Namie-kun's 2012 phantasmagoria Touhou Project Fanbook vol. 2 review

Ehehe, I'm late to the boat. I think I received this in February. Unfortunately, since I did not check my dA as often as I used to, I missed out on my postal batch. No matter, it just came a few days later from Namie in WA.

She did a doodle on my envelope! T^T 

I was so happy when I received this. I pre-ordered it in November and received it in February. The book had a limited 250 print run (from what I remember, and if you can call it that). The book was $27 + $6 for registered shipping within Australia.

I met Namie last year when she came to Smash. I cosplayed at Blue Reimu whilst she also cosplayed Reimu~ I was was pleasantly surprised she remembered me:D

It's Namie! Look at the height difference:/

Pre-order goodies. I was order #62. The year before I was #4 haha.

She gave me a Reisen doodle:DD

Inside of the book

The book contains full page illustrations as well as WIPs (as shown above), guest art, competition winners, and her trademark humour throughout. I loved the last few pages that introduced the illustrators and contributors. Full of lulz.

Cover of the book

Back of the book

To be honest, I wasn't as impressed by the quality of the guest art this time around. Sure, I liked the artists that were featured, but they just didn't seem as /epic/ as the last book and it wasn't up to the standard as the rest of Namie's book. As much as I enjoyed the idea of the contest in the book, I'd rather see more illustrations from Namie herself (I'm being selfish now aren't I?).

After I got this book, I pulled out her first one and compared the styles. Namie has developed a lot in the last year. When I first watched her in early 2007/ 2008 I thought she had a very unique style and I'm glad to see she has put a lot of time and effort into developing something that is uniquely hers. Unlike a lot of "well-known" dA/ pixiv artists, I can't really see who she's channelling a lot of the time (e.g., Minami --> Pixel Phantom, PeaCh --> Noizi Ito, KD --> Ryohka). Shinkai Makoto in her backgrounds?

Her imagination is really inspiring and it makes me want to pick up my tablet and draw every time I see her rainbow illustrations.

5/5 A +++ to you Namie:)

TL;DR: All in all, another beautiful book from Namie. I remember she said her computer crashed and deleted a few pictures so she had to re-draw them. It was well worth the price. I hope she keeps her passion for drawing for a long time, and continues to strive for improvement.

Many many gifts from friends!

I had a whole heap of friends go overseas for the Christmas/ New Years/ Summer holidays. And this is the type of stuff they ended up getting me (I have really good friends okay ;u;).

I received these items from the end of January to mid-March. Some of these photos were taken from my phone so the quality is not too spectacular.

1.) First up, souvenirs from Cathy who went to Korea and Hong Kong (she's never been to HK before, and she said it was super exciting!)~

Etude House Fresh Cherry Tint in Red and bear in a hanbok phone swing

I've tried an entire one packet of the sample. I loved it so much I tried to get my friend to buy it for me in Hong Kong, but she said it's sold out. I was going to buy it from ebay, but I ended up getting a Tony Moly tint instead (more about that later).

The phone swing was genius! It had a little stopper to put in your phone jack. Unfortunately, my phone jack is on the bottom of my phone and it hindered my ability to use my phone. So I put it on my 3DS. After a week, it started to get really dirty so I have since placed it on my desk.

Thanks Cathy! I love phone swings and I'm starting to go crazy over Korean cosmetics. Uh oh.

2.) Alvo, who went to Japan and Hong Kong~

He got me a Vocaloid calender and clear file pack!

Clear file and calender set (E)

He knows I love Vocaloid/ Touhou merchandise... and it's so practical! I love it:D I was only too happy to replace my calender full of pictures of trucks with pictures of Vocaloid drawn by popular pixiv artists^^b

Back of the packet. Click to enlarge the photo!

 So the clear file and calender pack comes in three different variations. He got me Type-2. So many artists I like who contributed to these three sets^^

Here is a closer look at the set I got.

Clear file number 1 by KEI (obviously hehe)

Clear file number 2 by woka

Clear file number 3 by Taiyo Yamaoto
(Looks like the Miku Append module from Project Diva F:)

The cover of the calender! Illustration by スオウ

Inside the calender. There is one illustration to every two months. July and August is by iXima.

Back of the calender! Looks like the silhouette and flipped version of the cover illustration by スオウ.

 Thank you very much for your thoughtful gift Alvo!

Bonus: Alvo's brother got a few Marisa figures (so prettyyyy). Marisa's hat was too heavy and it kept on falling off her head. He got a special edition grey version of Marisa and a chibi Marisa figure.

