That is a LOT of stuff up there.

And guess what; it’s not everything.

This is what’s in the picture:

• Rocket-punching Chogokin Hatsune Miku – $220
• AFA T-shirt MikuPa ver. – $35
• 2x MikuPa 2011 T-shirt – $50 each
• 2x MikuPa lanyard – $18 each
• MikuPa sling bag – $72
• Vocaloid pin badge kit – $35

There is also another MikuPa T-shirt not in the picture; the design consists of the official illustration by Osamu. You might remember him as the character designer of Rin/Len Append.

That also cost $50. That means everything bought on the night of the concert (that is, everything listed so far except the figure) amounted to nearly $300. Cripes.

We did manage to acquire a set of 3 ZANEEDS posters from their booth in the convention itself, which consisted of Miku, Rin and Luka in sexy outfits, the same characters in a burger, and Miku imitating our national animal, the merlion.

Sadly though, we couldn’t fit everything into one photo, and I’m actually rushing this post too, so you’ll have to use your imagination from our photo of the ZANEEDS booth. ^_^;

While Fariz was more than satisfied with all of this, I wasn’t, so I picked up this little box from the Artists’ Alley.

This box is actually a fanart set from Alice Overture in the theme of Black Rock Shooter. It doesn’t just contain an artbook though.

It comes with a pin badge, a card sticker, a bookmark and a printed microfiber cloth. The pin badge, card sticker and bookmark may have one of 3 designs each, and while they should be random, the booth was kind enough to build an entire set from scratch for me, letting me pick the designs I want. ( *A*)

The artbook contains a series of illustrations from several artists, ranging from pretty to downright gorgeous, or as Feidamu puts it, “fap-able”.

This one is a rendition of BRS by 礫音(Neptune).

Each illustration is accompanied with a piece of prose, be it a poem or a short passage. Now, I will be perfectly honest here: the grammar needs a little work. Other than that though, it’s a good attempt at showing a bit of “story” behind the picture.

One of the main reasons I bought this in the first place is that the circle actually focuses on all known aspects of BRS, including the game, the “Innocent Soul” manga and other “official” creations aside from the usual BRS vs Dead Master anime material. Here’s a rendition of BRS Beast by rosene.

Here’s a closer look at the pin badge, card sticker and bookmark. The design of the pin badge is BRS by 雪桜々, the one on the card sticker is BRS & Dead Master by Linsert.D, and the design of the bookmark is XNFE by 究.

I promise not to dirty you too much, Grey~

Finally, we have the printed microfiber cloth, which has an beautiful illustration of Grey by 雪桜々. I’m liking her art more and more. =3

Here are links to all the artists listed in the book, in order of appearance:

• 木shiyo
• feifei
• 礫音(Neptune)
• 雪桜々
• rosene (also the President of Alice Overture)
• 暴力社長の猫@主婦
• Linsert.D
• 究 (doesn’t seem to have any illustrations posted as of time of writing)
• centimetre

FYI, the set costs $40 in all. It may be a little exorbitant to the casual buyer, but I know true fandom and effort when I see it, and I think the price fits the product.

Not to mention that nearly everything MikuPa-exclusive is even more expensive.

Warning! The following post only contains thoughts of the author, and not much of actual coverage.

If you’re looking for proper coverage, you could head over to Fabrice Requin’s blog. He’s done several great posts on the convention. Otherwise, read on.

The reason I’m not going to do a proper event coverage post myself is because I’ve already attended 3 times. Say what you wish, but anything gets old after you’ve done it for a while.

(also laziness)

Now for my 2 cents.

First off, I’m not too sure how it happened, but they managed to screw up the infamous first-day queue. Again.

It may have been due to Suntec organizing 2 other major events on the same day, though, but you’d think Sozo would’ve worked out something by now. Or maybe they can’t. Maybe it’s a staple habit of Singaporeans, or events in general. Someone do enlighten me.

Other than that, AFA’11 was pretty awesome. They managed to rope in Nico Nico Douga of all things, offering streams of the convention and parts of the concert on both the English and Japanese versions of the site.

Crypton also had a presence there, though they were restricted to the Cool Japan Forum and a tiny booth in the Cool Japan Pavilion, in the back of the hall. They were promoting MIKUBOOK like no tomorrow, what with the itasha on display nearby.

