{"id":2383,"date":"2015-09-21T19:37:38","date_gmt":"2015-09-21T17:37:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.eternalwinter.org\/blog\/?p=2383"},"modified":"2015-10-08T18:36:27","modified_gmt":"2015-10-08T16:36:27","slug":"actually-a-double-arrival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dimensiondolls.com\/colourless\/azone\/actually-a-double-arrival\/","title":{"rendered":"Actually a double arrival"},"content":{"rendered":"

I got one package in the morning via EMS and later during the day I found out that I have another waiting for me at the PO, so this ended up becoming a double arrival after all. \u30fe(\uff61^\u03c9^\uff61)\u30ce For once they were quick with package number #2, usually they like to keep the airmail packages as hostages for days…<\/p>\n

But yeah, first up is a figure I snatched from Mandarake, Kotobukiya’s Levi. I was looking at this particular figure at Tracon X, but it costed 130 euros there so I hesitated… based on the original price, it wasn’t too expensive if I were to count customs and shipping fees, too, but still… I didn’t end up buying the figure from there. I was very tempted and there was this chick who really tried to advertise it to me, but I stayed strong… !<\/p>\n

… and it’s a good thing I did, because now I found it for 8000 yen on Mandarake. A much better deal!\u2570(\u2727\u2207\u2727)\u256f<\/p>\n

I’d seen the Levi figure IRL so I knew already at this point that the box was pretty well fitted for it, haha.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
… only a little empty space!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Ehehee, I love the dynamic pose of this Levi~ \u30fd(*\u00b4\u2200`)\uff89\uff9e<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
I was so excited that I didn’t realise there was that plastic seal on the box, lol. It’s a bit ugly but no can do… (\uff65\u2200\uff65\uff1b)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The box is pretty cool~<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Jeez, that log is HEAVY! \u03a3(\uff9f\uff9b\uff9f\uff63)\uff63 And omg – those tubes were already bent in shape, so I didn’t have to lose my sanity trying to put them on, omg!!! Both Sentinel’s Levi and GSC Mikasa had tubes that weren’t readily bent and they. would. not. stay. in. place. at. all. (\u30fc\u30fc;)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
They got his trademark grumpy expression down well~ \u2665 The face is the best thing about this figure, otherwise the paintjob looks kinda cheap (but then again, everything looks cheap next to the GSC Mikasa because that figure is amazing).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
I had to try if the log stays up by itself, because at Tracon the chick tried to use the fact that it doesn’t as a sales pitch – like, it’s so cool how it doesn’t stay up unless you put Levi on it. … … it stays up just fine? \uff62(\uff9f\uff8d\uff9f) And, like, duhh, of course they’d have to make the base so that it’s balanced when you attach the figure to it? Maybe I’m just not easily impressed, lol!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
First SnK figure of mine that wasn’t an utter PAIN to assemble. Points to Kotobukiya for bending the tubes into shape! (\u0e51\u2022\u0300\u3142\u2022\u0301)\u0648\u2727<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Ditched FuRyu’s Mikasa from the showcase to make room for Levi. That log takes up space like whoah- Also goddammit these are all different sizes!!! ( \u2267\u0414\u2266) I wish one company would make decent figures of all my fave characters but I am picky so then they end up being different sizes even though they’re the same scale, grrr… (\u30fc\u30fc;) I need to play with perspective once I get around taking these out for photos. Figma Levi and Mikasa hang out on the upper level with my other figmas.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Closed the door to the showcase and Levi looks like he wants to break out of there, lol! (*\u2267\u25bd\u2266)\uff89\uff7c)) Those of you who follow me on IG already saw my joke about confining him within walls, ho ho ho! … my sense of humour is lame, I’m sorry. \u30fd(\uff3f\u3000\uff3f\u30fd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Happy to have (yet another) Levi at home, yaaaaay! \u30fe(\uff20\u00b0\u25bd\u00b0\uff20)\uff89 Clearly I have a “collect all the Levis and Mikasas” thing going on. Too bad I don’t like Kotobukiya’s Mikasa, because they put her into this stupid booty-out pose, grr… and her face isn’t nearly as pretty as GSC Mikasa’s either. Well, I am selling the FuRyu Mikasa figure, too, so my collection will lose one member once I get that sold… but well, SnK is pretty popular so there’s a chance that at some point there are going to be more figures that I want.<\/p>\n

