Tekkaman Blade is one of those shows my youth that got me into anime.  My first exposure to the series was the poor dub called “Teknoman” here in the US.  Of course it wasn’t until a few years later that I was exposed to the unedited, original Japanese version.  And I have to say it only made me love the series more.  Excellent story, fantastic characters (and development in my book) , and stellar soundtrack made Tekkaman Blade one my favorite anime series of all time.

I think the following videos showcase all the things I loved about the series:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hbc0Z8Oea9s

Brother vs Brother – All out fight to the death.  Also my favorite song of the series – Masquerade

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSrIXP0AxaQ

A sister’s sacrifice – To buy D-Boy time, Miyuki faces Evil and the other Tekkamen and makes the ultimate sacrifice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfsi64RBro8

Takaya vs Shinya

So when I saw the Wonder Festival pics of the Tekkaman Blade and Evil figmas I immediately knew I had to get my hands on them!  Eagerly awaited news of their release and Good Smile Company came through posting information about Blade on their website.  If you follow me on Twitter then you probably saw my excitement at the news ^^;

Signature Tekkaman Blade stance.  Looks like he won’t have any problems standing without stand either.  Figure has excellent details.  Very nice.

But the stand will come in handy for poses like this.  After all, with those thrusters on this back he is capable of combat while in flight.  Also nice to see that his lance can split into two like in the series.

Blade’s lance is his signature weapon.  But he does possess an even more powerful weapon…

The Voltekka!!  The fact that you can even recreate Blade firing his most powerful weapon is icing on the cake for this figure!

Here are all three of Blade Voltekka variations shown in the series (Normal, High Colt, and Blastor):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8TrK-XBVYw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG0W-N21dxM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9eqVWn59SQ

If you are Tekkaman Blade fan, old school anime fan, or even just a fan of mecha I highly recommend picking up this preorder.  Check out the following retailers (or your retailer of choice if not listed here).

Hobby Search

Ami Ami

Otacute

Hobby Link Japan

Hopefully Blade and Evil sell well enough that their Blastor Forms are also made.  And of course wouldn’t mind some of the other Tekkamen made, including the Sol-Tekkaman armor.

Recently learned that MOO had a new card product – Facebook Cards.  They advertise the product as a way to take your Facebook Timeline offline.  Having previous experience with MOO, I decided to check out this new product for myself.  Of course, getting 50 free cards (do have to pay shipping) helped in the decision too!

The cards feature the Cover Images from your Facebook profile / timeline.  It also pulls your profile photo and information to populate fields on card.  But you can edit the information to suit your taste. For instance, I didn’t want my phone number on these cards so I changed it to my Twitter address.

On the back of the card it will pull a quote from your profile.  My Facebook profile contains many quotes, but the first one is the opening lyrics of “Through the Night” from the anime Outlaw Star.  I really like those lyrics.

Overall really like these cards.  Quality is good and the cards have a clean look.  Simple, elegant design that does exactly what MOO says: “Help show off your personality in the real world.”  I certainly recommend picking yourself up a 50 card pack while the promo is going.  It will set you back the shipping cost, but you will gain a nice networking tool.

The lovely Beatrice is going to model for you today one of the dresses that arrived today via Volks USA.  The dress she is modeling is the Champagne Ribbon Dress that was recently released as part of their November Collection.  A very elegant dress for a very elegant lady.

This outfit consists of a dress, short jacket, ribbon belt, and arm covers.

Said it once before, but think it bares repeating.  Beato’s best feature has to be her eyes.  They are so vibrant and full of life.  Certainly nothing dull and lazy about them.

This dress is designed for both M and L bust girls.  I think Beato looks fantastic in this dress.  Again think its because she does have an elegant look…and of course the shapely bust help too XD

Expect to see more photos of Beato and this lovely dress in the future.

Last October I was able to secure my 5th Dollfie Dream, which meant a new girl joined the troupe.  It was also a bit of a unplanned addition, but the circumstances of recruiting her were unexpected and surprisingly favorable for me.  Alias it has been very hectic for me since September, and I just did not have the time to prepare a proper “entrance” for her.  But I couldn’t just be silent about her arrival either.  So I decided to do some teasers like the one above.  For this pic I decided to use the “twin” to Yoko’s multi-color wig.  This was two-fold ~ concealment of her identity and I didn’t feel her default was good for her “primary” style.