Even ODEX (of all things) got into the fun, expanding their movie selection from 2 to 5, though you have to buy $10 tickets for each and watch in a separate theatre. And I’ll bet most old-timers burn the posters once they see the ODEX logo on them. ^_^;

To their credit, they did still air the 2nd Mardock Scramble movie and the 4th Gundam Unicorn for free. Only watched the latter though, but it was awesome.

Chiwa Saito came to answer questions, and also did live dubbing of Homura. Great stuff, especially when she dubbed that Kyubey shooting scene. People who haven’t watched the show got spoiler-ed lol.

It seemed that the technical issues haunting the MikuPa concert on Friday night were also present during the concerts on Saturday and Sunday, as well as some of the daytime stage events. While I didn’t attend the Saturday concert, I thought that there was way too much bass and reverb during the Kalafina portion.

Performance-wise, though, May’n actually turned out to be disappointing; she ended up singing only a few of her newer singles. Milky Holmes was meh (given since I’m not exactly a fan of the show), though I did get to see true Japanese fanboys in the act.

I think I became an angela fan after their portion though. They had the most enthusiasm and audience interaction among all the performances, and they even threw in Cruel Angel’s Thesis for good measure. Fuck yeah.

All in all, I think AFA’s really improved over the years in that they keep bringing things to the table, though I think the management needs to iron out the problems that have been hanging around since the previous conventions.

Up next, the obligatory swag post.

Also, thanks for some of the images, Subarashinki! Check out his AFA album here!

What a rush! Man, my arms are cramped now from all the frantic waving. T_T

If you look closely enough, you might be able to see me and Fariz waving our extra-long leek lightsticks in the front row. If you’re having difficulty, though:

Anyway, here are my thoughts on the concert.

The Fail:

While I was nearly deafened by the music, I can hand-wave it away with my inexperience with concerts and the fact that I was sitting in the front row (and didn’t have earplugs).

I thought the bass was way too deep and the VOCALOIDs’ voices could barely be heard over the accompanying band music. I guess out of all the things they tested, they goofed in the aural portion. Thankfully I was familiar with most of the songs so I could make out the words very easily.

Len sang Migikata no Chou. Alone. In fact, Rin and Len had no duet together. What the hell is this blasphemy.

Also, the concert could’ve used a little more hardcore fanboyism/fangirlism, IMO.

The Great:

I attended the concert expecting really great covers by the band, and I wasn’t disappointed. I’m not too sure who they are (couldn’t hear Miku introducing them), but they sure know how to rock out, especially the lead electric guitarist on the left. Thankfully, I sat near him so his guitar solos were more prominent throughout their performances.

The song selection was quite good, though I believe fans who have followed the past MikuPa concerts will find most of the songs and dance sequences very familiar.  I managed to predict a few after watching the free test stream (like Yellow and ARiA) but Miku Miku ni Shite Ageru as the first encore was a pleasant surprise (though Melt was a given). I totally didn’t see it coming, and man, did I cheer the loudest.

The projection and special effects were impressive, too! I was afraid we couldn’t see the VOCALOIDs clearly since we were sitting at a wide angle relative to the stage, and especially because we were sitting so close to the stage. Thankfully, we got to watch them dance in all of their virtual glory.

Afterword:

Although the concert lasted a full 2 hours, it didn’t feel very long when the time came for Miku to perform her encore songs. I was satisfied otherwise though, and I hope they’ll be able to pull off a concert again next year. And they probably will.

And hopefully even better than before.

P.S. To the stranger who snagged Project DIVA Extend from me: I actually thought you were my brother’s/friend’s friend LOL. Ah well, have fun with the game anyways.

And now for the first day of AFA itself.

I was originally planning to do a little write-up about this in the morning, but there’s no time for that now!

If you haven’t caught the last MikuPa (in Sapporo), here’s your chance to view a live (and free) screening! Head over here to watch it!

EDIT: It’s over now.

Also, I’m back, b*tches. For the time being.

Well, that stream was short-lived. No encore either. It was apparently a broadcasting test for the real concert tonight, and by the looks of it, the servers seem stable enough.

