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Megami Magazine Vol. 141

Nopy — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:22:04 +0000

Volume 141 (February 2012) of Megami Magazine once again features Nanoha and Fate from Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha. The cast of Nanoha has been absent from the last few volumes, but with the second movie coming out this summer, we’ll probably be seeing a lot more of them soon. This volume contains a few goodies, but first lets take a look at the pin-up posters. Ones with more racy images are hidden in the links, so click at your own discretion.

The first poster in this volume features Laura and Cecilia in some miko outfits. It seems more fitting for a fall issue, but I like miko outfits so I’m not complaining.

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This was an odd poster, it looks like Sena, Kobato, and Yozora somehow managed to get tangled up in a ton of ribbon. If you’re going to have fanservice, might as well use the 3 most popular girls from Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai.

I swear that there’s at least a half dozen other posters from previous volumes showing Yui hugging Azusa in a similar fashion. I know that small hands is part of the K-ON animation style, but I still find it really awkward looking.

Megami has been featuring a lot of “happy” Fate/Zero posters, with this one showing Irisviel enjoying herself in a kimono at a shrine. I’m starting to wonder if they’ll ever have a dark poster for this series.

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I was impressed with the composition in this poster, even if it is really fanservice-oriented.

I’m happy to see Nadeko and Tsukihi in the same poster, but I’m disappointed in the line art here. It looks like Tsukihi’s knee has a tumour.

Yuru Yuri may not have been very entertaining (at least for me), but at least it still looks cute.

Despite Symphogear’s animation quality issues, at least their posters look really nice. This one would’ve been on my wall instantly if there was a larger version; it kinda reminds me of Panty and Stocking without the panties.

Idolmaster posters always seem to look good for some reason, I think it’s because most of them are done like a photoshoot or on stage.

Remon is the final character in the Ano Natsu de Matteru lineup of posters, which combine to make the following image:

I think Kanna has the best pose, followed by Ichika, then the girl whose name I can’t remember, and finally Remon. Remon’s smile is actually a bit creepy looking here.

I don’t know what’s wrong with this girl, but it doesn’t look like she can close her mouth properly.

I’m loving this Zero no Tsukaima poster, it’s flashy without being dirty.

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The Girl’s Avenue featured artist in this volume is Alpha (有葉) and you can find more of his works on his website http://alpha00buds.blog73.fc2.com/ (NSFW). I couldn’t find much information on Alpha other than he works for the eroge company Akabei Soft2. Most of his artwork seems rather generic, but I am very impressed with the image used for this poster. While it’s rather revealing, I like how everything is in the right proportions and the shading is simply amazing. The glow that the character gives off is also something you don’t see often.

This Shana poster seems like a tribute to the famous Toradora china dress poster from volume 109.

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I don’t think there’s any doubt in anyone’s mind what draws people to watch Highschool DxD, and this poster seems to reflect that.

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It’s weird seeing Holmes in Arsene’s outfit, she’s way too loli-looking to pull off that look.

The previous volume of Megami didn’t come with a calendar like I expected it too, but luckily, this one did. Unfortunately, it involves cutting it out of the magazine and I’m not sure how it’s supposed to go together since the instructions are in Japanese.

I think I’ll probably just leave these in here and wait for my Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai school calendar to arrive.

And yes, if you didn’t already notice, all of the images for each month are bikini shots.

Something that caught my eye in this magazine was the K-ON jacket on the top left of this page. It looks really shiny and strangely cool even though there are a ton of moe faces on it.

The Anime Character Catch Up section covered some new and to-be-aired anime. One title that caught my eye was the To Heart Dungeon Travellers anime. To Heart is widely known in the anime community as a major harem anime, so it’s amusing to see them put all the girls into RPG roles.

Another title I would like to point out is Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate. It’s based on a visual novel which I haven’t played, but I love their school uniforms so I’m looking forward to seeing the anime.

The back cover has a beautiful illustration of Airi from Mashiroiro Symphony with some pink snowflakes. I would’ve liked to have a poster of this image, but sometimes things just don’t go the way you want.

One of the extras in this volume is a sort of mini Nanoha guidebook.

Inside was some information on the characters in the anime series and games.

There was also a short section on some Nanoha merchandise. Strangely enough, they have some Dog Days merchandise in here too.

The back cover isn’t as exciting as the front, but it’s still nice.

Also included was a pencil board substituted for a large poster. On one side we have Nanoha and Fate in their school uniforms.

On the other side we have Hayate’s friends from Nanoha A’s. Personally, I would’ve liked a poster, but these pencil boards are actually quite nice. The only problem is that they get scratched up really easily and I can’t find a good use for them other than for looking at.

Several posters stood out for me in this volume: the Symphogear, Idolmaster, Zero no Tsukaima, and Alpha’s posters were really well done and I wish I had larger versions of them. The lewdness in this volume is about as mild as Megami gets, having nothing that’s too in-your-face. Replacing a large poster with a calendar, mini book, and pencil board was nice, and I’m sure Nanoha fans would appreciate this volume a lot more than others. The only downside is that the calendar didn’t come separately as in previous years, otherwise this was another good volume from Megami.

–>Subscribe to Megami Magazine

Megami Magazine Vol. 140

Nopy — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 05:21:11 +0000

Now that the new year is here, it’s time to present the January 2012 issue of Megami Magazine, or volume 140. There are a few winter and Christmas-themed posters in this one as you can probably guess from the snowflakes on the front cover, though not as many as you would think. As usual, text links to images are ecchi and/or NSFW, so click at your own discretion.

Here we have all of the puella magi alive and well at a skating rink. I love Mami’s prominence in this illustration, but it’s strange that Kyouko and Homura were barely given a second thought.

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Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon gets the ecchi started early on in this issue…

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Compared to Horizon, IS is actually rather tame, usually only going as far as some beach poses. I’m actually surprised that Charlotte isn’t in this one.

We didn’t get to see much of the Araragi sisters in Bakemonogatari, but they seem to have the leading roles in Nisemonogatari. I thought they were just playing around in this illustration, but if you look closely, you’ll notice that their brother is getting crushed under there.

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Trying to piece together that C3 is about based on these Megami posters is not working. So far it seems like Fear is a regular cosplayer, sporting a Santa outfit this time.

K-ON continues to promote their upcoming movie with UK-related posters in Megami Magazine. Azusa’s shirt has Japan and the UK highlighted in red, and I thought the chibi characters on the plane were adorable.

Ika Musume always goes for the cute look in her posters. Does anyone else wonder if the cats are thinking about eating her after they’re done with the shrimp? She is a squid after all.

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I love artwork from Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, but I thought this poster was a bit plain.

