Packing up for Anime Expo right now! Last year was my first year attending (where I only spent one day at the convention, haha). I didn’t think I’d fall through with a joint idea of actually participating in Artist Alley this year *_*; Hopefully all will be well with my experience there. We’ll see what happens.

Here’s another map of where table E18 will be. Find me, Venus, and r3nka there!

I’ll also be attending the Indecent Otaku Comedy Show and the Danny Choo x Fakku LA CGM Night. I’m not too sure if I’m going to any other panels, but if you have Twitter, you can follow me there.

I’ll be heading out to Los Angeles for Day 0 tomorrow afternoon. July hasn’t even begun and I can tell it’s already going to be a hectic month! Anime Expo this weekend, starting my new job after I get back from AX, and then SDCC a couple of weeks later. Yay, July!

This post’ll be another art dump, so follow the jump to see some upcoming prints for AX.

Marisa, Reimu, and Sakuya from Touhou! I was going to do a Marisa, Reimu, and Sanae print, but I’m more partial to Sakuya than Sanae hahaha. I was also planning on doing a huge print of ALL the characters, but that would’ve been suicide given the time frame I had -_-;

Marisa’s based off of Imperishable Night, Reimu’s based off of Undefined Fantastic Object, and Sakuya’s based off of Scarlet Weather Rhapsody.

Blaaaaackkkk Rooooooockkkk Shooootaaaaaaaah. This song kinda grew on me (and enough to make a print of it).

5 generations of Pokemon COMPLETE. Did Ruby/Sapphire, Diamond/Pearl, and Black/White. Anybody excited for Pokemon Black/White?

THE ALMIGHTY CIRNO. I had this idea stuck in my head all day and decided to sketch it out last night. It ended up being a print, too :B

A total impromptu illustration. Pikachu and its alternate costumes in Super Smash Brothers Brawl. The text actually reads its Pokedex entry from Diamond and Pearl.

I may be working on more stuff tonight. Who knows: maybe I’ll have more stuff to print tomorrow before I leave? Anyway, for those going to AX: see you there!,

Touhou. Nendoroids. TOUHOU Nendoroids! Just announced on the official site that there will be a Nendoroid based on the Touhou series available for purchase at C76. So far, the silhouette they’ve shown us is of Reimu, but wouldn’t it be cool if they had even more of the characters?

If they come out with a Hong Meiling or Flandre, I’M ALL OVER IT. Then again, I’d want them all. ;x

If anybody’s going to C76…c-could you please check this out? ;___; Speaking of Nendoroids, I’ve yet to actually pick one up myself. I only own the Nendoroid Petits from Lucky Star and Haruhi. I was really tempted on getting the Kagamiku, but I really, really want the regular Miku for myself ;_; Oh, and maybe a Tsukasa. If I could get my hands on Exelica, though…that’s a whole different story right there.

Source from the official Nendoroid site.

I was inspired by Gordon’s post regarding Photofunia and wanted to mess around with the site, too! Enjoy the random photos and Youtube links after the jump. Image sources range from imgDump to Gelbooru.

Also, if you’d like, you can vote for your favorite images :3

1. Gundam Meisters :B

2. Mylene Flare Jenius of Macross 7 fame.

3. Because Orange-kun is nothing but manly.

4. Seems fitting for him, too ^^; haha

5. Nice boat da yo.

6. Euphie-sama!

7. Te te te…

8. Please don’t say you were lazy…

9. All hail ⑨! Cirno Cirno Cirno Cirno~

10. Dynamite Explosion!

11. More Euphie-sama

12. I’m going to share with you my favorite theme of Marisa’s: The Witche’s Ball ~ Magus. It’s actually not from Touhou, but from Seihou. Look up the extra stage from Seihou and you’ll see

13. Minmay x Mylene <3

14. Our very own Super Dimensional Cinderella, Miss Ranka Lee :3

15. This picture actually makes me sad ;_;

16. Oh, Marisa.

17. All hail Lelouch! NIPPON-PON

18. Miss Sheryl Nome, the Galactic Fairy

19. You get to burning! The lovely Ruri Hoshino from Nadesico.

20. Reimumu~

21. The Super Dimensional Cinderella and the Galactic Fairy :3

Before continuing on with other posts, I really wanted to squeeze this in. I finally have some art! Azunyan is here to help me out with that.