Second of the teaser image I shared.  I used this shade of blue in these teaser pics as a play on the Blue Truth from the Umineko games.  It was a way to hint at her true identity without giving to much away.  Plus it seemed to work well with lighting of this photo and enhanced the contrast bit more.  Beatrice has a distinctive profile so I tried to conceal her face as best I could ^^;

When Beatrice was first introduced I wasn’t able to pursue recruiting her.  But a second chance presented itself in October when Beatrice showed up on eBay for a price that was very close to her original price.  In fact, the price was unusual considering Beatrice was a limited release.  I wasn’t sure that I would be able to get her considering the buzz her auction was generating around the DD community.  I figured that even with low starting price, competing bids would quickly raise the price up.  Surprisingly there was not a lot of competition and I was able to secure her for a very favorable price.

Beatrice is the first DD I bought after market and I got a super deal because I secured her for close to her retail price, which in terms of aftermarket pricing is rare for a limited DD like Beatrice.

So after all of these months waiting, things finally calmed down enough to finally introduce Beatrice.  Originally I was going to call this post “Enter ~ Golden Dawn” but figured time for codename was done.

There are two things I really like about Beatrice.  First being her eyes.  I find them absolutely mesmerizing and such a lovely shade of blue.  Second is she has a mature, sultry look.

I happened to come across someone selling Beatrice’s school uniform on Deviant Art shortly after getting her.  I really liked the aesthetic of this uniform and seemed more practical than her long default dress.  Plus the price was very close to what it was originally sold for via Volks which was excellent.  When I recruit a DD, I also like to try and secure any alternative outfits that happen to go with them.  So I was thrilled was able to obtain Beatrice’s “Complete Form” by getting this outfit as well.

Aside from being extremely hectic, another reason I delayed revealing Beatrice was because I wanted to find a longer wig that was close to her default color.  Thankfully my comrade Motoko Yamamoto had this wig she was selling and have to say its a perfect fit for Beatrice.  Her default wig is very nice, but to me it is also a very “formal” style and after seeing owner photos I loved Beatrice with her hair down.

Another selling point of this uniform is Beatrice’s Zettai Ryouiki ^o^  Also liked the striped stockings.

Beatrice hair isn’t the only thing that is long, she has has some knee high boots.

Beatrice was also the first DD to come with the Shapely Large Bust.  Have to say it adds to her sultry, sexy look.

Volks recently added the Shapely L bust to their option parts, so if you like then please pick up one for your girl.

The plaid top if not part of the uniform but part of another outfit.  Would have preferred a solid black, think that would have complimented Beatrice more.  But still a nice set and works well with her bust.  May have to look into getting some nice lingerie for the girls in the future ^^;

Sexy picture time!  Bottom is part of the same outfit as the top.  The pipe came with Beatrice.  She enjoys an occasional smoke.

She’s absolutely gorgeous!! ^o^  Her eyes are just captivating to me.

Macro photography time.  Focus is the bow…but I am drawn more to the tummy.

Using macro photography for cleavage shot…again…

Beatrice’s bust is a very flattering feature ^^;

When I speak the truth, I will use red.  Everything I speak in red is the truth.

Expect to see more of Beatrice very soon.  In fact, held back a few pics to share later.  She is a witch and some of those photos show her cruel side.  But for today only gonna see her softer side.  Beatrice is a very beautiful girl and I feel very fortunate to have her.  And I look forward to showing you more of her in the future.

Considered doing another group photo, but I have two more joining the troupe soon so figured be best to wait for their arrival.

Last September, I posted that the PSP game Fate / Extra would be getting a sequel called Fate / Extra CCC.  I also mentioned that a special edition was planned, and like the first game would include a bonus Saber figma.  Well after five months of waiting we finally get a peek at what the Saber figma will look like !!

Just as the game art would suggest, this figma will have Nero wearing her skin tight “bridal” suit.  Also looks like Nero’s sword, Aestus Estus, has undergone a change to match Nero’s new look.  Nero’s new costume also communicates her affinity to fire with the burnt edges of her skirt.  And of course lots of belts, chains, and locks.  Just what kind of bride is Nero? ^^;

The Special Edition is being called the “Type-Moon Virgin White Box” which goes along with the bridal motif of Nero’s alternative costume in CCC.

Nero’s new costume is certainly intricate and this figma release looks to capture many of the finer details.

If you wish to add this new Saber figma to your collection, then best choice would be to hurry and preorder your copy of the Fate / Extra CCC Type-Moon Virgin White Box.  You can pick up a copy at Play Asia, Ami Ami, or your game retailer of choice.

And of course thanks to Plastic Kitty for the heads up!!