I’m not a big Idolmaster fan, but I loved this poster, the outfits, the poses, the photoshoot-like backdrop; it’s all nicely composed.

I thought this illustration was done in good taste. Although a bit of the “wet tshirt” fanservice does show through, it’s not to the point where I would consider it ecchi. Is anyone else also impressed with how well-drawn Sana’s hair is?

Once again, we get another Ano Natsu poster, and as I suspected, they all combine to form one image.

It looks like there will be at least one more poster in the next volume of Megami Magazine in order to give that soda-holding hand a body.

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I’ve been hearing a lot of people saying that they don’t like the character designs in Last Exile ~Fam, The Silver Wing~, but it’s not that bad. Unfortunately, this poster doesn’t showcase the animation quality, with Millia’s legs seemingly shrunk and dislocated. I do recommend watching the anime though.

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Pure Yukie Mayuzumi fanservice here.

This Shana poster is cute, but I do have a problem with it being completely out of sync with the anime.

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This volume’s featured Girl’s Avenue artist is Hinata Momo of the circle Alice Garden. You can check out her website at http://hinamomo.com/ (NSFW). I’m not too impressed with how the limbs of her characters look like they’re disjointed and just hanging there, but at least she designs some nice outfits.

Personally I didn’t like this poster, there’s nothing that really stands out.

I swear that there are at least a dozen other Zero no Tsukaima posters like this one.

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Highschool DxD looks like a very fanservice-y anime if its posters are any indication.

In this volume’s Anime Character Catch Up, we get to see one of the new characters in Zero no Tsukaima on the bottom left of the first page. We also get a glimpse of Louise and Tiffania in their priestess outfits. On the following pages there was also an announcement of a second season of Kore wa Zombie Desu ka.

Advertisements like this one make me wish that Megami had used different illustrations for their posters. I would have preferred a poster of Yozora in this pose rather than the one of her and Sena.

More ads show off some more wonderful artwork, this time for the Victory Spark franchise. If these cards were available in English, I’d probably buy a few sets, especially from the Atelier series.

On the back cover is an ad for a rather unique anime: To Heart 2 Dungeon Travellers. It’s interesting how they turned the characters from a school harem into your typical RPG cast.

Fortunately, this time around, Megami Magazine included a large poster again. The first side features the heroines from teenage-fantasy anime Guilty Crown. Group shots like these should make everyone happy so long as there’s one character they like.

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The reverse side has Sena from Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai in a very saucy Santa outfit while licking a strawberry. To say this is a racy illustration is an understatement.

I found this volume of Megami to be average. The posters that stood out were the Puella Magi and Idolmaster posters, with Ika Musume coming in third for me. The rest were typical fare for Megami.

–>Subscribe to Megami Magazine

Megami Magazine Vol. 139

Nopy — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 22:52:24 +0000

The cover for the December 2011 issue of Megami Magazine (volume 13) is one of the nicer looking ones with Sena and Yozora from Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai against a fall background. Considering the level of quality seen in some episodes of the anime, I’m glad that illustrations don’t suffer from the same problem.

For the most part, the posters in this volume were average and mainly contained series from this season with a few from the upcoming season. Any images not shown directly on this page, but are linked are ecchi and NSFW.

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Charlotte from IS seems to be “the girl” from the series. Considering her looks, I don’t see how anyone can mistake her for a guy.

Once again, we get another Fate/Zero poster showing the beauty of family. For such a dark series, I’m surprised that Megami is displaying it in such a positive light. I love Rin’s yukata.

This K-ON poster wouldn’t have been too bad if Yui didn’t look like some kind of troll.

A great collage poster for Ritsuko fans.

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I’m not quite sure what’s going on in C3, but this looks nothing like the comedy that I saw in episode 1.

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Inori fans will surely like this poster. It’s interesting that they actually took the time to write out some stuff on the booklet she’s reading.

We rarely got to see the puella magi in regular clothes, so this illustration is a treat. The downside is that the bench they’re sitting on looks like it’s just floating in another dimension, I would’ve preferred a park.

As cute as squid girl is, I’m sure she’s had that same smile for almost all of her posters.

The detail in this Working poster is rather nice, it’s disappointing that Aoi’s fingers look like they’re broken.

If you recall the previous Megami Magazine, there was also another Ano Natsu poster with some random limbs on the sides and the same background. I’m starting to think that they go together.

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This is a massive Penguindrum spoiler if you haven’t already seen it.

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You can always count on VN adaptations like Mashiroiro Symphony for some fanservice.

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A standard bikini/beach illustration.

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I wonder why Horizon is wearing her clothes into the hot spring, I thought that was taboo.

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The 120th edition of Girl’s Avenue features the artist Mutsumi Masato (むつみまさと) whose site you can find at http://mutsumimasato2010.blog71.fc2.com/. Masato is a doujin and eroge artist and has worked on titles such as Love-Bride Eve and Big Bang Age. From what I’ve been able to find, he was a doujin artist in the late 90′s and then disappeared before releasing works again in the late 00′s. Naturally, all of his works are of sexy girls and are NSFW.

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This character is Rias Gremory, a devil from the upcoming anime Highschool DxD. Based on this poster, I’m going to assume that the series will be fanservice-centric.

Shana seems to have taken up the damsel in distress position in the first part of the final season, and this poster reflects that. It’s a bit sad, I liked the cool Shana illustrations from the past.

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I’ve been seeing Louise in a priestess/nun outfit a lot since the announcement of the final season of Zero no Tsukaima. It kind of reminds me of Index, but I doubt she’d be doing anything like this.

Moving on to some actual content. Eri Kitamura and Yuka Iguchi have released the first and second volumes of Megami Radio on a pair of DJCD’s. If you aren’t familiar with Megami Radio, it discusses upcoming anime and you can listen to the latest broadcast on their site: http://www.megami-radio.com/. Of course, if you want a copy of Eri and Yuka’s voices to keep forever, that’s what the CD’s are for.

Besides the obvious, Megami’s Anime Character Catch Up covers some information about other less-known releases. Ones that I’m looking forward to are Accel World (Spring 2012), Dog Days 2 (TBA), and the brand new Toradora episode (December 21, 2011).

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The Figure StyleS section was extremely small this time, only covering a single page. Half of it was detailing the stretchable cast-off clothing on a new Kudryavka figure.

The back cover contains an ad for the BD/DVD release of Mashiroiro Symphony.

At this point I usually go over any extras that came with the magazine, but sadly, there were none. I was looking forward to this volume because Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai was going to be featured on the cover, only to be disappointed with average posters, a condensed Figure StyleS section, and zero extras (not even a large poster). I really don’t recommend buying this one unless there’s one poster in here that you absolutely must have. Hopefully the January issue will include a calendar like in previous years.

