And people kept asking why Megahouse (MH) is my favourite figure manufacturer.

Looks like I made it in time to march in to September with my favourite man~ Believe me I was swooning (and cursing at how long I took to edit) as I was preparing for this post. Ever since MH revealed their first unpainted prototype back in Dec 2014 (Figure 1), I nearly died waiting 4 months for the painted prototype and pre-order date, followed by another 6 months for it to be released, and an additional 2 months thanks to the delay on my buyer's side...

(I'm positive it was after this incident I became numbed to waiting)

Based in Luxembourg, Europe, Tsume Art is known for their stunning, humongous and elaborate 1/8 scale figures... But what's important is they have the Naruto series licence, and they clearly love Itachi as much as I do (me more ofc). Finally, after nearly a year of quietly displaying their 2nd Itachi figure in my shelf (couldn't afford their 1st *sobs*), I gave my face a tight smack and worked up the motivation to do him due justice.

Dead or alive, Itachi's charm remains on full drive.

I can stare at those lashes and Sexyringan all day...

Till now I still find it a bummer that he's 1/10 scaled (the preset scale under Tsume's X-tra line, presumably named so collectors could learn to be thankful they even have this line). What's unfortunate is that this size compromised the bishie characteristic - the ideal 8 heads proportion. So currently he's looking quite squashed (...but I still love the figure [I have to, I paid $130 for this]).

Here's the condensed info on the figure:

Series: Naruto Shippuuden

Manufacturer: Tsume

Product Line: X-tra

Scale: 1/10

Material: PVC

Sculptor: Cyril Farudja (Sculptor), Guillaume Hémery & Mickael Gros (Color producer) 

Release Date: Oct. 2016

Since this is his dead form (ugh the fact that I have to type this...), I figured it appropriate to do a background along this line, drawing inspirations from these images:

A graveyard for the location (not physically doing it there, ofc)  

...With coffins in the backdrop like how it was done in the show

To keep things simple and economical, I've restricted to mainly A3 and A4 craft papers bought at the all mighty Art Friend, and created the necessary props:

I did away with the chunky memorial headstones and opted for the cross, so no chance of it being mistaken as mere blocks of rectangle

Also, since my family is Buddhist, things got quite tense between me and my mother, and she wasn't AT ALL pleased with me replicating so many crosses and coffins... (Actually, I kinda brought this upon myself when I sought her advice on the right colour tone for making graveyards lol. She became wary since then) 

The coffins were much more straightforward as long as you get the measurements right (and don't screw up the cutting process)

Fake shrubs were added to enhance the aged effect (purchasable as a small pack at crafts store)

While these were the only props I did, they took (esp. the crosses) took a few days... I was unsure of the quantities and kept getting distracted by YouTube...

Alas, it was finally done and I've dragged another 3 days just to get it published...:

The full photograph of this post's click bait, also my favourite out of the lot

The feather effect was an experimental touch to spice the photograph up, and I loved how it gave moment and power to Itachi as the commander of the crows

Here I made the feathers less opaque to compare its effects on the photo's mood

... Depending on how one would like to interpret this, I initially wanted him to be depicted as the God of the Undead (hence the title), since he did stopped this reanimation* and all. However, the emptiness  of the landscape and his younger self in the background almost made it melancholic and him yearning to be alive

*Known as edo tensei, it is a forbidden technique casted by a user, who having used a live sacrifice and weaved a specific set of hand signs, could use the live body as a medium to summon the dead. The regenerative nature of the summoned souls makes this twice as deadly

I usually don't show edits that I'm unpleased with or incomplete, but since this is both a gallery and process-showcase post, I've threw in my initial imagination of this shoot. Ideally, I wanted it to be a night setting, but turning day to night (successfully) is harder than expected and I ended up abandoning this after how dull it turned out... I didn't even bother with the floor

Behind the scene...

Testing out the set on my desk, day before the actual shoot

...And speaking of the floor,  this is actually my first foray into incorporating digital background, and boy was it time-consuming! It was also doubly challenging to maintain that consistency across multiple photographs, as I have a penchant to rotate my lens so my subjects are usually at an angle. 

That means more distorting of the trees and floor, both very risky and taxing (at least for someone who rather spends 3 days making manual props than photoshop them in). The above photograph was hurriedly shot when I realised I forgot to shoot the setup. 

This is also probably the most budget setup ever. The white boards kept falling as I'm too lazy to glue them to the black boards @.@

Anyway, once again thanks for staying till the end, for letting me share something I love with you.

xoxo

P.S.: The next shoot will take place in Japan, can't wait to see how which treasure spots I can find!

It has been 8 years (I was 14 then!) since I attended Cosfest, which is supposed to be the cosplay event of Singapore, having reached its 16th round this year. As always, it was held at D'Marquee at Downtown East, Pasir Ris, right at the end of S'pore. The location wasn't exactly inspiring me to travel on a blazing and crowd infested weekend - we went on Sunday, the second and last day of the event. However, finally overcoming my laziness the distance excuse, Hao (The Walking Anime Encyclopaedia & my great bud) and I headed down in the noon with hopping enthu and cash to burn.
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More like eyes burnt.