Time for the third installment of the Looking Back series, where I take a moment to review events of the past year. Also when I throw out a few stats regarding how my little site has done over the past year. So like always I’ll start by getting that stuff out of the way:

• In 2011 I wrote a whooping 32 entries. Actually, that is a bit pathetic when consider wrote 56 in 2010!! The reason for the decline in article writing will be explained later.
• There was an increase of 123% in site visitors from 2010.
• There was an increase of 122% in pageviews compared to 2010.
• Referral wise – Flickr was top referring website in 2011. Take that to mean that people are discovering more of my content via my photostream.
• Google was the top referring search engine. The top keywords this year were Saber related searches (Saber, Saber Extra, Saber Nero, Saber Lily, various searches relating to Nero’s Noble Phantasm). Gundam Unicorn, Kamen Rider W, Satellizer el Bridget, and Freezing were also high up in search rankings also.
• Location wise, the top 5 countries in which visitors originated from are United States, Philippines, Canada, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
• Tweaked the theme of this site a wee bit more. This version holds the designation of UI:Nexus 1.3.

Again like to thank all of you who visit my humble little site. This site has always been about sharing things that interests me and certainly honored by those that support what I try to do here m(_ _)m

2011 was the Year of the Rabbit. So it was only fitting that King Kazma kicked off 2011′s posts.

In 2011 more wonderful Dollfie Dream were announced and released. The first Dolpa of the year featured the lovely Beatrice from Umineko no Naku Koro ni.

The Dollfie Dream Compilation was also released. Consider it volume 1 of everything Dollfie Dream. It contains a catalog of every Dollfie Dream released up to I think the Touhou girls. I say “volume 1″ because later on this year the Dollfie Dream Official Fan Book was also released, which expanded the catalog to include lovely DD girls released after the Compilation was printed.. Follow the links above to purchase either book from Volks USA! Highly recommended if you are a fan of Dollfie Dreams.

Added a new piece of equipment to my image armory. Was looking at this lens for quite a while but finally decided to pull the trigger and pick it up. Actually got it when Amazon had it a good deal on it, so I was very happy for that.

So my current arsenal. Not sure what the next piece of equipment will be, only time will tell.

Sakura celebrated a birthday.

I shared some of the old wallpapers I created back in the day from my old site Studiotaku. I also let that domain go this year. While it held sentimental value to me being my first domain and site, paying to just park the domain seemed like a waste. Studiotaku was a good run, but it was time to let it go. There are other projects I would much rather focus on now.

Yoko showed us that even when she is not a red head she is still stunning.

I was able to summon the most outstanding Dollfie Dream…

Dollfie Dream Saber Lily arrived (with her loyal knight Sir Gaowain)

Saber Lily for me was the realization of a goal. DD Saber was the original reason I got into the hobby of Dollfie Dreams, but every opportunity I had to adopt her ended in failure. Thus she earned the title of “Unicorn” because she always slipped away. So Saber Lily was blessing to me. She may not have had the “Original” Saber mold, but she is still gorgeous and I am happy I was able to get her. Of course little did I know a miracle would happen later this year that would change everything…but I’ll get to that later ^^

Yoko made me ask the question, can she be this sexy…I mean cute?

I got Freezing fever…bad…I think it was because Satellizer is such an interesting character to me. I mean kickbutt tsundere character with a troubled past, what’s not to love about that? Plus I love her name. Very unique. Actually started reading the manga because of the anime and have to say manga certainly more in depth (obviously). Also started reading the spin off “Freezing: First Chronicle” detailing another of my favorite Freezing characters – Chiffon Fairchild. I hope Freezing gets picked up for another season.

With the arrival of Saber Lily, it was time to bring the cast together for a little group photo session.

The “Sisters of Fate” – Rin and Sakura paired off for a photo session.

Yoko wanted some more solo time. She also pulled out the big gun…

The lovely Lily bloomed in the garden of Sabers, but her attention to a certain lion drew the attention of the others.

Yoko modeled more outfits…

…and got a bit daring XD

Rin claimed Saber as her Servant

Celebrated Saber’s unofficial birthday. Some of the photos in this post fooled a few people. Gave the illusion as they were taken outdoors XD

One of my goals for 2012 is take girls out more for photos.

Rin x Saber did a “Master x Servant” omake

Helped Gordon in his hunt for droids in Singapore.

High School of the Dead was released on DVD and Blu-ray here in the states. The dub is so ridiculous its entertaining. But I have to say that I was disappointed that my favorite Busujima Saeko line was dubbed. You know which one I mean.