–>Subscribe to Megami Magazine

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Megami Magazine Vol. 138

Nopy — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 05:13:06 +0000

This comes a few weeks late, but here is this month’s issue of Megami Magazine, volume 138. The magazine seems to have shifted away from Nanoha and friends and is now regularly featuring the girls from Idolmaster on their covers and in their posters. Volume 138 has a good mix of just about everything, so if you’re looking for variety, you may want to consider getting a copy. You can check out all of the posters included in this volume below. Remember that linked images are ecchi (a.k.a. NSFW).

The first poster comes from the new anime Guilty Crown and features Ayase and my favourite, Tsugumi. I like this one because it looks so cheerful and the small details like the emblem on Tsugumi’s sleeve and the buildings in the background are well-done.

If you’re a K-ON fan, you’ll surely be looking forward to the movie. I wasn’t aware that the UK had warm sunny beaches, but this poster seems to suggest otherwise. Mio, Ritsu, and Azusa cheering in the background is cute.

The last mother-daughter poster I remember seeing in Megami was of the Tohsaka family from Fate/Zero in volume 133. Now we have the Einzbern family, also from Fate/Zero. I love Irisviel’s white hat and coat, it matches her silver hair and the snowy background.

It’s sad that Triple H ended up as Double H in Mawaru Penguindrum. If I were in Himari’s position, I would’ve been heartbroken. This poster shows a world that could’ve been, or maybe it will be considering how unpredictable the series is.

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Infinite Stratos seems to be one of those series that will be in Megami for a long time.

Everyone’s favourite squid girl makes an appearance in this volume. While the art style is simple, I’m still impressed with the smooth lines and nice shading. The only problem I have with this poster is that it doesn’t look like Ika’s umbrella is actually covering her.

Working is another anime with a simple art style, but it still looks good; this poster is a perfect example of that.

This Madoka poster looks like an alternate ending to the series. I am surprised at how drawing a few loose strands of hair on Madoka and Homura makes it look like they’ve been working up a sweat. Brilliant illustration in my opinion.

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Ro-Kyu-Bu shower scene. Warning: very ecchi.

This illustration is absolutely lovely, not to mention cute at the same time. Alice and Yune make a great pair.

An Idolmaster poster with the same image found on the cover is also included for all the fans out there.

I’m not really liking this poster of Himeji and Minami from Baka Test. Himeji’s legs look further away than the water, but they’re in front of it.

This is Megami’s second Ano Natsu de Matteru poster. I was dumbfounded as to why there is a random hand coming from the side holding a pop can. Other than that oddity, the illustration itself is decent.

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Fanservice courtesy of C3.

Considering how dark the final season of Shana is looking, I welcome this calmer-looking poster with Yoshida mixing Shana’s bow. Both of their outfits look nicer than anything they wear in the anime.

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Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon seems largely based around fanservice.

The featured Girl’s Avenue artist in this volume is Fuyuno Haruaki (ふゆの春秋), you can find his website at http://technofuyuno.net/. He is the artist behind the above illustration, and as you can see, he uses very vivid and bright colours. This reminds me of the concept of painting marine animals in space for some reason.

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I just noticed that the cast of Nekogami Yaoyorozu have very bright hair.

One of the great things about anime originating from visual novels is that they have some nice school uniform designs. This Mashiroiro Sympohny poster looks nice at first, but if you look at Miu’s knees, they’re actually out of place. They also forgot to include Sakuno, my favourite girl in the series.

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I commented in my Fall round-up how the girls in Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai were manly and I’m going to stick with that no matter how many of them they put in lingerie.

I admit that I do not like the character designs in Kamisama Dolls. Sticking nekomimi on them isn’t going to change anything. On the up side, that tea cup in the cupboard looks pretty.

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Exploding clothes are a staple of poorly written anime. It seems it has also made it into Megami Magazine with Manyuu Hikenchou.

If I had a choice, I would’ve had a poster if this Mashiroiro Symphony image rather than the one on the grass.

Within the magazine itself is some content about upcoming anime, not least of which is the new K-ON movie. If you didn’t know already, the light music club will be travelling to England, though I think the swimsuit scene will turn out being a fantasy.

A couple of anime that I’m looking forward to are Nisemonogatari and the third (plus fourth) Rebuild of Evangelion movie. Nisemonogatari is a spin-off series of Bakemonogatari, one of my favourites from 2009. The Eva movies should be a treat no matter what, although I’m disappointed about pirate Asuka.

This is the first time I’ve seen Megami fill a page out of their figures section with dolls. I know a number of you are probably into dollfies and whatever other brands there are, but I have an aversion to them thanks to watching Child’s Play 20 years ago. Chuckie, and any doll for that matter, still gives me the creeps. On the bright side, the figures and dolls are kept on separate pages so I can just flip really fast through the doll section :)

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The double-sided B2 poster this time is really ecchi, but they come from two series that I love. The first side features the four most popular girls from Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai lying on a bed. Yozora and Sena seem to be sharing a single uniform.

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The reverse side is the female cast of Mayo Chiki enjoying a dip at a hot spring.

That wraps up the main contents of this volume. Several posters stood out for me this time: the Guilty Crown, K-ON, Madoka, Ikoku Meiro no Croisée, and Fuyuno Haruaki posters were all high quality illustrations. If you don’t mind a large ecchi poster as a bonus, then this would be a good volume to get to fill up some barren walls.

–>Subscribe to Megami Magazine

Megami Magazine Vol. 18

Nopy — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 06:00:07 +0000

The second-oldest Megami Magazine volume that I own is volume 18, published exactly 10 years ago on November 1, 2001. As with the oldest Megami Magazine I own, I bought this one simply for the cover, which features my two favourite characters from Denshin Mamotte Shugogatten: Shao and Kiryuu. I always like looking back on series that I have enjoyed and going through a Megami Magazine from 10 years ago is a good way of doing that. Note that I’ve censored any nudity, but ecchi (NSFW) images are still hidden in the links.

The first poster is of some of the girls from Memories Off 2nd. I never actually watched this anime, but I do remember it being popular enough to spawn several titles. As for the quality of the poster image, I think that it would be considered good even by today’s standards.

On the reverse is an original character design by Keiji Gotoh, who also designed the characters for Nadesico and Those Who Hunt Elves. Keiji has also helped bring us anime such as D.N.Angel, Kiddy Grade, and more recently, Mawaru Penguindrum.

Another successful series around this time was You’re Under Arrest. This poster features Miyuki and Natsumi sitting against a beautiful mountain backdrop.

Even back in 2001, there were anime like Tenshi no Shippo, which really had no plot and focused on a lot of cute girls.