Look at Marisa and her mushroom lol

3.) Kelvin, who went to Japan, Thailand, and Hong Kong~

Elephant keychain from Thailand and one おみくじ (fortune)

EXTREMELY GOOD LUCK! CHYEAHHHHH!

I put my peach charm in my Marc Jacobs wallet^^bb

Thanks for promising me fantastic luck for the year 2013 Kelvin! We laughed so much when I opened my fortune and got good luck because he only got normal luck. I put the elephant key chain on my desk (I have a sizeable keychain/ phone swing collection there).

4.) Edwin, who went to Japan~

He doesn't know Touhou too well so he got me all Marisa related items... I guess he only recognised her?

Two art books from previous Comikets and one doujin.

Marisa x Alice clear file. Shanghaiiiiiiiii. Hi.

HE GOT ME KRACIE POPIN COOKIN THINGS! I've since made them both and have eaten them. Guess I'll make a separate post for them in the near future. I actually wanted to try the sushi one the most, but he obviously would not have known:p

Popin' Cookin' in Keekiyasan (Cake shop) and Nerikyanrando (not sure what this translates to. Candy land?)

Thank you Edwin! I love love love Touhou and being able to add to my collection makes me happy. I didn't even know you knew I liked Touhou. And I had a lot of fun with the Kracie kits^___^

5.) Not really a gift from a friend, but a late birthday gift from my mum. Namie-kun's second Touhou artbook! I'll put a separate review in soon: pardon my messy desk-___-

Namie's artbook. She doodled on my package^^ It came with the unique pre-order card, a comic, and her signature on the inside!

My mum also purchased me some circle lens... because she knows I love them for cosplay and general vanity:/ I may write a post on this one too...

Geo Princess Mimi in Sesame Grey. Because I love Tsubasa-san.

Thank you mum! I can only show my affection for you by doing more chores around the house^^;;

6.) Gabriel (my twin brothaaa) went to Singapore:

Rin and Len Append wall scroll!

This was a massive surprise because he said he just wanted to get Cha Time with me, and he handed me this present! His girlfriend is uber lucky to have a guy like him. He's also uber lucky to have her because she such a kind older sister to me:) They are close to the definition of a perfect couple.

Thank you Nii-chan. You are the best! I still need to find space on my wall to hang it up. Look at the size of the scroll. I put a pen next to it so you can get a general idea of the size: VERY BIG.

7.) Christinaaaa (my very, very, good friend) who went to China, Hong Kong, and Korea:

I actually gave her a small list of cosmetics for her to purchase for me. She's still getting the rest of her stuff shipped to her so I've only received a small amount of it. I asked her to buy me:

Skin79 Hot Pink BB Cream
Etude House Wonder Pore Freshner
Etude House Happy Tea Time Cleanser in Aloe Tea
Etude House Tear Drop Liner in no. 1
Dolly Wink lashes in no.1
Dolly Wink eyeshadow palette in no. 1
Any circle lens

I went out for froyo with her on a Thursday. I missed her so much because she was away for three months. Moreover, I didn't get to see her much last year so my heart hurt:(

We went to dinner at Ippudo, a new ramen restaurant that opened up in the high class Westfield. When we finally got seated, a waiter came up to me and squashed right up to me on my seat. This really scared the both of us... except it turned out the waiter was my friend Jez. I hadn't seen him in ages so it was a fantastic surprise. We had a lot of fun.

Anyways, onto the photos. We both love Rilakkuma so she got me some Rilkkuma stuff! So cute >_< And she got me a diary because she knows I'm a bit of an organisation freak haha.

Skin79 Hot Pink BB cream, Etude House Wonder Pore, Rilakkuma headphone holder, Rilakkuma phone case,  and 2013 schedule

I popped the BB cream into my bag last week when I was doing my makeup on the train and the silver "BB" and a bit of the "Skin79" on the bottom rubbed off. So sad because I loved the packaging and this was a new bottle T^T I'm never going travelling with it ever again.

I used the two Rilakkuma items for around two weeks but they both started getting dirty in my bag (which I don't like). So they are now both on my desk. Yes, along with my other stuff.

Christina also got me circle lens! I was really sad about my Barbie Eye ones expiring because they were so pretty. She got me some black Neo ones. I've never tried black lens or Neo before, so I'm looking forward to trying them out.

Neo Dali Black

Thank you for helping me complete my shopping list Christina. Also thank you for the extra surprises. You know me too well and you really do spoil me too much. Why didn't you let me buy you those Lovisa earrings? I really wanted to buy you something nice that you wanted too:(

Anyway, I hope that we can spend more time together this year because I enjoy your company a lot. Yay for being friends!