For a brief period I got a rapid surge in traffic from the search “Saber Lily” and so I investigated and found I was ranking 1 in searches. My site is pretty small but I get a lot of traffic from Google in relation to Fate / Stay Night searches. Never was my intention for this site to be such a Type-Moon fansite, but I really like Type-Moon’s work – especially the Fate / franchise.

Saber Lily wished Lightningsabre a happy birthday. I mean, he is a fan and being a king she wants to make her subjects happy XD

Sakura started to feel left out with all the idle time she had while others got attention. This also entailed the wrath of Sakura fans out there, like my comrade Altsune…

…but it wasn’t enough. Her frustration with me caused Dark Sakura to emerge ^^;

July was when the year started to go downhill. While on the way home from running an errand, some jerk ran through the red light hitting me in the passenger side. The force of the collision caused my vehicle to hit another vehicle that was traveling in the opposite direction. The car that hit me sped off in the aftermath. Thus this became a hit and run. My sister was in the car with me and hit her head on the window during impact. Luckily neither her or I, nor the people in the car I hit were seriously hurt. But my vehicle suffered extensive damage to the framework and had to be totaled. Furthermore, the police never found the car that hit me.

I was angry when this happened. Angry because the driver that caused the accident ran. Angry that my car was totaled when it was so close to being paid off. But I was grateful no one was seriously injured or killed. Plus I like to think that things in this world happen for a reason.

The comedy anthology Carnival Phantasm was released in Japan. Very funny show.

Yoko’s hair style changed again.

Got a few more goodies from Gordon

The PSP game Fate / Extra is getting a sequel!! Saber Extra (Nero) pushes the envelop yet again with her attire. In this new game she will be losing the transparent skirt for what is best described by many as a bondage bridal suit XD

Just remember if Nero was to become your bride, she is letting you marry her.

In 2011, Type Moon celebrating their 10 year anniversary. A well deserved celebration as popularity for their work continues to sky rocket. The biggest news of the year for me was Volks teaming up with Type Moon to release two very special Dollfie Dreams via web project preorders: Saber Extra and Saber Alter V2. Talk about showing appreciation to your fans on Volks and Type-Moon’s parts.

What made this even more speculator is that Saber Extra would be a using the original Saber mold! Of course Saber Alter using the original mold as well, but will feature a newly designed outfit. This was the miracle I mentioned earlier! This meant that folks like myself who failed to get the original Saber or Saber Alter were given a second chance! Of course Saber Extra is a different character, but she is still the original Saber mold which is what counts to me. So I took the plunge and preordered both Nero and Alter Arturia ^o^

My wallet weeps but my soul cries with joy XD

The Fate / Zero anime began airing worldwide!! Fate / Zero recounts the story of the 4th Holy Grail War and sets up events for Fate / Stay Night. 2011 really has been a stellar year for Type-Moon fans.

Saber Lily showed us her Nadeshiko side. She is so gorgeous ^o^

I FINALLY upgraded my original iPhone to the iPhone 4S. Original iPhone was state of the art for its time, but when I got the 4S it was like getting an iPhone for first time again. The iPhone’s virtual assistant Siri and the amazing camera were two features that sold me on the 4S.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmaXc01TdT0

Even shot a short video at night to test the image quality. The iPhone 4S takes impressive video considering its on a phone.

Been spending a lot of time at hospitals since September. My mother had emergency surgery and there have been a lot of complications…well more like setbacks…in her recovery. Been really rough on her these last few months and I try to be by her side often for support. Family is very important to me, so much so that it is always my first priority. So updates to the site have been few and far between as as result. She is still recovering but hoping the worst is behind her now and she’ll get well soon.

A new girl has joined the cast of my DD troupe. I haven’t had time to give her a proper introduction so for know her true identity has to remain secret. Only hint I can give you is her code name is “Golden Dawn”. But don’t worry, she will make her official debut very soon.

Fate / Extra was released in the US! This is one of the titles I was glad to hear Aksys Games was releasing and was even happier when I learned they were doing a limited edition. If you bought the LE then you got everything that was included with the Japanese limited edition except figma Saber Extra.

Shared many an iPhone home screens with you. Some of them are not for innocent eyes ^^;;; (That means some are NSFW)

My current iPhone home screen features this lovely Fate / Zero Saber image that Joel shared with me

Rin ended the year as both a brunette and red head.

Facebook mobile app updated its interface. So I updated my Facebook profile. Timelines are cool. Cover image is cooler. Rin is cold…or hot…depending on her mood. She is tsundere after all =P

Saber Lily and Sir Gaowain wished everyone a happy holiday season.