This is by far the most disappointing anime event.

The promised booths on Cofest's Facebook page were mostly amateur artists, whose merch were at best mediocre, and mainly repeats of the "fan favourites" - Touken Ranbu, Love Live, RE:Zero, Yuri on Ice (seriously, there were TONS), and Kuroko no Basket, to name a few.

No Itachi goods, of course not.

The highlight of the event, the cosplayer's performance, was surprisingly entertaining. It was mainly group performances, where well-coordinated (well, costume wise) cosplayers danced and lip-synced to idol tunes, while the rest of us mortals drowned in the deafening beats and awkward head noddings.

Not wanting to paint an overly rosy portrait, most were pretty cringy to watch in a way where I couldn't tear my eyes away. I felt that the cheering fanboys gathered (whom I suspect were hired for effect) swinging their LED lights had even more energy than the dancers. Edit: A fellow attendee of Cosfest contacted me & kindly introduced me to the art of wotagei (ヲタ芸), a form of dancing while swinging LED lights in flashy & coordinated moves. Besides burning lots of calories to perform the moves, it is the otaku's way of expressing their love & support for their favourite idol groups, who have worked doubly hard to deliver their songs & dance routines.  Quite a touching scene actually.

While a far number of teams kept sending shudders down our shoulders, there were a few groups who managed to induce my appreciation and genuine applause, and you could really tell they practiced (very important).

Some of these dancers were also acquainted with Hao, whom he immediately denied acquaintanceship, shitsurei da na!

As usual, amidst the nasty situation there were still a handful of saving graces, in the form of well done cosplayers. I tried my best to hunt them down to share it with you guys here. Unfortunately, I couldn't get full coverage - I didn't want to bore Hao - and had to be selective with the shots.

I have to say, there's a remarkable difference between approaching with a camera to an iPhone. Oh the confidence and pride I had, to be acknowledged as a Photographer, where even the DSLRs alpha tropes have to way make for me-sama.

I also edited the photos according to the cosplayers' characters, so instead of a one size fits all "filter," I twerked with the contrast and ambiance colours. So enjoy!

The Artist's Alley at a glance

Photo taking session at the end of the idol's cosplayer's performance

A pretty Snow Miku 2017, at 1/1 scale

Kenshin spotted sword shopping...

...And I had to ask for a photo

Apparently Kenshin and Edward are acquaintance

(they were talking and walking together before I rudely interrupted their Brotherhood moment

Killer Bee, a first for me! And a not too bad one at that

My beloved Hijikata from Drifters! Need I say more? <333

So thankful for the walking extras at the back that added to the motion effect

The iconic Graffiti Wall, that I once again failed to leave my mark on (forgot to bring marker, zzz)

Noctis, what happened? Edit: He seems to be in a good mood, surely more hearts would be captured if he smiles like that in game

Urgh, Hao told me they're from some game, and it slipped my mind...

She's the sweetest cosplayer, hands down. A photographer was making things difficult by making countless demands for her to pose in a specific way, but instead of getting annoyed, she meekly obeyed and tried her best to accommodate to his request. After a few agonising minutes he was finally done and she posed for me. Actually, he still wasn't satisfied with his shots and was taking his own sweet time, so I just stepped in and had my way.

As for me? Any pose's fine, she pose for me I happy liao, steal laugh liao

Also, pls be auto a bit la, don't push your luck, it's not like she was getting paid...

Pardon the poor res, I took this without much prep and the lighting's all over

Of course, the quintessential Sailor moon ladies, Uranus and Neptune, both expressions and costumes pretty on point

Ikoma from Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, looking too adorable ><

And I had the perfect greenish ambiance colour to suit his disturbing greenish skin

Mikleo, from Tales of Zestiria The X, so glad to see him for the first time!

...And Rose, of course~ I think they're friends or something

 She has very defined chin, love it

Cardcaptor Sakura was hotcakes, had to queue quite a while to snap her.

Thankfully for my camera, I am finally deserving of these looking-into-MY-lens shots.

Also, there was a Malay wedding going on concurrently next to the event, so it must be quite an eyebrow-raising experience for the visiting guests, bride and groom, and their distinguished in-laws

I usually dislike female cross-dressers, but she did it for me

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Unfortunately, it would be a looong time before I feel like attending Cosfest again. Nevertheless, I'm grateful for these cosplayers' hard work and the great bonding time with my amazing friend Hao. He had to camp by the side while I wonder around mining for photographs, shopping for otome trash, and searching for the next manga to read...

Thank you so much, you're da best T.T

xoxo

Any Hakuouki fans?

Hajime is my bae. At one point in history he even usurped Itachi as my no. 1 (shameful I know. I could not apologise enough for my infidelity...). I knew him as a reserved and self-contained man when I first watched the anime prequel, Hakuouki Reimeiroku (to prep myself for the emotional ride game), and even then his quietness, his presence stood out amongst the bishies Shinsengumi (or Rôshigumi, the name they called themselves before the miulitary officially recognised them as a police force). Based on pictures alone, I was pinning for Harada Sanosuke, but Saito Hajime-san was magnet to my eyes. He needed to do nothing to become my bias.