I’m in the process of catching up on commissions and will be finishing them up as soon as possible. I’ve updated the art section so that it’s reflective of what’s posted in here. I’ll post again when I’m available for commissioning. I’m excited to start on new projects

Here’s Fujiwara no Mokou of Touhou 7: Imperishable Night. One of my most favorite Extra Stage bosses and the main reason why I got into Touhou in the first place. For more info, please watch this:

Yeah, I love her ;_;

Another piece of her, this time done in Tegaki E. Anybody out there have a Tegaki E account? If you do, you can follow me here. I’m going to try and utilize it more often. I used it a lot when I was really into Gundam 00 :3

Recently got back into Gaia Online just for the heck of it. Last I was active was around the end of 2007. Things sure have changed since then You’ll find me in the Art Shops & Requests/Art Auctions forums. As for my username? It’s “two bell silence”

An overdue commission for my friend, Shiro Nishida, staying classy as always. Working on his 2nd commission as we speak

And lastly, I’m reworking one of my original characters, which I hope to have as my blog mascot. The last time I really drew her was back in 2007 *___*; You can view pictures of her in the original portion of the art section.

After seeing numerous videos of it online, I couldn’t help but try it out myself to see what made it so fun. So far, the demo has three playable characters:

Marisa Kirisame

Patchouli Knowledge

…and Alice Margatroid.

You can mix and match your team, switching off whoever is the master or slave during gameplay. For screenshot purposes, I used only Marisa and Patchouli.

In a nutshell, it’s an all-out rumble using an array of combos, magical attacks, and spells to annihilate your enemies. The demo itself only has 2 chapters, each with 4 stages and a boss battle. I can’t wait to see what the other chapters will be like once the full version hits.

Patchouli kicking some butt with a regular magic attack.

Marisa, however…

…prefers to Master Spark it.

The first boss battle is against Shikeiki Yamaxanadu of Touhou 9: Phantasmagoria of Flower View. She has an arsenal of lightning attacks up her sleeve.

She doesn’t show any mercy at all.

Patchouli…

…begs to differ.

She eventually brings out Komachi to assist in defeating you…

…but with utmost care, you can take care of the two

The second boss battle is rather unfortunate timing since you’re stuck in between a heated battle between Kaguya Houraisan and Fujiwara no Mokou of Touhou 8: Imperishable Night.

They really don’t care that you’re around. They just want to beat the crap out of each other.

You, too, can join in the fun!

What’s even more hilarious about the skirmish is if you beat up one of them, the other will proceed to laugh at their misfortune. Such cruel people, lol.

Here’s some gameplay of the Kaguya and Mokou boss battle:

Even though this is a demo, I can’t stop playing it! The orchestrated soundtrack is what hooked me. Kaguya and Mokou’s music is beautiful; I look forward to it every time I reach the last boss battle.

Simplistic, full of shiny objects, and massive combos: it’s definitely won me over.

On a side note, I’d like to plug one of my hostees (and also my boyfriend) Lester: he’s started up his blog! Please take a gander and say hi to him

Here is the synopsis courtesy of Touhou Wikia:

There has been a rumor spreading throughout Gensokyo since the early spring about a flying treasure ship. Since it brings good omen, the heroines race to see who will be the first to board the ship. But from the sky, there’s a black, shadowy figure moving at a high speed chasing the girls…

Here are the playable characters:

Our beloved miko, Reimu Hakurei

Our favorite Master Spark-wielding witch, Marisa Kirisame

And last but not least, our wind priestess Sanae Kotiya

The demo contains the first three stages and introduce the following new characters:

Stage 1 – Mouse youkai / The Little Dowser General Nazrin (background music)

Stage 2 – Karakasa / The Cheery Forgotten Umbrella Tatara Kogasa (background music)

Stage 3 –   Youkai & Nyudo / The Great Wheel that Guards and Is Guarded Ichirin Kumoi & Unzan (background music)

The newest edition to the game is the appearance of UFO power-ups. You can collect three in a row of red, blue, green, or other working combinations to summon a UFO that will help collect power-ups and give bonuses. The UFO power-ups are quite cute, too.

