, the hilarious zombie comedy is back for a second season with “Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? Of the Dead“!

Quite liked the first season of “Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?”, an eclectic mix of comedy with over the top zombie and magical girl action, plus it wasn’t afraid to take jabs at itself.

Was delighted when they announced this sequel, I hope it will match the first season’s best episodes and not fall prey to repetitiveness or fall apart at the ending. Personally felt that for the first season climax was uncharacteristically dramatic overall, resulting in the finalie feeling rather gloomy.

Luckily the first two episodes of this second season are off to a great start, full laughs thanks to the silly shenanigans of zombie Ayumu and his cohorts, the armour clad necromancer Eu, hyper magical girl Haruna, abuse vampire ninja Seraphim and her fellow ninja Yuki & Kirara.