Six of my photos managed to get Explore on Flickr. And I didn’t have to use secondary accounts to do it like some people ^^

And finally…gonna end this article same way started it, with a photo of a bare Saber Lily. These were the first photo shoot of 2012 and have a symbolic meaning as it relates to the new year. At face value most think its just some ecchi Dollfie Dream photos. When it comes to DD photos, I try to tread lightly when it comes to doll nudity and give serious thought to composition when doing them. Its easy to think that showing a lot of skin (even the vinyl kind) equals sexy. But there is a thin line and sometimes using nudity is just the easy way out.

As I said, these photos were meant to have a certain artistic meaning to them. But it seems that meaning is hard to see so allow me to explain:

The Lunar New Year is on January 23rd, 2012. Some New Years celebrations typically fall on or around this, one of which is the Chinese New Year. If you follow the Chinese zodiac then you know the next animal in the cycle is the dragon. Saber (Arturia Pendragon) is the incarnation of a dragon, so Saber is suppose to represent the dragon of 2012

In art, nudity isn’t always about sex and eroticism. Nudity can represent many things: beauty, frailty, shame, divinity, and even power. For example, Ancient Greek vases often depicted their greatest heroes on them nude. The Saber class is regarded as the best and often the most powerful of the Servants. Also the dragon is regarded as the most powerful sign by some, and its only natural their power would be greater in a year they rules over. So Saber’s nudity represents her power as a dragon. And of course people always find beauty in female form.

I also put a lot of thought into other elements of the photo. I also chose a blanket which contained colors associated with Arturia: Blue and White. For me Lily also represents Arturia’s femininity, the side of her she had to seal away in order to rule. So I included Gaowain in one of the photos to show her playful innocence as a young girl. And I shorten my depth of field as much as I could to soft the focus and draw more attention to Saber’s face and less to face she is nude.

Hopefully that “artist’s commentary” helps give the photos a little added meaning. But if after reading that you still just see a naked doll then that is fine also. Interpretation a matter of perspective and not everyone will share the same perspective. Plus my perspective will be different because I am the one that composed the image.

Anyway, that is pretty much it for the 2011 recap. Had some good times and a few rough patches. New year means new beginnings. Like to thank my readers for all your support and take this opportunity to say welcome to any new readers. I will continue to share my passions with you and hope that you all find some value in the things I share.

Thank you all again for reading!

Since news of US release of Fate / Extra by Aksys Games, I have been eagerly anticipating the day I could finally play this game.  Last week, that day finally arrived.  The game is set in an alternate timeline to Fate / Stay Night, but events of the Holy Grail War play out in a different manner.  Some of the key differences is that instead of 7 teams of Masters and Servants, in Fate / Extra there is 128 teams.  Also, the battles take place in a virtual world where “magi” are more like super-skilled hackers.  The game does include characters from Fate / Stay Night (though back stories are somewhat different), as well as addition of new characters and characters from other Type-Moon works.

My initial plan was to download the game via the Playstation Network since I already owned the Japanese released limited edition that included the same premiums the US edition picked up.  But on the day of release, I kept checking PSN and game was not available!  Wanting to get started playing as soon as possible, I decided to head to local Gamestop where I was fortunate enough to pick up a copy.

The US edition included the Fate / Extra art book, soundtrack, and game. Unfortunately the Saber Extra figma was not included. On the plus side, the art book was translated into English so you can read the commentary for each image and as well as Takashi Takeuchi’s thoughts regarding Saber Extra. Very insightful actually.

Side-by-side comparison of the US and JP Limited Edition boxes.

Side-by-side of all the premium items included in the respective boxes of the two editions. Again aside from figma not much of difference between two regions.  If you preordered Fate / Extra you were also sent a copy of the Fate / The Fact magazine.  From what I saw, the US version left much to be desired.  It was just a paper booklet whereas the Japanese version had a hard cover case and CD included.  So the US version of the magazine was missing the hard case and CD.  Other than that, content of magazine is same with US version being translated obviously.

It should go without saying that I chose Saber as my servant for my first play through of the game. Going to share some of the screens from my first few hours of playing. Lot of these images contain dialogue from Saber.

The first thing that instantly becomes clear to fans of Fate / Stay Night is this Saber’s personality is certainly different from Arturia.

In fact, if I have the feeling that she is tsundere ^^;

She has a lot of pride in herself.