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One of the more comedic series of the era was Mahoromatic, produced by Gainax and Shaft. This poster of Mahoro is beautiful with the fall leaves and her matching outfit.

I can’t say that I liked the ONE anime very much. The animation was mediocre for an OVA and the story was dull.

Galaxy Angel has some nice character designs, but I would’ve preferred a space-themed poster of Ranpha here.

This is the same image that was used on the front cover. Apparently Mamotte Shugogetten wasn’t as well-received in the west as in Japan, but I guess it’s understandable considering the mangaka Minene Sakurano stopped writing without ending the story. I still like the series though.

Kokoro Library was my first taste of a true slice-of-life (plotless and humourless) anime. If it weren’t for Kokoro’s super huge eyes and cute smile, I wouldn’t have made it as far as I did. Keep in mind that at this time anime was pushing the boundaries of super-sized eyes and fans were eating it up. Only a few months after this magazine was published, the original Kanon (2002) anime came out and it has the largest eyes I’ve ever seen.

Around this time was when Gamers’ very own anime, Di Gi Charat, was at the height of its popularity. When I went to Akiba last year, Gamers still had a huge Di Gi Charat billboard on their building. I still find the animation style really cute after all these years.

Vandread was pretty popular around this time, but looking back on it, the animation style wasn’t very impressive.

Angelic Layer, on the other hand, had some amazing visuals with all of the fight scenes. I was really impressed with the anime until I realized they had been playing the same episode over and over again with a different character each time. Endless Eight has nothing on this anime.

I think these are original creations for Megami Magazine. The blue-haired girl looks the most well-drawn, but they all have oddly shaped faces.

From this point on, all of the posters are of characters from adult anime, games, or manga. While Megami Magazine has completely removed this section in its present form, keep in mind that this was 10 years ago and Japan was much less conservative back then.

This lovely lady is Aine from the series Front Innocent (Another Lady Innocent in English). She is one of Satoshi Urushihara’s creations, an artist known for his unique female character designs. For some unknown reason, Front Innocent never got its second and final episode.

I thought this illustration was extremely detailed and simply looks amazing. The angel’s name is Linaria Phalaenopsis and she’s from the Eve License Organization series by Hiro Suzuhira.

You’re probably thinking that this poster accidently got mixed in the wrong section, but apparently it’s in the right place. The name of the game is Tentama -1st Sunny Side- and it’s a loli dating sim for the Dreamcast. Not surprisingly, it was developed and published by a company called KID corporation.

One upside to adult material is that it pushes companies to create high quality character designs and poses, like this one.

This is a feature illustration by artist Yoko Tanaka. Personally, I find it rather amteur looking with the legs in the wrong positions and a very simple face.

Not exactly my style, but I can’t find much fault in this image.

Darling is one of those series that really draws attention, even from people who aren’t interested in 18+ anime. The character designs and artwork for it are superb, and the series itself actually ranks decently for a title from this genre.

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The girl in this poster is from the eroge Pandora no Yume. I think her long flowing hair is absolutely beautiful. The game was created by Pajamas Soft, which is most well-known for creating Prism Ark.

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Magami Magazine had started its famous Girl’s Avenue section of the magazine a few volumes back, and volume 18 features the 4th artist, Shikei (紫珪). Unfortunately, it seems that he has been inactive since around 2005 and his website no longer exists. You can find a few relics of his on e-shuushuu.

Before we had the high-quality gifure sculpts of today, there were figures that looked like this. I’ll admit that the Belldandy figure looks pretty good even by today’s standards, but Sailor Saturn looks more like a gashapon toy and costs a shocking 12000 yen.

Shao was pointing this out, so I’m pointing it out as well. Starting November 30, 2001, you’ll be able to get your hands on the 6th and 7th episodes of Denshin Mamotte Shugogetten on VHS or DVD. I suggest you do :)

It’s hard to imagine that series like Di Gi Charat and Noir are already a decade old. Looking at this, I’m a bit curious as to why Gamers doesn’t advertise in the magazine any more.

Animate also has a diminished presence in Megami nowadays.

Included with the magazine was a booklet titled “Another Side of Keiji Gotoh’s Wonder Land”. In case you forgot who Keiji Gotoh is, he’s only the character designer for the best anime ever, and a staff member on Mawaru Penguindrum.

Inside are dozens of rough sketches that Keiji has done.

If you haven’t seen the Read or Die OVA, you’re missing out on some great action. The artwork isn’t great by today’s standards, but it’s still a good anime.

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I have no clue where this is from, but that girl’s hands look like they’re just floating on the water.

Well, that wraps up another decade-old volume of Megami Magazine. I hope you guys enjoyed the blast from the past.

–>Subscribe to Megami Magazine

Megami Magazine Vol. 137

Nopy — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 05:25:26 +0000

Today I bring to you Megami Magazine Volume 137 (October 2011). Since we’re in the transition period between the summer and fall anime seasons, this volume contains a lot of posters from recently finished and to-be-aired series. The cover for this volume features two characters from a new anime that just happened to be announced right in this magazine (which explained why I couldn’t find any extra info on it). More on that once I get to that section in the magazine, but for now, here’s a look at the pin-up posters. As usual, linked images are ecchi (NSFW).

This IS poster was nice with the two girls all dressed up, but I think Laura’s knees look a bit awkward. Megami is usually good with this stuff.

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Usami, Kanade, and “Punyuru” in a single bed = every man’s fantasy. It’s too bad that it looks like they’re floating over the covers rather than laying down.

This poster of Saber is nicely done with detailed drawing and lots of shading and textures. The one thing that would have made it perfect is some shadows from the sun streaming through the trees above.

Here is a lovely illustration of Minko in a wedding dress with Ohana and Nako in Kissui Inn’s kimonos. They really captured the characters’ personalities in their facial expressions.

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Did anyone watch Ro-Kyu-Bu and not get annoyed by the “quality” animation? At least the quality here is 10x better than the anime, but having the lockers create a vanishing point effect doesn’t really seem to work here.

This was a rather plain swimsuit/beach poster of the Yuru Yuri girls.

I realize that the feet are smaller because this is in perspective view, but either those stone blocks are huge, or the Milky Holmes girls have extremly tiny feet. Otherwise, I actually liked this one.

Since this is Mawaru Penguindrum, I won’t question why Himari and Ringo are in cowboy outfits. Penguin #1 has an awesome view.

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I’m not usually big on the swimsuit posters, but I absolutely love this one of Yozora and Sena from Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai. The character designs were done by Buriki, the same artist that did the characters for Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko.

