Dreams Do Come True (If You Make Them)

Once again, I have gone more than a year without blogging. Are blogs even a thing anymore in this day and age of social media? Regardless, in my absence, I managed to make one of my dreams come true.

2019 Update (A Masters Degree, Health Crisis and an Itasha)

Holy hell does time fly. While I doubt anyone is reading this now, since I’ve pretty much moved completely over to Facebook, I’ve been thinking of reviving my blog and using it to post some of my longer and more insightful (says me) posts. But today, I just want to talk about life, what I’ve been up to and what I plan to do going forward.

I Need to Start Blogging Again

Oooh dear… It’s been awhile, huh? I said that I was going to put more long-form posts here, but in the end, I have been too busy/lazy (the paradox!) and have been using Facebook for everything… (>.<)

I don’t know about you guys, but while this blog has been extremely imperative in helping me meet many wonderful people and exchanging ideas, it really hasn’t been offering the instant gratification and viewership that Facebook has. Not to mention, the UI is far more clunky and there are so many extra considerations including categories and tags that you just don’t have to deal with on Facebook… Of course, there are far more formatting options available and that’s something that cannot be ignored. (^.^;)

Still, I do want to start putting up stuff here again because I do want the freedom to format my posts and to insert pictures in them. Not to mention, I also want to give them some sort of permanence and ease of reference that Facebook really doesn’t allow for.  So, speaking of Facebook, first up on my agenda is to migrate some of my posts over from Facebook.

Hopefully, I’ll be turning some of these into commentary videos as well… (^.^;)

I am Now on Facebook (and MyAnimeList)

Yes. After years of trying to steer clear of social media, I’m actually going to give it a shot. (^.^;)

Currently, I’m still experimenting with the type of content I’ll post there and I’m also thinking about how to differentiate it from my blog. Essentially, what I’ll be posting there are updates, random musings, show reviews, opinions and even small loot posts. Stuff that I feel are important, but not important enough for a long blog post.

My blog will still be for longer, more well thought out opinion pieces, articles and loot posts – the kind that anyone can come back to and won’t be lost in a sea of updates. However, I’ll be sure to link all new blog posts from my Facebook account as well.

Please don’t hesitate to drop by and say hi and don’t be afraid to send a friend request!

http://www.facebook.com/actar.raikit

You can also follow me on MyAnimeList! I’ve been a member for a very long time and I update it very, very, religiously. My favorite anime, my favorite characters, what I’m watching, what I watched, it’s all there!

http://myanimelist.net/profile/Actar

Updates Since… The Last One.

Alright. It’s time to stop making excuses, blow the dust off this blog and get thing’s back up and running!

WARNING: This post has not gone through any editing or proofreading.

It’s Been Awhile…

since I’ve updated this blog and I do apologize to the people who are kind enough to constantly come and read what I have write. Of course, I won’t make excuses, though “the new school semester has started and it’s exceedingly hectic” is a pretty good one. Not to mention, I really do need to work on my time management… With the Fall Season approaching, I do also need to finish up the shows that I’m currently following and those that I’ve not been following so faithfully.

If you want to know which shows I’m following, they are: Nichijou, Steins;Gate, Usagi Drop, YuruYuri and Kaiji. Shows that I’ve fallen behind on but want to finish are Hanasaku Iroha, Tiger & Bunny, Kamisama Dolls, Kamisama no Memo-chou, Dantalian no Shoka, Mayo Chiki!, IdolM@ster and No. 6. All this while juggling homework, projects and tests. Quite a severe undertaking if I do say so myself. I’m also watching Bokurano, which I’ve been enjoying thoroughly. Great mecha Anime that is more of a human drama than anything else. Really Madoka-esque as well, what with children dying for the higher order of things. Come to think of it, both of them even has a cutesy pink and white animal mascot thing that has ulterior motives as well… Hm…

With regard to new purchases, as you shall see (or already have seen) in the next post, I haven’t had any loot posts in awhile as I just have not been buying anything. Instead of getting the usual releases of the latest figures, I have decided to complete my Kamen Rider 555 Rider Gear collection. And now that it is complete, I can finally get back to spending any extra cash on the usual figmas and whatnot.