Game play consist of predicting what your opponent’s actions will be and choosing an option that will counter it. Servants can chose between Attack, Guard, Break, and Skills. Masters can use items or magic to assist their Servants. As far as combat is concerned, Attack beats Break, Guard beats Attack, and Break beats Guard. Skills are special moves Servants can perform, which include special attacks, buffs, or Noble Phantasms.

If you string three successful moves, then you an perform an Extra Attack. So the challenge comes in predicting what move your opponent will execute and choosing the right move to counter it. If you find yourself lousy at predicting moves and your opponent lands a successful chain of three moves then they will perform an Extra move on you. This system is what gives a somewhat simple system a bit of complexity.

Successfully beat your opponent and you are rewarded with PPT (used to buy items and formal wear) and Experience. Sometimes also rewarded with items to help keep your Servant in top health. Level up your Master Level and you will be rewarded with SP that can be used to improve the stats of your Servant and unlock abilities.

Saber found that her opponent was too weak to entertain her. Saber may be unsatisfied but I have to say the gameplay has been pretty satisfying thus far.

Saber begins to act tsun towards her new Master.

My Servant is not happy that I know nothing about the Holy Grail War.

Or of Servants in general for that matter ^^;

She gives brief explanation which ends after mention of the Saber class.

She takes great pride in her classification as Saber lol

Great pride indeed

We are a team!!

Being her Master, I acquire about her identity.

But she will not disclose that to me…

…at least not yet. I guess Saber doesn’t completely trust her new Master.

Setup for this image is humorous. Upon meeting Rin Tohsaka for the first time she will grope you. And her Servant (who remains hidden) will comment to her that she is a pervert. Actually quite hilarious.

But it worked out to my favor because she instructs me in a few basics of the Holy Grail War.

Meet Saber in our private room for the first time. She does not like the accommodations but will make due.

It is important you visit your private room often. There are times when your Servant has key story points to discuss with you and if you don’t visit your private room you will miss these!!

She also mentions that she is not using her full potential. This is my fault. One of my many short comings as her Master.

T-T Trust me, she does get better. She doesn’t cut you down ALL the time lol

I did mention she is tsundere right??

At least she ends her complaints with a nice comment.

For all the complaints she makes, she also encourages her Master too.

Saber has a dislike to Shinji and how he treats his fellow Masters.

After completing our training in the arena, Saber has some nice words for her beloved Master.

*You may praise me. You may pet me.*

Saber gains a bit more respect for her Master.

Saber warns on the importance of gathering information on opposing Servants true identities. You have six game days to gather information on you opponent for the week. In that time, you must figure out the identity of enemy Master’s Servant using clues you gather both in school and while in the Arena. Uncover enough clues and your Matrix regarding that Servant will level up. If you get your Matrix to level 3, then on the seventh day (which is the day must fight the enemy Master and Servant in an Elimination Battle) you will have a chance to discuss with your Servant the clues and raise your Matrix to Extra. With a E level Matrix you will have better odds of predicting moves your opponent will use. So it is very important to learn the identity of the enemy Servant within the time frame in order to have edge in the battles.

Sometimes you will encounter the enemy team in the Arena. Battles between two Servants is prohibited in the Arena, but this won’t stop enemy teams from attacking you or using other tricks. In the event of enemy attack, all you have to do is survive three rounds and the SE.RA.PH system will end the fight per the rules of the war. But these battles do have a purpose as they allow you chance to learn the identity of the opposing Servant.

Saber again remains of the importance of gathering intelligence.

And she again remains you that she will keep her identity secret for as long as possible.

Information gathering by Rin.

Information is power.

Sometimes when you visit your private room your Servant will not want to talk to you.

Early on in the game you will be able to use the SP gained from leveling to increase the various stats of your Servant. This will also allow you to unlock the special abilities of your Servant. Or as Saber puts it, restoring some of her former glory ^^

My relationship with Saber changed. She no longer refers to me as “Master” but instead calls me “Praetor” – which is a title of Roman origin. Another clue of regarding her true identity.

This is one of the moments where you gain insight on Saber via private room conversation. Her words are harsh but the information is sweet.

You will be given two options.

I chose to ask Saber again about her identity…

…And she seems to go along with it…

…and I am treated to this little treat…

…but Saber quickly back pedals…

…and again quickly reminds her dear Master that must wait to learn her true name ^^;

If you chose the other option about how she speaks, then you get this little tidbit revealing a bit about her past.

Another question you can ask her is regarding her gender. Her responses here are quite interesting.

She confirms that physically she is a petite woman.

And even though she says its not an issue, she also makes it clear to not make comments regarding her height. XD

o.O So her spirit is both male and female?? Tell me some more.