Yune x Alice fans will probably like this poster. It’s amusing that they’re wearing fancy clothing and nekomimi at the same time, but it’s also so detailed that you can’t help but appreciate the work that went into drawing this.

Guilty Crown is one of the new anime that I’m looking forward to, one of the reasons is because I think Inori’s outfit is cool, it’s like a mix between a kimono, battlesuit, and swimwear.

The 3D girl featured in this volume is again another host from Megami Radio. Eri Kitamura just recently finished voice acting as Kanade from Mayo Chiki and this season she will be playing Kirika from C3 as well as Tatiana in the new Last Exile series.

For those of you who have been wondering which anime the characters on the front cover are from, it’s called Ano Natsu de Matteru. It was announced in this volume of Megami Magazine and will reunite Taraku Uon and Yosuke Kuroda, the pair that brought us Onegai Teacher and Onegai Twins. Like the Onegai series, Ano Natsu de Matteru will also be a romance comedy anime. There is nothing in the magazine indicating the scheduled air date, but there is a link to the official site: http://www.ichika-ichika.com/ Apparently Kotoko, one of my favourite singers, will perform the theme song and the background music will be done by I’ve Sound. I also liked Onegai Twins so much that I created an AMV for it 7 years ago. This is definitely an anime on my watch list.

All that’s missing is Minami…

The Girl’s Avenue featured artist in this volume is Coffee Kizoku (珈琲貴族). He is part of the circles Innocent Grey and Noesis. One of the more famous titles he has worked on is Kara no Shoujo, a dark eroge that also received an anime adaptation. As for his featured illustration, I love the simplicity of the character design coupled with beautiful scenery.

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Is it just me, or is that chair floating in the air?

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R-15 provides quite a bit of ecchi material.

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If you don’t recognize this character, she’s Horizon from Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon, a new anime to be aired this fall. I know it was the intention, but I find her bottom detracts from the rest of the picture.

A rather plain and dull bathing scene. The chair that Utao is sitting on doesn’t even have any detail to it other than the outline.

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The last poster is of Haruka and Himea from Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi. The show was too fanservice-focused for me, but I still like the multi-coloured hair that the characters have.

A previous issue of Megami Magazine already covered an album released by Kanon Nakagawa from Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai; apparently there’s also an album by Ruka Suirenji from the Hayate no Gotoku movie. It’s interesting to see albums released by anime characters rather than their voice actresses.

Some highlights from the last Wonder Festival were featured in the figures section. Like many people, I plan on getting all of the scaled Puella Magi figures, and I am very tempted to get that one of Milhi from Dog Days.

On the back cover of the magazine was another Steins;Gate advert.

Included in the magazine was a Puella Magi Madoka Magica catalog of official goods that you can buy up till now.

After flipping through it, I can say it covers just about every anime merchandise you can think of. If you’ve never tried canned bread, I definitely recommend it (though maybe not the Kyubey one, who knows what he’ll do).

The large B2 size poster this time has some of the Idolmaster girls posing on a very glitter-filled bed. What caught my eye though, was on the reverse side.

This Madoka poster is just too cute not to love; the attention to detail and vibrant colours are also a big bonus, not to mention Homura is actually smiling. When I saw this poster, I immediately stuck it on my wall, which is quite an acheivement nowadays since I have to remove an older poster. The last poster I put up was from volume 122.

I was not impressed with some of the posters in this volume, but there were a few that I really liked: the Fate/Zero, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, Guilty Crown, and Coffee Kizoku posters. Needless to say, the big Madoka poster also made me happy. Volume 137 is good to get if you want variety, but if quality is a big factor, then you should probably wait for the next volume unless there’s a poster you must have.

–>Subscribe to Megami Magazine

Megami Magazine Vol. 136

Nopy — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:16:48 +0000

It’s time for another volume of Megami Magazine. Volume 136 (September 2011) has the most extras that I have seen in a while, and rightly so considering it costs 990 yen rather than the usual price of 780 yen. The front cover features Kurisu and Mayuri from the anime and visual novel Steins;Gate, both sporting cute maid uniforms and nekomimi. I’ve noticed my Megami posts getting longer and longer, so I’m going to try cutting back this time by just introducing the characters and anime in each poster, followed by my overall thoughts at the end. As with every Megami post, ecchi (NSFW) pictures are in the image links, so click at your own risk.

Himari and penguin #3 from Mawaru Penguindrum.

Haruka from The Idolmaster.

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Subaru and Kanade from Mayo Chiki.

Ohana and Minko from Hanasaku Iroha.

The girls from Tantei Opera Milky Holmes.

The Carnival Phantasm girls.

Characters from upcoming anime, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai.

Cecilia and Charlotte from Infinite Stratos.

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Tomoka, Maho, and Hinata from Ro-Kyu-Bu!

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Yune from Ikoku Meiro no Croisee.

Makise and Mayuri from Steins;Gate.

Unknown

In Megami Magazine volume 134, there was a section dedicated to Megami Radio and its hosts. Yuka Iguchi appears again in this volume in a beautiful yukata.

A poster is included of Yuka as well.

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Girls from Kamisama Dolls.

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Akari and Chinatsu from Yuru Yuri.

Mayu and Yuzu from Nekogami Yaoyorozu.

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The Girl’s Avenue feature artist in this volume is Kurono Omikuzi (御敷　仁).

Girls from Mahou Sensei Negima.

Nagi, Hinagiku, and Maria from Hayate no Gotoku.

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Girls from Manyuu Hikenchou.

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Ran and Fukune from R-15.

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Haruka, Aoi, and Kurumi from Twin Angel – Twinkle Paradise.

My favourite poster in this volume is the Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai one, but that is more for the character designs rather than the quality of the image. Most of the posters were of good image quality, with my only complaint being the shading in the Hanasaku Iroha poster being too dark. There were none that stood out as amazing, and there seemed to be more ecchi and swimsuit posters than usual. I think the Steins;Gate poster would have looked a lot better if it had used the same background as the one on the magazine cover, but the cat footprints make it look cute.

In the figures section, Megami decided to feature some of the new and upcoming swimsuit figures. I haven’t followed swimsuit figures in a long time, but those Nanoha bikini figures seem to be relatively popular.

Also featured on the next page was a new Madoka card game with guess what, more swimsuits!

The only thing that really caught my eye in the Anime Character Catch-up section was the second episode of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kira, which will have both Rika and Satoko become magical girls.

One of the main extras in this volume was an Idolmaster CD.

The second extra was an Idolmaster Weib Schwarz card.

Third was an Idolmaster CD jacket to go with your new Idolmaster CD.

On the back cover is Kurisu advertising for Dr. Pepper, the soft drink of mad scientists in every world line.

