My Story

My story… is rather simple on the surface, but deeply rooted.

I have always been an avid fan of Anime. I grew up in the Macross/Robotech era. I didn’t really understand anime back then as anything different from other cartoons, but took it for the face value that I saw, much as I took to He-Man and GI Joe and Transformers at the time.

Radiant Dreamer reaches 10,000 hits!!!

Yay!! My blog has finally reached 10,000 hits!!! It was only last month that it hit the 6,666 mark!

As of 10am this morning, the blog stats were captured.

Thanks everyone that took the the time to visit my site and share with me my interests. I do hope you will continue visiting, because the site can only get better!

Radiant Dreamer Featured on Tomopop!

My collection of figures have been featured on Tomopop! I didn’t expect that I would be interviewed and featured as a story on Tomopop, a website dedicated to toy culture of all forms. http://tomopop.com/post.phtml?pk=4511 Do check it out!

There’s Always Room for Beer

This is an old story, that’s been posted many times across the internet, and forwarded to everyone you know. But sometimes, one needs a gentle reminder to put them back on track with life. I’m at that point in my life where I need to re-evaluate, and understand myself. What makes me happy? Am I working towards that?

Black Lagoon - Revy 1:6 Polystone

I’ve had this version of Revy for a while now, but it’s only recently that I actually took her out of the packaging. I originally ordered her with the full intention to sell. Seeing as polystone figures seem to be expensive and all, I thought that I could make a small amount from it (like $20 or something). Turns out, that demand for her at the time wasn’t very high. I don’t know if it still is that low, but regardless, I decided to keep her. She’s now on display, but at a sacrifice of putting two other figures away in order to make the space.

Ah! Taisen Shiyo! Chiyo-Chan FTW!!!

Ah! Taisen Shiyo, Ah! Taisen Shiyo : Come Back!

Publisher : Snow Dharma

Released : 2004, 2005

Platform : PC

I wish I wish I wish I had this game. Too bad it was released in 2004. Chances of finding this nice little fan-made game are next to nil now. A sequel was even made for it too! C’mon, you know you want to play as adorable little Chiyo-chan and kick some serious ass (who wouldn’t?). Well, too bad… I can’t find it anywhere. So here are some screen-shots for amusement purposes anyway.

Playstation 3 is your best bet.

To start, I’m not a Sony fanboy. I try to use other brands if I can. I just did a quick mental inventory of my electronics, and interestingly enough, I don’t own any Sony products except for my PS3 and my little 21″ trinitron tv. Sony products are typically overpriced, not all the time best quality. That being said, I do however, recommend that you get a Playstation 3, if you intend to get a Blu Ray player.

You may recall that HD-DVD lost the format wars. Obviously, the only thing left is to buy a Blu Ray player. But The problem with Blu Ray players is that they don’t have some of the neat features that HD DVD had, such as picture in picture among other things. Of course, these features would be introduced with newer Blu Ray players, and players that support firmware updates.

Unfortunately, the current market is lacking in that.

Cautious Samurai - Learning Anew

Months ago, (and I do mean SEVERAL months ago), I started a painting of a samurai dude. The idea behind him was that he is cautiously drawing out his blade as he senses something nearby. The look I wanted was one of a sense of confidence. I also wanted to paint something that wasn’t anime. I didn’t get a chance to finish it, and moved on to other paintings like Mikuru and Moe Haruhi (among many others). Today I decided to go back on it and finish it. The end result was this:

Quickie Sketchies - Anime or Not? A Self Discovery.

You know, it’s interesting what impressions you give others, even though you don’t mean to sometimes. It happens to me a lot. I think mainly due to excessive behavior. I look upon my anime collection, my video games, my complete and utter otakuness. I even draw anime. What sort of impression does that give?

Obviously the impression of an otaku, obsessed with his hobby, so much so that it narrows the mind in terms of exposure to other cultures and art. For me, this is only partly the case.

I seem to give people the impression that Anime is the only thing that I know how to do (probably because that is mostly what I draw), and that I can’t draw other styles, or “stylized realism”.

I would have to say that this is not the case.

Goodbye Joe-Joe

Last night, my favorite fish wasn’t feeling well. My wife noticed weird behaviors in him, as he was struggling to swim, and lay at the bottom of the fish tank. He was turned sideways, and the color of his scales were very pale. My wife knew immediately that his time here was now limited.

He died in the middle of the night, and now lays motionless at the bottom of the tank. I’ll be giving him a proper burial later on today.

Here he is in his youth, enjoying the comfort of his home.

Here he is just after the New Years. His tail grew longer and looked very elegant.

They say that fish are protectors of the household, and that when a fish dies, it is taking the hit in place of a family member. I would like to think that my noble Joe-Joe has done the same for us. May he rest in peace.

Anime Blog Awards Voting has begun!

The list of nominees are now posted on anime blog awards. Please take some time and check out the nominees, and don’t forget to vote for me! I’ve been nominated for Best Art Blog!

Vote here!

Game Art Gallery Added!

I’m sure many of you wonder what I do in my spare time. I work on video games! So with that, I’ve added a new section to my gallery detailing the work I’ve done in my six years of being in the game industry. Not everything has been added yet though. Keep checking to see for new stuff!

Personal Project

So I’ve decided to start a personal project for means of enhancing my portfolio and making myself more marketable. I figure that I’ve been in the game industry for six years now, yet I don’t really have much to show for it, since I do mostly managerial stuff nowadays. I can’t say that my skills have deteriorated, but more like become stale as technology and other peoples’ skills improve.

Gothic Devil Girl - hobbyfan -Sparkle-

Last week, my order for the Gothic Devil Girl from hobbyfan arrived. I would have to say that I’m very impressed with Sparkle’s work. The paint is excellent, with nary a single mistake with their paint lines. Very accurate, and very detailed, with no bleeds, no stray paint, no rough surfaces. It came packed in a nice labeled box in a very well protected cut foam.

Miku Hatsune Vocaloid Nendoroid

What a super cutie! I had mistakenly on a whim cancelled my pre-order for her a while back, and didn’t realize it until it was too late. Fortunately, shino was able to hook me up and I was lucky enough to own her. I must say, she’s way cuter than I had expected, with very clean lines and detail. Unfortunately, my Miku tends to fall apart very easily. Especially the hair pieces. But overall, very well done. The fact that she can stand without needing a stand is definitely a bonus.