I see…I see…

Orientation of her soul?? Oh my…

Oh my!!

OH MY!!! This Saber is certainly unlike Arturia.

Shinji again gets on Saber’s nerves.

Saber understands Rider love of wealth. But doesn’t like how she goes to any lengths to obtain it.

I couldn’t tell she adores the finer things in life…oh wait…yes I did.

The day of the Elimination Battle arrives. Saber again tries to reaffirm her Master that victory is ours.

This is when we go over the information gathered about the enemy Servant. If you gathered enough then you will granted Matrix E!

On the way to the Elimination Battle the trash talking begins. Saber has a sharp tongue.

She has a few choice words for Shinji…

Saber finds the Coliseum to be lackluster…to say the least.

After the long battle and Shinji’s pathetic display of losing bores Saber. I will admit that I felt sorry for his defeat because of his display. It was kinda sad.

But Saber has little sympathy for the fallen Master…

…the Servant on the other hand she gained a bit of respect for.

She doesn’t understand why her Master sheds tears for her defeated enemy. But the act moves her…

…and she gains more admiration for her Master.

She also talks about what it takes to win.

As the second round begins, I meet with Saber in our private room…

…and she again reminds me of our private room needing more elegance to it. I guess those lamps I got her from Taiga wasn’t enough. It is important to complete Taiga’s quest as they will add more decor to the private room. They will also allow you to fight a secret boss in the game from what I hear.

Saber also reveals more about her past life.

And reveals that there are things she even regrets from her past. I suppose both her and Arturia share this quality. Both have regrets regarding how they ruled.

Saber and Archer have a few words.

Saber talks about the importance of unlocking her full potential as the battles will become more intense, especially her Noble Phantasm.

Saber again gets into verbal confrontation with enemy on the way to the Elimination Battle.

I notice that this Saber talks about the “beauty” in a lot of things.

Archer makes the mistake of calling Saber a princess. She doesn’t take kindly to this.

And corrects him to address her as Empress. Remember, Saber doesn’t like people commenting on her stature.

The Elimination Battle concludes with out victory. As Archer and his Master are being deleted, a conversation between to the two Servants shift to their Masters. Saber comments that compared to other teams, her Master is pretty lackluster…

… but the idea of seeing her rise above odds excites her…

…and that she enjoys being by her Master’s side.

That ends my photos of Saber moments. Currently close to my third round Elimination Battle with my next Master and her Servant. Overall I am really loving this game. Not really a game can get through mashing buttons. Does require you to do a bit of thinking. You have to try to anticipate what your opponents will do and chose moves based on what you think their actions will be. There are moments where game feels like a visual novel as events unfold. Given that you only have seven days between rounds, you have to use time wisely to both gather information and level up. Game days end when you leave the Arena, so you have to make sure you do enough investigating before entering the Arena because once you leave that game day ends. Also have to make sure you search each Arena thoroughly enough as need to locate certain items in the Arena for Taiga quests or story points. Not to mention more of the Arena you uncover, move mobs can encounter, which leads to chances to gain experience and level up.

I have to say that even though Saber can be harsh with her words, she also has her sweet moments. But that is what it means to be a tsundere, right? She certainly has no issue speaking her mind either. Like I said earlier her personality is quite different from Arturia. But the more I play through the game, the more I appreciate about her character. She is certainly different from the Saber Fate fans know. But she has her own strong points that makes her likeable to me. Her flamboyancy also intrigues me. She is spirited, yet refined.

Thus far I know only scratched the surface of what this game has to offer. Story has multiple endings and story paths that can be explored. Not to mention still two other Servants I can play though the game with. So there is plenty of replay value in the game. I am looking forward to uncovering more of the story Fate / Extra has to offer.

What is this?? Two copies of the Limited Edition?!

Let’s just say I was contacted by an individual who was kind enough to provide  a copy for my readers ^o^

Because a lot of Fate / Extra’s gameplay revolves around the gathering of information, if you want to win you will have to do the same.  Gonna make this one pretty simple.  I am a huge Fate fan.  Pretty evident by post made here right? What sparked my interest in Fate was one figure I got many moons ago.

To win just tell me what was the first Fate figure I purchased.  Here’s a hint – Key to finding it can be found on my About page.

You can post your answer here in the comments.  Be sure to include a link to the image of the figure I am looking for.  Please make sure to use a valid email account so I can contact you.

To keep in the spirit of the game, time frame for this contest will be one week.  The stage is now set.  Good luck!!