This is the first time I’ve come across one of these, but apparently it’s the 12th such release. It’s called Tokusenbisyoujo and ranks 120 female characters from various anime. I can’t read Japanese, but I’m assuming it’s something along the lines of Megami Magazine’s own Saimoe contest.

On the front pages are 4 featured characters: Ichigo Morino, Nanoha Takamachi, Taiga Aisaka, and Yuki Nagato.

Following that is the actual ranking itself. Now, I don’t intend on grabbing a dictionary and translating every name to find out who’s ranked what, but I have listed below all of the characters that I could recognize based on their pictures. I don’t know what’s scarier, that I was actually able to identify 106 out of 120 anime characters, or that I still can’t recognize Britney Spears when she makes TV appearances.

1. Taiga Aisaka (Toradora)
2. Sumomo Akihime (Nanatsuiro Drops)
3. Mio Akiyama (K-ON!)
4. Homura Akemi (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)
5. Nemu Asakura (Da Capo)
6. Mikuru Asahina (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu)
7.
8. Rei Ayanami (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
9. Arika Yumemiya (Mai-ZHime)
10. Mahoro Ando (Mahoromatic)
11. Ika Musume (Shinryaku! Ika Musume)
12. Ikaros (Sora no Otoshimono)
13. Konata Izumi (Lucky Star)
14. Mahiru Inami (Working!!)
15. Index (To Aru Majutsu no Index)
16. Victorique de Blois (Gosick)
17. Eclair (Kiddy Grade)
18. Karen Onodera (Onegai Twins)
19. Asuna Kagurazaka (Mahou Sensei Negima!)
20. Mizuho Kazami (Onegai Teacher)
21. Sora Kasugano (Yosuga no Sora)
22. Shima Katase (Uchuu no Stellvia)
23. Hinagiku Katsura (Hayate no Gotoku!)
24. Madoka Kaname (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)
25. Misuzu Kamio (AIR)
26. Ami Kawashima (Toradora)
27. Tamaki Kawazoe (Bamboo Blade)
28. Aria H. Kanzaki (Hidan no Aria)
29.
30. Ruri Gokou (Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai)
31. Kirino Kousaka (Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai)
32. Kallen Stadtfeld (Code Geass)
33. Tsumugi Kotobuki (K-ON!)
34.
35. Manaka Komaki (To Heart 2)
36. Sanya V. Litvyak (Strike Witches)
37.
38. Tomoyo Sakagami (Clannad)
39.
40. Kurimu Sakurano (Seitokai no Ichizon)
41.
42. C.C. (Code Geass)
43. Mafuyu Shiina (Seitokai no Ichizon)
44. Sheryl Nome (Macross Frontier)
45. Shaorin Shugogetten (Mamotte Shugogetten!)
46. Shana (Shakugan no Shana)
47. Charlotte Dunois (Infinite Stratos)
48. Kotori Shirakawa (Da Capo)
49. Shinku (Rozen Maiden)
50. Suigentou (Rozen Maiden)
51.
52. Akane Suzumiya (Kimi ga Nozomu Eien)
53. Haruka Suzumiya (Kimi ga Nozomu Eien)
54. Haruhi Suzumiya (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu)
55. Subaru Nakajima (Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS)
56. Saber (Fate/stay Night)
57. Nadeko Sengoku (Bakemonogatari)
58. Hitagi Senjougahara (Bakemonogatari)
59. Ritsu Tainaka (K-ON!)
60. Nanoha Takamachi (Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha)
61. Kanade Tachibana (Angel Beats!)
62. Popura Taneshima (Working!!)
63. Chii (Chobits)
64.
65. Tenma Tsukamoto (School Rumble)
66. Yakumo Tsukamoto (School Rumble)
67. Ayu Tsukimiya (Kanon)
68. Di Gi Charat (Di Gi Charat)
69. Erio Touwa (Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko)
70. Rin Tohsaka (Fate/stay Night)
71. Mai Tokiha (Mai-Hime)
72. Yuki Nagato (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu)
73. Azusa Nakano (K-ON!)
74. Yuri Nakamura (Angel Beats!)
75. Nagi (Kannagi)
76. Ai Nanasaki (Amagami SS)
77. Naru Narusegawa (Love Hina)
78. Nymph (Sora no Otoshimono)
79. Nerine (Shuffle!)
80. Haruka Nogizaka (Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu)
81.
82. Hazuki (Tsukuyomi -Moon Phase-)
83. Nodoka Haramura (Saki)
84. Kagami Hiiragi (Lucky Star)
85. Amu Hinamori (Shugo Chara!)
86. Himari Noihara (Omamori Himari)
87. Mizuki Himeji (Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu)
88. Yui Hirasawa (K-ON!)
89. Binchou-tan (Binchou-tan)
90. Feena Fam Earthlight (Yoake Mae yori Ruriiro na)
91. Fate Testarossa (Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha)
92. Honami Fujieda (Tsuki wa Higashi ni Hi wa Nishi ni ~Operation Sanctuary)
93. Petite Charat (Di Gi Charat)
94. Kaede Fuyou (Shuffle!)
95. Nagisa Furukawa (Clannad)
96. Belldandy (Ah! My Goddess)
97. Holo (Spice and Wolf)
98. Maria (Hayate no Gotoku!)
99. Multi (To Heart)
100. Mikoto Misaka (To Aru Majutsu no Index)
101.
102. Akari Mizunashi (Aria)
103. Nayuki Minase (Kanon)
104. Chiaki Minami (Minami-ke)
105. Chizuru Minamoto (Kanokon)
106.
107. Saki Miyanaga (Saki)
108. Miina Miyafuji (Onegai Twins)
109. Yoshika Miyafuji (Strike Witches)
110. Yuna Miyama (Maburaho)
111. Millhiore Firianno Biscotti (Dog Days)
112. Milfeulle Sakuraba (Galaxy Angel)
113. Mint Blancmanche (Galaxy Angel)
114. Ichigo Morino (Onegai Teacher)
115.
116. Yuno (Hidamari Sketch)
117.
118. Rena Ryuugu (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni)
119. Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière (Zero no Tsukaima)
120.

Since Homura and Mami got their own large-sized posters in a previous volume, it wouldn’t be fair to exclude the other puella magi. Kyouko and Sayaka both appear in the same backdrop and both in swimsuits.

Like with the Homura/Mami poster, I’m disappointed that they decided to print characters from the same series on opposite sides of the same sheet. It’s really annoying if you want to hang up posters of all of the characters. I’m guessing there’ll be a Madoka/Kyubey poster in the future to complete the set.

Volume 136 had an obvious swimsuit theme going on here, from the pin-up posters to the magazine content and the large-sized poster. Due to personal preferences, I thought it was an average volume, but if you like swimsuits and/or Idolmaster, then this is definitely the volume to get.