Here is some gameplay footage of Reimu in Lunatic from Moetron:

The full game doesn’t come out until August. Until then, I’ll live vicariously through this demo ;x

Finally, a post! Once again, it’s been too long. I’ve survived through an onslaught of midterms and other miscellaneous activities and have temporarily reverted back to roaming around the Internet. I was actually looking up information on the latest installment of Touhou (Undefined Fantastic Object) at Gensokyo.org when I ran into a post that had an English game for a doujin game called PatchCon.

Looking at the screenshots, I was easily intrigued. I saw that this game came out a while back; however, I didn’t get into Touhou until later on. I was stoked to see a Touhou RTS. I was even more stoked at the fact that you can have a horde of Chuugoku and Sakuyas do your bidding.

The premise of the game is as simple as it gets: defend your bookshelf from the swarms that are trying to snag your books. That’s all there is to it! You have 20 books in your bookshelf and they serve as multipliers at the end of the game. However, if all 20 books are taken, it’s game over.

There are 6 different teams you can play as, grouped based on game affiliation. Each are unlocked based on the amount of times you play. They all have different attributes, as well. For example, Meiling and Flandre are melee types, Sakuya and Remilia are danmaku types, and Patchouli is a flight type. Meiling and Sakuya are more cheaper to summon whereas Remilia and Flandre cost a bit more. Also, their price determines how fast they respawn. Meiling units spawn considerably faster than Remilia units.

I’m usually not one for RTS games, but the game was so easy to pick up that I instantly became hooked. Such a simple premise led me to play this game for a couple of hours

I’ve yet to try out other difficulties like Hard and Lunatic, although when they meant Lunatic, they really meant Lunatic. It’s possible to clear Lunatic and not have any books stolen! I was watching a couple of gameplay videos and saw that it was really true. Kudos to those who can do it!

There are also extra stages that you can play on such as Surround and Endless mode. The whole list of extra stages can be found here. Here’s a hilarious video that I found of an army of 1,250 Cirnos. CIRNOS.

All in all, the game’s cute! It’s like if you mashed up shrine maidens and youkai with Starcraft, especially if you’re playing on Lunatic mode. There are many ways to win at a game of PatchCon as the possibilities are endless. Whether it be a swarm of  knife-spamming Sakuyas, tornado-spinning Ayas, or even a giant army of Cirnos, anything is pretty much possible.

Within the past couple of months, I finally delved into the world that is the Touhou Project. Touhou is a series of danmaku/bullet hell shoot ‘em ups made by Team Shanghai Alice. I’ve actually played Touhou a couple of years back but couldn’t get over constanty dying after playing less than 5 minutes of a level. I finally got back into it over the summer after getting the games from my boyfriend and trying them out for myself. From there, I fell in love with not only the plethora of characters, but with the musical arrangements.