But enough about free-yet-outdated streams, the Promised Day has come.

We have seen Singapore’s 15-minute version of Miku’s part in Animelo on a video screen, with extra lagging-goodness!

We have seen gameplay videos representing Miku’s very presence at I LOVE ANISONG (and nothing else)!

But finally…5pb has answered our prayers! Now we’re getting a full-fledged, hologram-equipped concert, worthy of being referred to as a real Hatsune Miku Party concert. Hell, it’s actually a sequel to the last MikuPa in Sapporo.

Those overseas need not despair, Nico Nico Douga will also be streaming the concert itself! On two different sites, one for the Japanese and the other for the rest of the world!

With an event as big as this (and not to mention AFA itself), the Kyouran Kyōdai have come prepared!

I’ve applied for leave! (gasp!)

We’ve got VIP tickets! (shock!)

We’ve got front row seats! (awe!)

If you’ve managed to do the same (more or less) and are attending the concert too, yay-fications to you too! If you aren’t though…wait right there!

There’s still the exclusive MikuPa merchandise.

The KKnM-run booth will be located outside the concert hall, and will sell that delicious bag (and all those other things). In fact, there’s a rumour that they might start selling even before the concert starts. Hint hint.

We’re not sure which of the official MikuPa merch will be sold, though COSPA’s definitely confirmed at this point, being a KKnM0-run booth.

Now let’s just hope the concert will be worth the sudden gaping hole in my bank account. –_–

Sanbei Gaeshi!

White Day has just passed (yesterday), has anyone been offering their gifts of whiteness? (INB4 stupid sexual innuendo commenters who ruin the classy-ness of my post)

Well, I’m at work as off now and hells abound I am locked up like a pigeon in a Peking Roast Duck.

But lo and behold! Here I am.

Which is really sad because that proves that even a prude of a web filter (who blocked even hotmail, much less Twitter) does not recognise KK as a blog/social media site.

Ouch.

Still, I am grateful. But I digress.

Have we talked about White Day before? Sure we haven’t. (Think so)

Basically, White Day is a (highly commercialised) Japanese day (non-holiday day) held on the 14 March. Males who have received any Valentine’s Day Gifts are socially obliged (and more than happy to usually) to return gifts as thanks on this day.

Which is a pain in the ass.

The gift has to be white in nature and some people (Wikipedia) believe that the gift must be THREE TIMES in value of the original Valentine’s Day Gift. As a fellow human, I realise that white things that can be passed as gifts are terribly hard to find, much less white gifts that have to cost 3x a box of chocolates.

“Let’s buy a 3x larger box of white chocos and get it over with.”

…is what almost every guy thinks. Either that or a bottle of suspicion white fluids.

Oh oh! Fun fact, White Day started as a gimmick to get males to buy candies for females who have bought candies for them. Marshmallows for that matter. (COMMERCIAL HOLIDAYS FTW)

SO WHAT, THREE TIMES MARSHMALLOWS IN VALUE? A LORRY OF MARSHMALLOWS OH GOSH.

-scans the wiki on giri-chocos and honmei-choco-

HOSHIT I JUST REALISED I GAVE RATHER EXPENSIVE CHOCOLATE TO MY SENIOR.

AND THAT’S CONSIDERED HONMEI CHOCO.

D:

So how about our dear readers? Do you follow White Day traditions?

(Male readers really should, because artists always draw white day picture of various anime characters wrapped only in ribbons and covered in slick slick white cream.)

Picture for the (yaoi-loving) womenfolk

–

Oh, sidetalk a bit. We will…

NOT HAVE PODCASTS DUE TO INABILITY OF MYSELF D;

NOT HAVE MONHUNT POSTS BECAUSE I GAVE UP MH D;

Oh but we will have April’s Fool. Look forward to it.

–

Finally, because White Day originated from Japan and the Japanese aren’t in the best of shape to celebrate it, let’s all just pray for them and wish them a better white Day next year.

(Incidentally, disasters bond people like superglue so maybe next year’s White Day will have ultra-turnover :9)

Nano out!

I hope my boss doesn’t catch me.

Okay, okay, I know, KK’s been dead for about…a month or so? I’m a terrible blogger, I get it.