–>Subscribe to Megami Magazine

Megami Magazine Vol. 135

Nopy — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 03:42:15 +0000

Today I bring you volume 135 (August 2011) of Megami Magazine, 36 volumes and 3 years after my first post on volume 100. While the girls have changed, not much else about the magazine has. There are still tons of bikini’s, panty shots, and extras. Idolmaster fans will probably like the cover of this volume.

Below are the posters included in this volume. Ecchi images can be found in the links. I’ll make this poster shorter since I’ve had a long day.

Most of Megami’s Hanasaku Iroha posters have been of good quality, but this one seemed a bit off. Maybe it’s the girls’ super thin legs or Minchi’s broken wrist?

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I was never really interested in Infinite Stratos, but this was a nice poster.

I am still at a loss as to why Erio is the only one that sparkles, it looks a bit out of place when she’s with the other girls.

Nice sheep.

This is one of my favourites from this volume. It has just the right amount of fanservice and the detail and quality are good.

Steins;Gate posters in Megami seem to be rather dark.

Leo’s waist seems to be a bit misplaced, but otherwise, this Dog Days poster was excellent.

It’s odd to see the Type-Moon girls together in their swimwear like this.

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It’s not often you see basketball lolis with cameltoes.

If you recall, this poster of Anaru from Ano Hana is in the same format as the one of Menma in the previous volume. Maybe fans of Tsuruko have something to look forward to next month.

I absolutely LOVE the artwork in this poster. Forget that the black haired girl’s feet don’t look quite like they’re on the coffee table, the shading in the uniforms and hair is perfect, and the character designs are cute. If you guys don’t recognize this anime, that’s because it hasn’t aired yet, which is odd for something in Megami. The title of the anime is Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai and it is coming this fall.

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I’m happy to see another Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi poster, but again, there’s no Ibuki and Madoka’s bust seems to have shrunk.

This is average as far as Megami goes.

This poster made me laugh, mahou shoujo Rika and Satoko, and a little fairy Hanyuu.

The image for this poster comes from this volume’s Girls’s Avenue artist, Haruyuki Morisawa (森沢晴行, http://pixiv.cc/h-morio/).

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I’ve never seen the clarinet as a sexy instrument (probably because I used to play it), but I guess it works. For anyone wondering, yes, reeds are tasty.

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Once again, I am very disappointed in the Soft Tennis poster that Megami has included. While it doesn’t look too bad in my picture, the actual poster is very yellow, almost the same colour as urine.

The details in the cherry blossoms is amazing.

Is Yune a replacement for Victorique’s cuteness? Not quite, but she’s pretty close.

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You can always count on Seikon no Qwaser to bring you ecchi content.

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You can now add Manyuu Hikenchou to that list as well.

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I’m happy that this OreTsuba poster has Asuka in it, but I wish it was a bit more colourful.

Of the figures covered in the magazine, the only one I have on preorder is the Madoka nendoroid. The Elsie figure looks nice, but I decided to pass on her.

The anime section lists Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai as an upcoming anime, but they only have the chibi characters here, so I’m assuming the anime styled characters might be different from what was in the poster above.

The back of this volume looks, oddly, more like a front cover than the actual front cover.

One of the extras included with this volume was this Madoka Special Fan Book with illustrations from various artists.

These two are my favourite.

The book is a nice thing to have, especially when you don’t have the time to browse through sites like Pixiv.

This time the large poster inserted had the front and back covers on it. I used to think that it was common for Megami’s large poster to have the same images as the covers, but this is actually doesn’t happen very often. The Steins;Gate side is probably the most pink the series will ever get.

Overall, I thought this was a very good volume. Except for the Soft Tennis poster and a few awkward limbs, there wasn’t much to complain about. The details in shading and even the line art was good in posters like the ones for Baka Test, Dog Days, Boku wa Tomodachi, and A Channel. This is definitely one volume worth the 840 yen.

–>Subscribe to Megami Magazine

Megami Magazine Vol. 134

Nopy — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 03:10:16 +0000

The 134th volume (July 2011) of Megami Magazine covers just about every anime in the spring 2011 season, great for anyone who enjoyed the season’s lineup. The cover features one of my favourite characters, Erio Touwa from Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko.

Below are the pin-up posters in this volume. Click on the text links to see the ecchi images.

The first poster is of Kurisu Makise of Steins;Gate in a rather compromising position. Personally, I think they should’ve given her a lab coat rather than a white shirt here, and I’m a little confused about the position/size of her left arm.

It’s amazing that Aria can overpower someone bigger than her like that. I also find it amusing how her clothing has an angry cat on it.

The IdolM@aster series seems to have finally gotten its own anime that isn’t about giant robots. I hope the animation quality is as good as what’s in this poster.

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Asuka was one of my favourite girls in Ore-tachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai, so I really liked this poster. It made me wonder though, do some bras really have pointed tips like that?

This was a cute Ano Hana poster of both the ghost Menma and the Menma from 10 years ago. The blue flowers blowing in the wind was a nice touch.

The last few Hanasaku Iroha posters have been rather fanservicey, but it’s nice to get a regular one every now and then.

I love Milhi’s dynamic pose in this poster and the way it shows off her outfit. The graffiti and shadows in the background really completed the image.

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I only watched the first episode of C so I don’t know who these two are, but this poster looks cool. I’m curious as to how that wine glass doesn’t fall over.

Erio looks as sparkly as ever in this poster. The zig-zag lines and Yashiro in the background add to the “denpa” feel of it. I also like how even though Erio’s shirt is almost completely undone, the image doesn’t seem that fanservicey.

It’s interesting to see the girls from Infinite Stratos in different outfits.

This A Channel poster was rather cute. The only thing I would change is to distort Tooru’s body a little behind the clear tube.

Nurse cosplay causes nosebleeds, apparently.

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I love how well Madoka and Ui’s figures were drawn here. The colours and shading in their hair and eyes is also done pretty well; an accurate representation of the anime’s quality.

Victorique from Gosick looks a bit off with her eyes like that, but the combination of the kimono, her long hair, and the red linen she’s lying on looks beautiful.

The animation style in Softenni is horrid, so Megami doesn’t really have much to work with here. At least the blondie doesn’t look too bad with that sideways glance.

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Just once they should add a Seikon no Qwaser poster that isn’t ecchi.