8.) Last but not least, Tom, who went to Japan:

He got me RA/ White Datura's 'Through the Looking Glass' artbook! I love RA so I'm really glad he got me something to add to my artbook collection from Comiket83.

Funny story-- Tom accidentally purchased RA's H work (which I didn't want lol). He gave that to Jack >_> But because he paid an extra thousand yen for two artbooks, he was able to get a bag, a poster, and a clear file.

Bag and the clear file

Other side of the bag and the clear file

I actually really, really wanted Rella's artbook that she sold at Summer Comi, but that's no longer available. I was super happy that her illustration of Miku from 'The Beast' was on one side of the bag. Hurray for Tom and Rella!

The poster from the artbook

RA... you made the same spelling mistake on everything to do with your artbook >.<
Form --> From

Through the Looking Glass. Extremely beautiful.

I might do a separate post on this book too... anyways, thank you for this Tom. Your n00b purchasing mistake was my gain bwahahaha.

9.) Chris got me Ace (alpaca in the pirate hat and the pink vest on the right) from the Capitol. Luck was on his side when he won this. Thanks lang jei =3=

Alpacas! I think I should stop with this collection right now. Otherwise it might explode into my Tofu obsession.

I think that's it for now. I may have forgotten someone so I'll add them in when I remember.

Not sure what I did in my previous life to deserve such beautiful friends. Thank you guys ~ <3

Kwasabiyori00d / caidychen / KD's signature + some prints.

...

...

He signed my Alice the First for me ;u;  

Mama-chan is the best for taking my book to Manifest (she's so cool, so talented at drawing... beasts, backgrounds, anime style, realistic, and creative in general. Traditional and digital. Of course she dresses well, in an artsy sort of way:D)

She even got me a print from Cherriuki (for free) of Cardcaptor Sakura. As a surprise she got it signed *cries buckets of tear* 

It didn't really survive the plane trip from Melbourne back to Sydney in pristine condition and it kept on rolling up... so I had to put my Touhou book on top of it^ ^

DRRR! print by Mama-chan. Hrngggg Kida-kun. You can't see Izaya's face here very well, but let's just say his face looks... really... handsome. Anri is also covered:( 

Back to assignments. I've been raging since yesterday since my ipod decided to explode dead pixels all over the place for no reason. Reading forums, I've found that most people who had this problem were owners of the 5th generation ipod classic (my model). I left it aside for the rest of the day, and when I woke up this morning, the lines got longer.

Sucks because I just transfered10GB of anime there so I could watch it on the train. I've only had my ipod for two years... is this a conspiracy? Music still works fine, but I can't watch videos now:( 

Animania 2011 (day 1) + SMASHHHH

It was great day catching up with cosplay friends and forgetting about assignments/ tests!! I did Shana cos again:) I only bought a Saturday pass, but the person at the door who exchanged tags for tickets misunderstood and ended up giving me a weekend pass (worth twice the price I paid). I would have gone again on Sunday if I wasn't buried underneath piles of assignments:(

And as usual, encountered lots of nice people, but also some extremely conceited cosplayers and photographers. I really think next time when people gather around to take photos, I should whip out my camera and take a photo of the camekos... seriously, having 30 mobbing you every step you take is a little... overwhelming at times. I don't really know how some people cope.

Four years of cosplay later... my eye has stopped twitching from the flashes and my face doesn't hurt anymore when I smile so much in a day^^

 FUUUUUU I hate you for always making your FF weapons taller than me:/ Losing by 3cm OTL. My Nietono no Shana is better than yours *poke poke*


Thank you to the guys at Alice Overture for giving me a very,very special price on the Touhou Anomalous Divination set and some free prints (yay for friends and connections).
This was my mini stash for the day, it cost me 30 bucks =w=

I believe that there are still a few copies left~ tbh, I think the hard cover book + bag + tarot set is extremely overpriced for $50, but I understand that getting them printed and shipped over to Australia cost them a lot, and they need to make a profit.

These were my artbooks from Smash ($70 zomg I feel bad about spending that much on three tiny books, but what can you do ;_____;). Ask for a discount?? Will review them in a few months hahaha.Well, one of them is from Singapore and the other is from Malaysia, and I got it cheaper here than what they were selling it for over there at their conventions.

I did two cosplays~ Ciel and Imitation Black Len. My Ciel looked derpy coz of my crappy eyepatch (and I hate the way I put the zipper on my pants:/). It was too hottttt and I changed after two or three hours to a more airy cosplay.