Anyhoo, if you somehow forgot about MikuPa, it’s about to start! Yup. Right now. And I was lucky enough to get the rest of the day off for this. I do pray I don’t disconnect halfway though.

You can join the stream and watch it, and for those of you who are at the scene itself, have fun!

EDIT: It wasn’t a bad concert…but it didn’t live up to last year’s 39′s Thanksgiving Day either.

While they managed to cram 39 songs into the much shorter timespan, most of them were cut and/or part of a medley, and there was a ridiculous 30-minute intermission during which they looped a set of adverts till even the audience got sick of it.

They used a slightly different set of models this time round, and IMHO they’re an improvement over the ones used last year (which IIRC were taken from Project DIVA Arcade). While the fact that they used a screen (as opposed to a holographic projection) may be a disappointment to most, I don’t really feel the difference. The camera angles used during the stream were terrible, though.

There were a couple of epic moments though. The first was the end of one of the medleys, when they started playing Hatsune Miku no Gekishou. Miku transformed Panty-&-Stocking-style into a silver outfit and sprouted wings near the end. Avid Project DIVA players will know it’s a reference to the way the same song ends in the second PSP game.

The second was the final encore song, When the First Love Ends. I’m not going to spoiler this bit though; you’ll have to see for yourself. That is, if someone manages to leak a full recording. >_>

Here’s a taste of the concert. It’s one of the few portions that was streamed for free:

(Yes, I ended up watching it through UStream. FFFFF)

Here’s the songlist, courtesy of pKjD:

XX.) 「かくれんぼ / Kakurenbo」 – buzzG & Aizawa Mai
01.) 「Ievan Polkka」 – Otomania feat.初音ミク
02.) 「こっち向いて Baby /Kocchi Muite Baby」 – ryo (supercell) feat.初音ミク
03.) 「二息步行 / Nisoku Hokou」 – DECO*27 feat.初音ミク
04.) 「アルビノ / albino」 – buzzG feat.初音ミク
05.) 「え？あぁ、そう。 / Eh? Aa Sou.」 – papiyon feat.初音ミク
06.) 「ぽっぴっぽ / Po Pi Po」 – ラマーズP feat.初音ミク
07.) 「トリノコシティ / Torinoko City」 – 40mP feat.初音ミク
08.) 「キャットフード / Cat Food」 – doriko feat.初音ミク
09.) 「崩壊歌姫 -disruptive diva- / Houkai Utahime -disruptive diva-」 マチゲリータP feat.初音ミク
10.) 「白い雪のプリンセスは / Shiroi Yuki no Princess wa」 – のぼる↑ feat.初音ミク
11.) 「ワールズエンド・ダンスホール / World’s End Dancehall」 – wowaka feat.初音ミク＆巡音ルカ
12.) 「ダブルラリアット / Double Lariat 」- アゴアニキ feat.巡音ルカ
13.) 「No Logic」 – ジミーサムP feat.巡音ルカ
14.) 「RIP RELEASE」 – ryuuseiP feat.巡音ルカ
15.) 「Japanese Ninja No.1」 – デッドボールP feat.巡音ルカ
16.) 「ルカルカ★ナイトフィーバー / Luka Luka★Night Fever」 – samfree feat.巡音ルカ
17.) 「結ンデ開イテ羅刹ト骸 / Musunde Hiraite Rasetsu to Mukuro」 – ハチ feat.初音ミク
18.) 「ローリンガール / Rolling Girl」 – wowaka feat.初音ミク
***30-MINUTE INTERMISSION***
19.) 「trick and treat」 – OSTER project feat.鏡音リン・鏡音レン
20.) 「悪ノ娘 / Aku no Musume」 – mothy_悪ノP feat.鏡音リン
21.) 「悪ノ召使 / Aku no Meshitsukai」 – mothy_悪ノP feat.鏡音レン
22.) 「いろは唄 / Iroha Uta」 – 銀サク feat.鏡音リン
23.) 「炉心融解 / meltdown」 – iroha(sasaki） feat.鏡音リン
24.) 「ココロ / Kokoro」 – トラボルタ feat.鏡音リン
25.) 「メランコリック / Melancholic」 – Junky feat.鏡音リン
26.) 「リンリンシグナル / Rin Rin Signal」 – Dios/シグナルP feat.鏡音リン・鏡音レン
27.) 「SPICE!」 – minato(流星P) feat.鏡音レン
28.) 「Fire◎Flower」 – halyosy feat.鏡音レン
29.) 「Packaged」 – livetune feat.初音ミク
30.) 「ハロー、プラネット。/ *HELLO, PLANET.」 – sasakure.UK feat.初音ミク
31.) 「マージナル / Marginal」 – OSTER project feat.初音ミク
32.) 「初音ミクの激唱 / Hatsune Miku no Gekishou」 – cosMo（暴走P） feat.初音ミク
33.) 「歌に形はないけれど / Uta ni Katachi wa Nai Keredo」 – doriko feat.初音ミク
34.) 「Yellow」 – livetune feat.初音ミク
35.) 「タイムマシン / Time Machine」 – 1640mP feat.初音ミク
36.) 「ARiA」 – とくP feat.初音ミク
***ENCORE***
37.) 「カラフル×メロディ / Colorful x Melody」 – ちーむMOER feat.初音ミク
38.) 「メルト / MELT」 – supercell feat.初音ミク
39.) 「初めての恋が終わる時 / When the First Love Ends」 – supercell feat.初音ミク

