ナルト Collectible Card Game
Yay, today I received the Naruto wristband with Konoha’s “Leaf” symbol on it. It is really cool. AnimeNation has it for $3.99, which is not a bad deal. I am going to wear it along with my Konoha T-Shirt!
After browsing Bandai’s CCG website, I am now determined to get the “Curse of the Sand” Starter Deck. It was just released this October, in four different packages (as pictured above). I am hoping to get the Naruto silver deck soon, which contains many interesting cards according to this wonderful page.
Also, I skimmed through the Naruto Collector 2 one day and was not sure if I should buy it. But seems like if I get the Starter Deck, I will need the Collector guide as well, since according to Viz Media’s Naruto Store page, the guide covers every card in the third CCG series. While I am not particularly interested in knowing every one of the released cards, I’d really like to own the poster that comes with the guide. It is very impressive in size and will definitely add to my collection.
On the other hand, it’s said that a fourth series CCG called Revenge and Rebirth is coming in February 2007. It will have “Deck Sleeves,” with 4 different styles featuring Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, and Gaara. Can’t wait to get the Naruto one!
Filed under: ナルト | Leave a Comment
ブリーチとナルト…
I stumbled upon this aesthetically stunning picture, featuring Renji, Ichigo, Tooshiroo, Ikkaku, Sado, and Ishida. This is really visually catchy, and I am glad that in this illustration the 14cm difference in height between Renji and Ichigo is now discernible. See my previous post about the “height issue.”
Also, today it suddenly came to my mind to compare a few characters in Bleach and Naruto. I know this is kind of far-fetched, but I do find certain similarities. For example, my favorite characters, Renji and Naruto, share the same boldness (and sometimes humorous sexiness). They are compulsive, daring, and strong, but at the same time they cherish and pursue what they believe is right. Other characters I find similar:
1) Urahara Kisuke and Hatake Kakashi: they are both laid-back, humorous, and sexy. And in fact they are super strong (Urahara Kisuke was the captain of the 12th quad, director of technology development, whereas Hatake Kakashi was former member of ANBU, and currently one of the top Jounins in Konoha).
2) Ishida Uryuu and Uchiha Sasuke: they do not like the main characters (that is, Ichigo and Naruto) at first, but eventually learn to appreciate them. Also, both of them think about revenge all the time. Ishida Uryuu hopes to avenge his teacher/grandfather, and Uchiha Sasuke wants to avenge the collapse of the Uchiha clan and seeks to gain power in order to fight against Uchiha Itachi.
3) Kuchiki Rukia and Haruno Sakura: both are somehow useless, but ironically both are the “main character” of the series. I haven’t really seen Kuchiki Rukia doing much, except for her habits of nagging. She lacks strength, and she does not even work hard for it (albeit being part of the Kuchiki family). Same with Haruno Sakura. Before the Shippuuden story arc she is basically useless. She does not even have her own speciality, but then she is lucky enough to be trained by Tsunade (one of the Sannin). In the later volumes (post volume 30, I think), she does become stronger, but only in physical strength. She still possesses the nagging nature similar to Rukia’s, at least that’s what I feel.
Filed under: ナルト, ブリーチ | 1 Comment
ブリーチ Banpresto Figures
Today my order for the Banpresto Renji figure finally arrived, and I was all excited hoping to see my hot Renji, only to open the package and find that the stupid Animebooks.com shipped Ishida! I was totally upset, and I was thinking if they shipped Byakuya or Ichigo, maybe I could just get over my anger. But why do they ship the megane, the character I don’t like at all?
Filed under: ブリーチ | Leave a Comment
ブリーチ Memories of Nobody
Since the Bleach movie “Memories of Nobody” was out yesterday in Japan, I was wondering how it went. Surprisingly I stumbled across this awesome “Bleach Map” of the Tokyo city transportation system from the Toei website. The picture I uploaded is quite small, but you can download the map (in PDF form). How nice this is for Bleach fans to ride on a bus following a Bleach route!
The official Bleach movie website links to this really informative blog entitled “blog〜萩P日記〜” which has news update and production notes. Yay!
Filed under: ブリーチ | Leave a Comment
ナルトしっぷうでん
According to TV Tokyo, the Naruto Shippuuden will be airing in early spring (most likely in mid- or late- February). Here is TV Tokyo’s promotional page for Shippuuden. Also see my previous post about the fillers ending in early 2007. After finishing the manga volume 33, I cannot wait to see the more powerful Naruto on TV. I especially hope to see his ability to transform to four-tailed demon-fox in animation.
Another good news is that the fourth movie, which will be taking place in Shippuuden, is going to hit Japanese theaters in summer 2007. Very little information has been disclosed, but rumor has it that “special Shippuuden news” might be shown in theatres along with the Bleach “Memories of Nobody” movie.
Filed under: ナルト | Leave a Comment
ブリーチ SOULs
Here are two of my favorite pages from the Bleach Official Character Data Book SOULs. Obviously my favorite is Renji, but recently I started to like Byakuya as well. I think this occurs after listening to his touching story about his wife. He appears to be a very “faithful” husband.