Finally, I’m working on getting a proper Actar’s Reviews site off the ground, so do look forward to that as well.

Of Updates and AFAX

Well, it’s that time of the year again. Yup, AFAX or Anime Festival Asia X (my local Anime and Japanese pop culture convention) is right round the corner. It’s held on the 13th and 14th of November at the Suntec City Convention and Exhibition Halls, and as always, I’ll be attending.

An Actual Update? …Along with Thoughts on AFA

Er… Hi. As many of you would have probably noticed, recently, there hasn’t been much going on here aside from updates pertaining to new Actar’s Review episodes and Loot posts… Even my reviews have been becoming more and more irregular.

Do I have a good excuse? Not really, aside from the fact that my real life has been pretty busy now… Cliche, I know, but it’s the truth. My mid-terms just ended about a weeks ago and I have finals (Next month… ARGH!!!) and project deadlines fast approaching. Considering the fact that it’s my first semester of University, I’m still trying to get used to the system.

I know that many of you enjoyed the numerous articles that I’ve written in the past, dealing with relatively controversial issues in Anime fandom. Don’t worry, it’s not like I have no material left or have lost interest in writing, it’s just that it does take a considerable amount of time (gathering info, structuring my arguments, writing legibly, etc…) to complete one and I don’t have the luxury. Any free time that I do have is devoted to earning money for figures, creating figure reviews, catching up on a crazy backlog of Anime and sleeping. Though, rest assured that I do have about 5 to 10 articles that I’m currently working on, bit by bit, and should be putting them up one by one.

Aside from that, I do have some things that I want to talk about.

My Birthday, New TV Set and Future Plans

Yui and Mio throwing a special concert, just for me., complete with fog machines~

As they say, another year older, another year wiser. Unfortunately, I cannot attest to this adage at all, because if I were wiser, I’d stop spending money on plastic crack. (^.^;)

This birthday, I finally replaced my old TV, which I have been using for about 5 years, with a brand new HD enabled one. But, the thing is, I will not be able to utilize the TV to its full potential as I have yet to purchase a Blu-Ray player… Mm… Gotta set my priorities straight.

While my actual Birthday was at the end of June, I waited this long before posting a ‘Birthday post’ as I wanted to wait till I had the TV up and running. This way, I could present to you my brand new TV set up in all it’s glory!

Click to view larger image. (^.^)

So, what do you think? How many figures/pieces of merchandise can you identify? (^.^) Do note that the watermark is covering up a couple of 1/60 Yamato VF-1s and a set of Evangelion themed UCC Coffee cans. Also wanted to perch my Revoltech MP Eva on the top of the TV like my previous one, but the TV was way too slim to accommodate the figure.

Regrettably, I don’t have a picture showing off my Birthday loot, so you’ll just have to trust me on this one. (^.^;)

– Megahouse Ranka Lee
– Dengeki G’s Festival w/ Kanade Dakimakura and Yuri Nendo Pucchi
– Getsumen to Heiki Mina Limited PS2 Box (did a review on this one already)
– 1/1 scale Kusagao Midori HandPuppet Special Ver. (Something that I’ve always wanted)
– Evangelion Film Clipping featuring this scene:

One of my favorite scenes from the movie, if I might add.

– Kamen Rider W Double Driver
– Kamen Rider W Metal Shaft
– Kamen Rider W Trigger Magnum
– Kamen Rider W Skull Magnum
– Kamen Rider W Stag Phone
– Kamen Rider W S.H.Figuarts Cyclone Set (seen in an earlier post)
– Kamen Rider W WFC Figures 01,02 and 03

A ton more loot coming later this month and the next… (a possible adoption perhaps!!!) Went way too overbored with the proxy again… Right now, I’m so short on cash that I had to cancel a multitude of orders, including Figma Saber Alter and Yamato’s YF-19… (TT.TT)

New Banner!

Original Banner

Got tired of the old banner that was really cobbled together without any thought, and was supposed to be temporary until I could work something out.