You can check out more photos and information from his post, as well.

There was an event on the Black★Rock Shooter: The Game website yesterday involving entering a few key codes into the page.

The key codes could only be entered after 7PM, and after the right key codes were entered, B★RS would awaken in the capsule, only to go “Who are you?” before the new trailer was revealed.

The key codes, if you’re curious, were:

1. 8313-4820-3684-6534-2257
2. 9113-3274-1289-3235-1682
3. 4124-1000-5000-6571-1888
4. 3031-8888-1467-6593-8135
5. 8251-6310-5401-3256-6147
6. 8513-2455-9314-7123-6321

I’ve no idea how one would procure the codes, so my best guess is that it was through trial and error. The codes were released by industry partners and company employees over Twitter through the course of the day. Don’t bother trying it out now; BRS has already permanently awakened, and using the keypad only displays an error message.

(Thanks for the heads up, cowboybibimbop!)

Ah, right, the trailer:

The fact that she’s one of the bosses you’ll be facing is further emphasised in this trailer, but “in the palace on the moon”?! Wow. I get the feeling there’s some reality-bending going on here.

The cast list is still the same as the first trailer, and it’s confirmed that Maaya Sakamoto will be voicing both WRS and B★RS. Stop bawling, you Kana Hanasawa fans. Maaya’s not exactly a 2nd-rate voice actress either. >_>

The trailer still doesn’t show any gameplay though, so…inb4 PV3? =3

Ah yes, the figma.

The WRS figma will be bundled with the limited edition of the game, now named the Black★Rock Shooter: The Game White Premium Box. The figma was also on display at this year’s Wonder Festival, which means more delicious snaps for us to admire.

And some official shots:

The figure is just…BAD-ASS AND SEXY. Forgive me if you’ve heard me say that for any of the previous B★RS figurines. I mean, I could tell she was bad-ass from the illustration, but seeing her in this 3D form is just…I dunno, epic? XD

Her mecha-like parts can be removed, and since she’s not shown in the trailer with them on, one can only imagine how epic the battle with her will be. Hopefully it won’t be too hard.

She’s also a skirt short from zettai ryouki, but I guess almost unzipped pants are fine, too. =3

The figma is an exclusive to the White Premium Box, so even if you just want to get your hands on this figure (and you call yourself a fan?), you’ll have to fork out quite a bit. If I recall, you can get it at Amazon for 8,826 JPY or AmiAmi for 8,560 JPY. Better get it quick though; the new trailer attracted tons more figma enthusiasts.

Yup, not regretting pre-ordering it darn early. Also, Grey and B★RS Game Version figmas WHERE?!

(Nendoroids too!)

Sources:

• 2channel
• 4Gamer: [1] [2]
• Famitsu
• Danny Choo

This new iteration of Snow Miku is fully-named “Snow Miku Playtime Edition”, and will be released in conjunction with this year’s Sapporo Snow Festival (like how the first one was released two years ago).