Back in October 2007 I made the decision to convert from PC (Windows) over to Mac (OSX).  At the same time I bought my first Apple computer (an iMac) I also bought the first model iPhone.  The terrible experience I had with HP’s “customer support” combined with what I saw the iPhone could do influenced my decision to convert.  Since my conversion I have come to appreciate Apple’s products a lot more.  My preference now has shifted towards Apple, but I prefer not to take part in the “Mac vs PC” or “iOS vs Android” debates.  They all have their merits and come down to personal preference.

Over these last four years I have come to love my iPhone.  Before the iPhone’s release I had phone, iPod for music, and PDA for appointments and (limited) internet – three separate devices that iPhone combined wonderfully into one device.  The iPhone has come a long way since then.  Apple has worked hard improving the hardware with each revision and the addition of Apps has greatly expanded the iPhone’s capabilities.

I decided to hold off on upgrading my iPhone these last four years.  Like I said, each revision has seen improvements to the hardware.  But I opted not to upgrade because my old iPhone was still getting job done for me.  That was until this year when 2 things occurred.  First, I saw what iOS 5 was bringing to the table.  Second, my iPhone began to reach the end of its life cycle.  iOS 5 was big thing for me because my iPhone hasn’t seen an update since iOS 3. My initial plan was to see what the new iPhone had to offer and if it was just some minor updates I would just go with the “last year’s model” – the iPhone 4.  But Apple would have none of that!!  When I saw the features of the iPhone 4S I knew I had to have one.  Main selling points for me was the improved camera and Siri assistant built in.

Of course my other assistant, the adorable Makise Kurisu, isn’t too keen on having competition.   She makes a point to show how displeased she is with this new arrangement.  Little does she know that she and Siri share something in common ~ both of them are tsundere….

The antics I have had with Siri are quite comical.  But that is a topic for another day.

A more detailed review of the device coming soon.  Until then, please enjoy these test photos with the improved camera in the 4S.  My initial impression on the new camera can be said in one word – “impressive”.

Saber is sporting these lovely huke-style eyes.  I really love these eyes, they are mesmerizing and stunning, more so when make them center point of a photo.

Yamato Nadeshiko style hair makes Lily look even more elegant ^o^

Even if fan blows up a few stray hairs >.<

Hard to see it in these photos, but this wig has some lovely layers to it.  One of my favorite wigs in to date.

In retrospect, Lily looks sad in this shot.

Maybe longing for something…or someone??

She is a “Servant” after all.  Maybe she misses her “Master”

Lily: “Welcome home.  I’ve missed you.”

Lily:  “Please….take my hand”

Lily: “[whispers]”

End it with a Black x White of my favorite image.  I love BxW photos.  I also love adding little dash of color to them.  That little accent draws the eye to that point.

OMAKE TIME!!

If you follow me on Google+ and are part of my Dollfie Dream circle then you got a “sneak peek” of this shoot back when I acquired the wig.  But for those that aren’t, here are those preview photos

This wig is long and so beautiful.  Can see the layers I mentioned earlier a bit in this shot.

Was still waiting on the slips and eyes to arrive when I got the wig.  But I wanted to see how the style fared on Saber Lily.  Needless to say she is gorgeous with any style!

The countdown to the Fate / Zero premiere is well underway.  Latest bit of news comes from Aniplex of America stating that Fate / Zero will get worldwide simulcast treatment with eight different language subtitles.  Every episode will stream each week, and will make the episodes available for seven days.  So Fate fans can rejoice because this means Fate fans all over the world will be able to enjoy the series together.

For US fans, the first episode will air at 8:30 AM (PST) / 10:30 AM (CST) / 11:30 AM (EST) starting Saturday, October 1st, 2011!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLQg5S-gRrw

Promos for Lancer, Caster, Assassin, Rider, and Saber in order of release (Saber being first CM release.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6Qu3iQ6gE0

Next the  promo featuring Berserker and his master Matou Kariya.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zr14sIgNhYg

And last but not least Archer (Gilgamesh) x Tohsaka.  Guess the Tohsaka family excels at summoning of Archer class ^^;

Also been looking forward to the release of Aoi Eir’s “Memoria” single but looks like that has been leaked online because full version appeared on YouTube recently.  Memoria is the song chosen as the ending theme for Fate / Zero.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAOZj-HgiSM

Been this new series, announcement of Type-Moon Anniversary x Dollfie Dream project, and news of Fate / Extra CCC game; there has been a lot of Fate related news to talk about.  Bit behind on talking about lot of it due to things happening in life as well, but expect to see a few more Fate related posts soon.