I managed to snag this Touhou arrangement album a couple of days ago and thought, why not share what I think about it? This isn’t meant to be a full-fledged review, but more along the lines of how I’ve reacted to each track. More after the jump:

1. REDALiCE feat. 三澤秋 – Somnia (4:01) – Once the vocals hit at 0:24, you can tell it’s Remilia Scarlet’s Septette for the Dead Princess. The vocals are a nice touch, too. It actually reminds me of The Sweet Innocent Key (better yet known as P.A.D. haha). It’s a very relaxing track.
2. ELEMENTAS – Vanishing Point (6:17) – Sanae Kotiya’s Faith is for the Transient People, recognizable for me at 1:15. This is a bit eerier than the last track. I particularly like 4:06 and up since it changes up a bit. The song is repetitive throughout, especially in the beginning and towards the end.
3. REDALiCE feat. 野宮あゆみ – Face to Faith (3:54) – Aya Shameimaru’s Wind God Girl. This track caught me by surprise because it suddenly became upbeat. Then again, the original is upbeat as well. Not a fan of this song, personally. Maybe it’s because the vocals throw me off.
4. REDALiCE – Volar (5:23) – One of my favorites, Alice Margatroid’s Doll of Bucuresti, or, as my boyfriend likes to call it, the “SHANGHAI SHANGHAI SHANGHAI SHANGHAI HOURAI HOURAI HOURAI HOURAI” song (from Marisa Stole the Precious Thing by IOSYS). No vocals in this song, but more like voice samples strewn throughout the song. Very similar to the original and catchy, too.
5. t+pazolite feat. 鈴木ななこ – ねむれないよ/Nemurenai yo (4:26) – Aya Shameimaru’s Sleepless Night of the Eastern Country. The vocals are sickeningly adorable. The song’s a lot more cuter and happier-sounding than its original counterpart. It almost reminds me of something that could be on Pop N’ Music or something of the sort.
6. REDALiCE – Drill Smasher (4:34) – Iku Nagae’s Crimson in the Black Sea ~ Legendary Fish. Lots of synths in this. The song has an electronic feel to it throughout the whole thing. I’m not as familiar with this theme as with other themes, since I rarely play the Touhou fighting games, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
7. REDALiCE – Thalia (5:01) – Yasaka Kanako’s The Venerable Ancient Battlefield ~Suwa Foughten Field~ (and one of my most favorite boss battle themes). I love it when it goes to 2:16 since it’s my favorite part of the original track. It still holds that epic feel that I sense whenever I hear it. For some reason, this particular boss battle theme reminds me of something out of Pirates of the Caribbean in comparison to the other themes.
8. REDALiCE – Last Dance (4:33) – Kagiyama Hina’s Dark Side of Faith. Much, much slower than the original, but it’s an interesting rendition of the song. I particularly enjoy the vocals and the fact that it’s been slowed down. The instrumetal portion starting at 1:31 is what gets me the most.
9. REDALiCE – Locked Girl (Trancecore Remix) (6:29) – Patchouli Knowledge’s Locked Girl ~The Girl’s Secret Room~. I think it’s safe to say that this is my favorite track of the album. It’s like a much more enhanced and ominous version of the original. The tone switches from time to time, but it’s not distracting. 3:18 is my favorite portion of the song, mostly because I can imagine Patchouli beating the crap out of me with her patterns.
10. Betwixt & Between – the moon from below (5:30) – Reisen Udongein Inaba’s Lunatic Eyes ~The Invisible Full Moon~. This track scares the hell out of me. It sounds like something out of a horror flick. Very suspenseful and fitting for the bullet-toting Lunarian.
11. REDALiCE – Boder of Soul (6:06) – Yuyuko Saigyouji’s Bloom Nobly, Cherry Blossoms of Sumizome ~Border of Life~. I dislike the beginning of the song; it doesn’t flow very well with the rest of the song, even though the aesthetic plays throughout. I only enjoy the song when the melody plays. A very somber piece in comparison to the rest.
12. REDALiCE – taboo tears you up 2008 (3:37) – Flandre Scarlet’s U.N. Owen was Her? and a great remix of the song, at that. Totally chaotic, just like Flandre herself. Then again, I fall in love with any U.N. Owen remixes in a heartbeat, so this is a bit biased. If it were only longer…

All in all, definitely enjoyed the album. Very particular to tracks 8, 9, and 12 but enjoyed it as a whole. I do have to say this: it’s great listening music for those studying for finals (in which mine are coming up next week, ugh).