As stated in my previous post, the SOULs book contains an enormous amount of information. Each character is discussed and analyzed based on strength and capabilities. I like Renji’s Bankai because it looks so great (especially on a big screen) and I find Byakuya’s Bankai so gently horrifying. Ichigo’s Bankai, although quite powerful, is a little disappointing. Zangetsu becomes totally black and thin (as if it can break anytime). Also, I find Rukia’s role in the series similar to Sakura’s in Naruto. If I have to list the most useless character in Bleach, it has to be Rukia.
Filed under: ブリーチ | Leave a Comment
ナルト Character Popularity Ranking
I was reading Naruto volumes 32 and 33 today, and surprisingly I found this popularity ranking right in the beginning of volume 33. It seems that it’s the sixth poll already. It baffles me that Sasuke occupies the first place, since I don’t like his personality and appearance. Also, the Akatsuki members seem quite popular, with Deidara being the 3rd (whom I didn’t pay much attention to until now), Sasori the 6th (he looks a little like Gaara), and Itachi the 11th (the Uchiha brothers are “perplexingly” popular).
I also find it interesting that Yondaime (the Fourth Hokage) ranks so high (the 9th) even though he usually appears very briefly in people’s memories. Maybe this is due to his hotness. And I am glad that Naruto looks a lot like him, especially their hair and eye color (but I do think the grown-up Naruto will be even hotter). Also Neji seems to grow up so suddenly in Naruto II. Although I think he looks pretty nice in Naruto II, I like the “child” Neji better.
Filed under: ナルト | 6 Comments
あむるなみえ “Live Style 2006″
Just learned a great news regarding the official release of Namie’s “Live Style 2006″ DVD. According to Amurox, the 2006 best tour DVD, coded AVBD-91466, will be out on February 21st, 2007, and will feature the Tokyo performance, plus a bonus footage with videos of the Okinawa concert. Judging from the fabulous tour handbook (with the above excerpts scanned by Amurox), this year’s tour, which mobilized more than 170,000 people in total, is surely a great hit. So the DVD is a must have for Namie fans, and for people who love dancing in general as well!
So now the scheme for 2007 is to get a copy of Namie’s new single (with corresponding poster, of course) in January, and then to get the 2006 tour DVD in February. And then hopefully in April or May Namie will release another studio album. In June or July I will visit Tokyo to see her 2007 tour, or she will tour in the city I will be in… So come, the year 2007!
Filed under: あむる | Leave a Comment
ブリーチ SOULs and VIBEs
I have been thinking about writing a post in regards to the two official Bleach guide books, but have been hesitating to do so because the information they contain is enormous. Anyway, the SOULs book, with its full name being “Bleach Official Character Data Book SOULs” features more than 80 characters. By introducing them according to the order of their first appearance, it is easy to follow the storyline. Each character has a brief “bio.” I am suprirsed to find that Ichigo is only 1.74m in height! Maybe this is because Tite-sensei sometimes makes his height unrealistic. When Ichigo stands by Renji, we can tell that there is a difference, but the difference is not realistic enough. Since Renji is 1.88m, I wonder why the 14cm difference often looks as if there is only 3 or 4cm difference.
As for the VIBEs book, as its title suggests, it is the animation book. It goes by anime episodes, and has an impressive number of color pictures. Toward the end of the book, readers get to see the sketches of the main characters. In one sketch, it seems that Tite-sensei has a somewhat villain-like Renji in mind. This reminds me of my first impression of Renji. I remember when Renji first appears, I don’t really like him because I find him a little weird, just like how I feel about Naruto at first sight. It turns out that over time these two characters become my favorite. They are strong and daring, and that’s what makes them particularly appealing.
Filed under: ブリーチ | 1 Comment
あむるなみえ “Baby Don’t Cry”
I just discovered that Namie’s official site now has a multi-language entry page. This is probably an effort to “internationalize” Namie. There are five languages, but surprisingly French and Spanish are excluded. Nevertheless I believe Namie’s music will make a huge scene in the U.S., and her singing and dancing will put most American singers to shame. Hopefully a worldwide tour will be done by next September, to coincide with her birthday as a celebration.
I am also happy to learn that Namie’s new single, “Baby Don’t Cry,” is going to be released on January 24th, 2007. The above text is an excerpt from YesAsia. Last winter I missed her “White Light/Violet Sauce” double track single (which I regret till today), and so this year I am definitely going to pre-order and get a nice and big Namie poster! The fabulous Namie fansite Amurox has the following information:
C’est officiel, Namie Amuro sortira son nouveau single, ‘Baby Don’t Cry’, le 24 janvier prochain! Le single sera disponible en deux éditions, avec deux pochettes différentes; CD (AVCD-31176) et CD+DVD (AVCD-31175). ‘Baby Don’t Cry’, décrit comme étant un titre pop au rythme mid-tempo, a été produit par Nao’ymt, et sera utilisée dans un drama. Nao’ymt a déjà produit de nombreux titres pour Namie, tels que ‘White Light’, ‘Violet Sauce’, et une grande partie des pistes de l’album ‘Queen of Hip-Pop’.
In other news, I found this exciting article in Oricon News that Namie’s “Filmography 2001-2005″ is ranked number one in DVD release last year. I am sure that the “Space of Hip-Pop” DVD will be equally popular. Now, let’s hope that the DVD for this year’s tour, “Live Style 2006,” will come out by next February.
Filed under: あむる | Leave a Comment
Search