I really want figures of Armin, Jean and Annie but we’ll see if that ever happens. RAH Armin and Annie are so wonderful, but too expensive for my budget… and I’d rather have just figures anyway, not doll-figure-hybrids, lol. I’d even take figmas! Okay, there ARE figures of Armin but their faces and hair are somehow off… the RAH Armin is the only one that looks good to me. And then figma Armin was limited and is hard to find. *shakes fist* Cruel, cruel world… Armin is my faaaave! He’s a perfect example of damn good character development! It’s kinda funny that the same series that has a character like Armin can have someone like Eren as the protagonist, ha ha ha… he’s so one-dimensional and has pretty much zero character development. But then again, most shounen series have awful protagonists (like Aquarion EVOL drove me nearly insane – coincidentally that idiot protag was voiced by Kaji Yuuki just like Eren is. I hate Kaji Yuuki, he has no talent at all and his voice ticks me off).<\/p>\n

I could go on forever about how great characters Armin and Levi are, for real. There are people who dislike them, Armin because he used to be a pathetic coward (keyword being USED to be) and Levi because he’s “too strong” and cold and violent or something because there was that scene where he beat up Eren. I’m just like… … are you people reading\/watching the same show as me? Clearly not. Just because Armin doesn’t rush head first into everything (like Eren) doesn’t make him a coward… although, YES, he used to be rather pathetic in the beginning and I didn’t like him at first because of that. But he’s clearly matured as the series progressed, but he’s also clever and smart, so he thinks before he acts. And Levi is probably one of the most well-written and complex characters in the series. Like, honestly, no one cares as much as Levi does. Like, sure, he’s got that whole grumpy thug look going on and uses very coarse language, but there have been several scenes where you can tell that deep down he is a caring person. He probably cares too much even, you can see how it’s taking its toll on him as the series progresses. And yeah, he’s strong, but he’s not a typical super-handsome-super-tall-overpower-character… I mean, the dude is a grumpy little midget. Not exactly the traditionally cool type. Although, to me Levi is attractive BECAUSE of his unconventional rugged look, lol.<\/p>\n

… but perhaps I’ll stop here before I end up writing a twenty page long paper on why Armin and Levi are such great characters. (*\u2267\u25bd\u2266)\uff89\uff7c))<\/p>\n

MOVING ON! (*\u2022\u0300\u1d17\u2022\u0301*)\u0648 \u0311\u0311<\/p>\n

The second arrival is a pureneemo girl that I’ve been trying to hunt down for a while but she’s always eluded me. I’ve seen her up on Mandarake and Y!J several times, but always when my funds were already tied elsewhere and I couldn’t purchase her, and by the time I had money – she was already gone. (\uff61\u2022\u0301\ufe3f\u2022\u0300\uff61) On Y!J especially I’ve come across several auctions for this doll starting at 10000 to 12000 yen, which were veeeery reasonable and bid on those… but of course, in the last minutes I would always get into a bidwar and the price would hike over my budget so I missed out. \uff08\uff1b\u3078\uff1a\uff09<\/p>\n

This time I got into a bidwar, too. I’d hoped I could get her for around 15000 yen, but someone came to bid on her during the very last few minutes, so I ended up having to pay 17000 yen for her. I was a little bummed about that, but it’s still less than what the doll usually goes for, which is around 20000 to 25000 yen and more. So it’s a relatively good deal, but I was SO close to getting her for 15000 yen, if only that one person hadn’t come along, gahh… !!! (\u309c\u00b4\u0414\uff40\u309c)<\/p>\n