The Nendoroid will also be one of the Wonder Festival-exclusive figures by Good Smile Company.

Unlike the first Snow Miku, this Nendoroid has knee and elbow joints (similar to the Saber Super Moveable Edition), and features other design changes, such as custom earmuffs/headphones, gloves and a cute scarf.

Also, MOEGASM.

It comes with a Hachune Miku face, a single clear leek (again), and a matching snowman.

GSC’s also including an ice tray that will resemble the mock-up above, so you can make your own Miku winter wonderland, though I imagine it wouldn’t last that long in a hot country like our own. >_>

The Nendoroid is, again, a major part of a huge collaboration by Crypton, and there are other Snow Miku themed merchandise available. Items include a couple of plushies, a glowing mouse, a rubber strap (similar to the ones in Project DIVA), a 3D snow crystal and what appears to be daifuku cream.

Snow Miku Playtime Edition will go for 4000 JPY, and purchases will be limited to 3 figures per person.

Snow Miku is also slated to be released as a DLC module for Project DIVA 2nd, and an update for the Arcade version.

The other WonFes exclusives include:

The Kuroi Mato figma, coming in at 2500 JPY, and;

The Nendoroid Petite: Mato and Yomi set, coming in at 1500 JPY. It’ll probably go well with the Petite set that came with the Black Rock Shooter BluRay & DVD box set. I should review that sometime.

Oh, and there’s this:

This is a 1/7 scaled Miku resin kit by とらbrindle, and (apparently) will be on sale at the festival as well. Eagle-eyed resin kit enthusiasts will know this is actually a re-sale; this resin kit was also on sale during last year’s Treasure Fiesta in December, along with this 1/10 scaled Miku resin kit.

If you’re truly serious about acquiring this baby, it’ll net you approximately 7000 JPY, but going through Tokyo Hunter will cost you an additional 4000JPY. Yeah, that’s a pretty big hole you’re burning in your wallet.

Still, it’s worth a mention, since it’s looks totally awesome.

Fariz has already assured me he’s getting the new Snow Miku Nendoroid, though I’ll pass on the other two figures (and the resin kit) mentioned in this post. How about you fellas?

You can check out the Wonder Festival website for more details.

Via: Wcloudx (kumo) & Panther

The details for the second Thanksgiving concert were released not too long ago (yesterday, in fact).

Right now it’s all just information on a single webpage, complete with a leek countdown timer, but I’ll machine-translate it to the best of my ability. >_>

The concert is officially titled “Hatsune Miku Live Party 2011 –39’s LIVE IN TOKYO-”, though apparently that mouthful can be shortened to “ミクパ♪”, or “Mikupa♪”.

Mikupa♪ will be held on the 9th of March next year at ZeppTokyo (again), and the concert halls open at 6PM. The concert itself will be approximately 2 1/2 hours long, lasting from 7PM till 9.30PM.

This year, it’ll cost 5,390 JPY to attend, but the cost not only earns you entry; it earns you a single drink (at least, that’s what I think it means) and a Hatsune Miku Nendoroid Plus Charm Sakura Version! I do believe it’ll be similar to the charm distributed with Project DIVA 2nd, except probably either simply pink or donning the kimono costume featured in the game.

If you’re interested in ordering tickets, the early bird orders will open on the 27th this month at 12PM on e+, but they’ll close on the 5th of January at 6PM. Regular orders will (tentatively) open on the 30th of January (elsewhere?).

If you’re curious, Mikupa♪ will mainly be sponsored by 5pb, but Crypton, SEGA, Good Smile Company and AG-ONE will all have a hand in it, so expect heavy merchandising, too.

The website also promises that the outfits the virtual divas will don next year will also be different, to celebrate the concert’s one-year anniversary. Either that, or I’m mis-reading the message totally. >_<

There are no details of any available live streams as of yet, but assuming it’ll be held the same way as last year’s concert, Nico Nico Douga will open up that live stream for us.

Looking forward to Mikupa♪? =3

Comment: Yeah, so shad. Everyone was so happy.

THAT’S ALL FOR DAY 1! WAIT, YOU YELL. WHAT ABOUT THE MIKUCONCERT LAG? I calmly say, what Miku Concert? ;D

INB4 EVERYONE RAEGQUIT