Still incomplete cosplay-- need to change my makeup and maybe get some black lipstick, sew on some shoulder sleeve things, get a garter and do the trims on the corset and cut my wig more -_____-;;

So much for procrastination. Back to assignments...

Alice the First// Alice Overture 2010-2011 Collection

I finally got this artbook!!

This book is pretty big, so I couldn't fit the whole thing in my webcam picture. I think it's around 40pages. The pictures are beautiful~ but once again, every single picture is on the internet, and there's nothing new in it at all. The book is mostly dominated by President-Violent (暴力社长), rosen (rosene) and neon (雪桜桜). I'm a little disappointed that KD only has one featured picture even though they listed him as one of the 'artists' of the book.

The book is nicely laid out with four movements: Original, Vocaloid, Touhou and Misc. I've noticed that when you flip through the pages, it actually goes 'Movement 1: Original, Movement 3: Touhou, Movement 2: Vocaloids, Movement 4: Misc' and noticed a few typos:O Actually I've noticed a few typos in a few other doujin I have...
Though the pages feel nice, the quality isn't that great. You can see all the scratches on the black pages and on the cover. It kills me that the middle isn't stapled properly and that some of the pictures aren't absurdres and pixelated.

Oh yes, the most exciting part is that it's signed!

This is the picture my friend put on facebook a few hours before he gave me the book... at least you can see the full cover T^T I heard it retailed for $20, and even though I got it for free, I think it is worth the purchase *adds to collection*

 

Oh yeah, finished this little bit off today~~

Namie-kun's Tohou artbook arrived!!

It actually arrived on Monday (the 7th~ it is now the 12th) at my front door. I was so happy and full of squee. She packaged it nicely with the extra goodies inside the book. I was wondering how the prints would come-- but the book was bigger in dimensions than I expected it to be.

Time for some shoddy webcam pictures which I took to show Steel of http://thoughteclipse.blog.com/

The extras I got with it! Bunbunmaru (amusing read... Cirno Shimeji!!1), Vocaloid 'MUSIC' print and a special chibi print.

 I asked her to sign it for me! And she did! Says 'Thankyou for for Preorder' lol~ she even drew a Reimu <3

The prints are on a thin, shiny photo-paper like texture. It's very good quality, but I'm so scared of wreaking them if I put it on my wall. I'm usually less weary with just... paper prints:D

NOW the book itself is amazing. There truely is over 40 pieces that have not touched the internet, and there are probably around 60 or so in the book. The first half or so of the book has a more background/ concept art/ sketchy feel (which I love). Kinda like the stuff she posts on her blog here. She manages to fit around four pictures on a single sided page.

It then diverges onto the stuff she posts on dA, and things that look more 'polished'. Then finally, guest art.

I have nothing bad to say about this. I love it. Heck you'd probably like it even if you aren't into Touhou. And if she released anything else I would buy it (even though this book cost me a month's worth of pocket monniez).

WIP:

And then last Sunday my dad's friend's wife and daughter came to Australia for a short holiday before the daughter stays behind here to study (lol, does this sentence even make sense?). She got me some Bourjois mascara and eyeliner. Sad because I just opened my fiberwig... and sad again because I don't use pencil eyeliner.

... sad for a third time because even someone I've met three times knows that I need to cover up my face to go outside:/ Nahh, but it's okay, I wear significantly less eyeliner nowadays than when I was 13 partly because I wanted to look like Billie Joe.

Namie-kun's Touhou artbook update II

(small review on the artbook here --> http://cheriepy.blogspot.com/2011/02/namie-kuns-tohou-artbook-arrived.html)

OMG;klajdf;kajdf I was the first winner for a print (order number 4)! SO HAPPY ;u; I chose the Vocaloid one. Hopefully I'll get that too~ I asked Namie-kun to sign the book for me. Since I was one of the first fifteen to order, I also recieve a never before seen print *waku waku* , a pre- order discount and a secret gift (something to do with Ayayaayayaa).

I also just saw 'The Green Hornet' today with my friends in the city. Hey, it was actually good. I still don't know who Jay Chau is, but he looks cool doing martial arts:D

Old WIP:

When I was colouring this, I thought it looked like Byakuren. Everything looks like Touhou to me.

I was playing around with my Rin/ Len shimeji, and look what they did? Dawww, so adora-bubble I want to huggle them.

I did this last year to remind myself of the SAI tools. There's not that many, and yet I still haven't actually figured how to utilze everything 100%. For instance, pen and inkpen look the same to me, but apparently inkpen is 40% sharper. I like the pen tool more.