Oh well, at least I finally have this lovely girl at home, and she’s soooo worth all the trouble! (\/\u2207\uff3c*)\uff61o\u25cb\u2661<\/p>\n

I was positively surprised that there was no huge box this time! I’d wanted to do grocery shopping on the way back from the PO so I was able to fit everything into my backpack nicely even with this neemo package, yay! (\u0e51>\u1d17<)\u0648<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The original seller had veeery compact packaging, ahah…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
… and unfortunately because of that, the box had a huge dent on it. ( \u00b4\u25b3\uff40)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
And here she is, Nostalgic Story Collection Alisa DS ver!! I’ve always loved her pink hair and purplish blue eyes, she’s one of my top favourite Alisas~ (*\u0e05\u0301\u02d8\u0e05\u0300*) \u2665<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The box had quite a bit more damage than I originally thought, uh-oh. \u03a3(\uff9f\u0434\uff9f\uff1b) I don’t care THAT much about the boxes, but it was a bit of a shame that the pretty cardboard had gotten all wrinkled, too… The Nostalgic Story boxes are one of the prettiest neemo boxes. (-\u2227-\uff1b)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
When I opened her, I saw that the leaflets were at the bottom of the box, so those had gotten wrinkled too. Booh! ~( \u00b4\u2022\ufe35\u2022` )~ I also didn’t find her choker at first and thought it was missing…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
… but it was included, phew! (\u03b9\u00b4 \u0414\uff40)\uff89 Just so tiny and discreetly taped onto the clear plastic of the box that I didn’t see it at first, haha.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
I’d loved her pink hair before but now that I got to see it in person… I love it even more! (\u4eba\u00b4\u03c9\uff40*)\u2661 There’s some brown mixed in, so it’s this really, really lovely strawberry pink~ \u2665 Much nicer than the more salmon pink colours that they’ve used for Majokko Chiika and Peach Tea Alisa & Sweets a la Mode Maya DS ver.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Eepp, her outfit is so pretty~ (\u00b4 \u25bd\uff40).\u3002\uff4f\u2661 And I love her hairband! \u2665 The only thing that I don’t care that much for is her shoes, so I’m selling those. I have other nicer shoes for her to wear.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Aaahh, the Alisa face really is one of my favourites! \u2665 With those deep blue eyes, she looks so calm and mature, somehow~ Such an elegant little lady!! (\u2661 >\u03c9< \u2661)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Then I brought out Chiyo, my Majokko Chiika. I thought that these two could be sisters, since they have similar eye and hair colours~ (\u10e6\u02d8\u2323\u02d8\u10e6)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Totally sisters, right? Chiyo has been wearing that white outfit for a while, waiting for her elder sister to arrive, hehe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
I quickly built a set, but I wasn’t too happy with these photos… the ones I took earlier without any set up on my floor were nicer. I edited these like three times over and I still wasn’t happy, but I gave up… \u30fd(;\u00b4\u0414\uff40)\uff89<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Such cute sisters they are!! \u00b4\u0348 \u1d55 `\u0348 \u2661\u00b0\u25cc\u030a<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since this girl is Chiyo’s big sister, I wanted to give her a name that matches with Chiyo’s. I ended up with Chiemi, \u5343\u7b11. The first kanji is the same as in Chiyo’s name, \u5343\u591c. Chiemi’s name could be loosely translated as “a thousand smiles”. Alisa sculpt has such a lovely smile, that I thought it would suit her well.\uff08\u25cf\u00b4\u2200\uff40\uff09\u30ce\u2661 She’s a very optimistic person, so it suits her character as well. She’s the artistic type and wants to study art in Europe someday. Chiemi is always drawing or painting, and Chiyo is also interested in art because of her sister.<\/p>\n

Later on I also took a photo of Chiemi with Akemi, my other Alisa:<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a>