Included in this volume is a poster of two of the hosts from Megami Radio, which covers the latest anime news, and that you can listen to here. In case you’re wondering, both of these girls are anime voice actresses. On the left is Eri Kitamura, who played such roles as Yui (Angel Beats), Rimi (Chaos;Head), Sayaka (Puella Magi Madoka Magica), and Ami (Toradora). On the right is Yuka Iguchi, who played Chise (Mayoi Neko Overrun) and Index (Toaru Majutsu no Index). I’d rather have a nice anime poster rather than 3D girls, but I guess it’s good reference if I ever need to know what the voice actresses I listen to so often look like.

Despite the first Nanoha movie being long past, they still manage to get posters in current volumes of Megami. I’m surprised both at the low quality in this one and that they haven’t included a poster for the second movie yet.

This drawing style was a nice change of pace from the usual anime style. A lot of people complained about the changed hair colours of the characters in the Fractale anime adaptation, and I have to say that I agree with them. The original colours here look much nicer.

The last poster in the volume is a Girl’s Avenue one featuring an artist that works for Rococo Works. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to read his name and there’s no website listed, so here’s a link to Rococo’s site. The drawing style looks cute and seems fitted for comics, an anomaly considering Girl’s Avenue usually features bishoujo with vibrant colours.

Out of the figures featured in the Figure StyleS section, the only one I’ve ordered is the nendoroid Mayuri.

The anime section covers some new and upcoming series as well as a few currently airing ones. Fate/Zero looks interesting, but what has most of my attention right no is Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kira.

The back cover of the magazine lists the release dates of each Kira episode. The first one will be out on July 21.

Included with the magazine was this Puella Magi Madoka Magica booklet.

Inside were character bios, interviews, and general information. Sadly, no new images.

The back of the booklet was nice.

The large posters included this time were also focused on Puella Magi Madoka Magica. On one side is Homura in a rainbow-striped bikini.

On the reverse is Mami with flowers printed on a white bikini. I thought it was great that they decided to use my two favourite characters from the series, but I’m upset that they’re on the opposite sides of the same poster. Now I have to choose one or the other.

My favourite pin-ups from this volume were the one of Menma and the one of Milhi. The ecchi level seems to have been toned down here, with me only having to censor 3 images. In exchange, we got another non-2D poster and a couple at the end in a non-anime style. If you want a Megami Magazine with as little fanservice as possible, this is probably the best you’re ever going to get.

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Megami Magazine Vol. 133

Nopy — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 03:58:13 +0000

It looks like I remembered about the June 2011 volume of Megami Magazine just before the month ends. This volume came out in the midst of the Spring anime season, so if you’ve enjoyed the anime recently and want some posters, you might want to consider ordering. The cover features the Shana clone, Aria, from Hidan no Aria. I thought it was great how they used bullet holes to feature some other characters.

The posters you’ll find in this volume are shown below. As usual, ecchi content isn’t directly shown on this page, click the links if you want to see them.

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The first poster is of a couple of the girls from Infinite Stratos. Megami usually has no problems with body proportions in their posters, especially for bath scenes, but I found the hands here are too elongated, and Houki’s knee looks unnaturally sharp.

The reverse side has Erio and Ryu-ko/shi sleeping with a very lucky futon. I’m glad to see that Megami is starting to bring back these larger pin-up posters.

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I can only imagine what Ohana is thinking right now.

The colours in this Houkago no Pleiades poster seemed rather dark to me. I think it would’ve looked nicer if they made the uniforms and skin a lighter tone.

I’m not particularly fond of the stick-figure style character designs in A Channel, but this poster is beautiful. You can tell a lot of work went into the drawing, colours, and shading, especially in the water.

I laughed when I saw this poster. Ruka, the one on the left, is either a girl or boy, but you don’t know which one because he/she is different depending on the timeline. The sarong around his/her waist keeps Ruka’s gender a mystery.

A lot of Madoka images try to capture the essence of the anime, but that’s more than a difficult task. This one was a good attempt with the long stairway and where the girls are looking, but the round disc and the white pillars just don’t seem to fit.

This Fate Zero poster looks nice, but I miss the older version of Rin.

Here’s the cover illustration of Aria again. It’s nice to see that they kept the bullet holes in the background, it makes it feel more like an action scene.

I have two complaints about this poster: missing lines, and missing Kirino.

I thought Idolmaster was a singing game, but hey, cat girls are fine with me.

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Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi probably has the hottest girls this season, so it’s to be expected Megami would include a poster of them in lingerie. I’m a bit upset they left out Ibuki though.

Considering Anaru’s attitude towards Menma, I was a bit surprised to see this poster of them together at first. Then I remembered that Ano Hana was an anime about understanding and forgiveness, and suddenly this poster just seemed so much better.

More cat-girl/guy?

This illustration was done by the 114th artist to be featured in Girl’s Avenue, Yu Narumi. She’s not as popular as some of the other featured artists, but anyone who has played/watched 11eyes would be familiar with her work. I love how she blends the colours in her characters’ eyes.

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I love Aoi Nishimata’s character designs, so I was hapy to see an Ore-tachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai poster in here, but it’s so typical that they would make it so the oil looks like something else.

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I know the animation style for Softenni has more to do with this than the quality, but I think this poster is just ugly.

This is my favourite pin-up poster from this volume. It has my two favourite characters from Dog Days, and I don’t see anything wrong with the illustration. The marble table and designs on the floor were a nice touch.

Clothes swapping is always fun.

Once again, I’m amazed that Megami has not once come out with an ecchi Kami Nomi poster. They always make Elsie look cute though.

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On the other hand, Seikon no Qwaser always seems to get ecchi posters. This one, surprisingly, looks pretty good despite the lack of any clothing or objects.

Megami once again manages to keep up its tradition of including at least one Nanoha poster in every volume even though all of the series and 1st movie have ended, and the second movie is still a long time away.

Megami covers some nice figures in their figure section, but the only one they cover that I’ve ordered is the support Miku nendoroid. Yes, I bought it despite the crazy shipping and against my conclusions about GSC’s profits.

The anime section covers just about every upcoming anime for the next season. Some titles that have caught my attention are Blood-C, C3, Kami-sama no Memo-chou, and Dantalian no Shoka. One rather disturbing title is Baby Princess 3D; it looks like a super-harem of girls ranging in every age under 18.

On the back cover is a reminder about the Steins;Gate blu-ray release. While I’m currently enjoying the series, I don’t think the animation quality warrants a blu-ray.

No Megami magazine volume would be complete without an extra booklet or large poster. This time they included Fate in her usual blue bikini.

On the reverse is Victorique from Gosick. I absolutely love her long flowing golden hair. While there are a couple of odd spots like her protruding cheek and elongated palm, I still like it enough to stick it on my wall.

While there were no posters in this volume that were absolutely terrible, there was also nothing that really jumped out at me. Overall, I’d say this was an average volume with some good posters for fans of this year’s anime so far.

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