the last episode of panty and stocking aired on christmas day 2010, meanwhile the nendoroids of the titular characters released in june of 2011.
i had preordered both nendoroids before the final episode aired, i loved the series enough to feel warranted in doing so.... but came to regret it. the ending didn't land for me when i first saw it, and that half a year between the episode coming out, and receiving an email saying it's time to pay for my preorder gave me time to reconsider my feelings about the series.
i ultimately didn't follow through with my preorder, not paying for it, therefore not receiving the nendoroids.
this is the biggest purchase related regret i have made in my whole life
the nendoroids go for exponentially more expensive nowadays. and as much as i like panty and stocking, it's not one of my favorite series... my love isn't enough to warrant spending the price they yield now. so i've for years hoped for a reissue, new figures, something.you can then understand my joy when november of 2022 saw the announcement that good smile company would be releasing new panty and stocking figures! under their pop up parade line, they announced 4 figures, two in the series iconic style, and two in their "transformation" more detailed style (under the 'repent version' sublabel). i'm only going to be discussing the figures reflecting the series more typical style, since that's where my interest is.
prototypes were shown, both professionally photographed for goodsmile's gallery, and exhibited for people to look at irl. here's what they looked like:
you can tell they're early in development both from the gigantic "pending licensor approval", the lack of paint, as well as uh... they sure do have 3d printing artifacting on them! i was just happy they got announced that i didn't form many thoughts on the sculpts themselves, i felt i needed to see them further into development/painted to get a real feel.
no updates were given until july 2023, when updated sculpts were professionally photographed for goodsmile's gallery, and exhibited for people to look at irl at anime expo 2023. and these sculpts ARE MY FAVORITE
the cartoony-ness is on full display, the way there's an optimal angle to view them at that's being played to is so delightfully 2D!
i printed out the above images of both the november 2022 prototypes as well as the july 2023 prototypes to put on my art inspiration corkboard, because it's such a great example of refining something. the core idea/pose/etc is all the same, but the changes make for such a polished and beautiful look... it's a "spot the difference" that's worth studying.
it's worth mentioning that these sculpts were contentious. i saw a lot of comments on myfigurecollection and social media saying they preferred the november 2022 sculpts. i can't see this myself, they look better to me in every way. i guess i'm so forgone in being enamored by them that i can't understand other perspectives... but i respect it needless to say. and it's worth mentioning.
if it were just these professional images released, i'd be nervous they only looked good because of photo editting or something, but no! they were exhibited for people to see irl and this means more candid photos exist as well.
(source)
the last photo there is showing the limits of how a cartoonish figure playing to a window of angles to make their 2D illusion work is ... still not bad looking imo! it's the trade off you have to make when translating such a cartoony style into 3d if you ask me.
so anyways. there was another drought of information. a whole year actually. when at the NEXT anime expo, ANOTHER set of new prototypes were shown off.
(source)
these admittedly confused me. they don't look bad, but they don't have my jaw on the floor like the july 2023 prototypes did. why does panty have backlace (her gun) now, while stocking doesn't have either stripes? stocking in general looks more similar to the november 2022 prototype than she does the july 2023 one... and these prototypes didn't get professional photos by goodsmile like the others did, they were only exhibited. how absurd for these figures to have been announced nearly 2 years ago at this point, AND for them to now have THREE different prototypes with none of them painted? right?? i've been figure collecting for many years and i've never seen that lol.
so anyways, cut to yesterday, it's been almost another year since we last saw them. their painted sculpts finally are shown. no professional photos by goodsmile this time either, only exhibit goer photos.
they certainly don't look bad. but i dunno... it's the faces. i prefer the july 2023 sculpts. the angled eyes have more life in them to me.
the text at their feet still warns that these are prototypes, not a finished product. so they could still change, but isn't this funny? three unpainted prototypes, one painted, all of them different.
what i've been comparing them to this whole time isn't the nendoroid i mentioned at the start of this journal, but instead the twin pack of figures released by phat in 2011 (who is the producer of pop up parade these days).
the pose and goals feel very different. but it's worth comparison if you ask me.
i don't even really... have a conclusion. just what a weird production history these figures have. i just hope that when they do get released, they look nice and make people happy.
i've been replaying deltarune (chapters 1 & 2 obviously) to get a good save ready for the release tomorrow. i'm happy with how it worked out, my hope was that i'd be able to defeat jevil, & spamton neo (which i'd never even attempted), get the secret eggs, recruit all the enemies in chapter 2.... all the things you'd expect i suppose. i wasn't sure i'd be able to pull it off, but i'm happy to say i was able to!
my one concern is that as much as i got the egg in chapter 2, and i had it when i got to the light world.... i wasn't able to put it in the carton at sans'. i'm not sure if it's because i interacted with temmie (investigating HER egg), or if it's because i accidentally triggered the toriel & asgore cutscene before i was able to 'reverse steal' the egg... but it just disappeared at some point between leaving castle town and standing in front of the carton. my last save is from castle town before doing any light world stuff, so i suppose if i'm bothered enough about it, i can redo it before starting chapters 3 & 4....
the ""downside"" to replaying the first two chapters so close to the release is that it's made me a lot more excited.. it's not bad to be excited, but i don't wanna set my expectations toooo high, y'know? like it's safe to say that we're in for a great time, but the story isn't over with these chapters, so i don't want to be disappointed by the mysteries/plot threads that are left open.
anyways, this is my excuse to get a lot of the thoughts i have off my chest, so here it goes lol.
it was interesting replaying through chapters 1 & 2 knowing the identity of the knight is a contentious topic even after chapter 2 has been out for awhile. it's not a sacred topic for me, no matter who it is, i'll be happy with it. i'm more interested in the overall mystery of why someone would open dark fountains, than the identity (or identities) of who is opening them.
like, i get why people believe kris is the knight of the cyber world. obviously kris did stuff while their soul was caged (ate a pie at minimum lol), so sure, they could've created the fountain. alphys mentions the internet being out when school is over, which - is implied to be connected to the fountain being created, so the internet being out early in the day implies the fountain could've been made in the middle of the night. also, berdly and noelle don't need to have been in the room studying when the fountain was created for them to be in the spots we find them in when we return to the lightworld, since in chapter 1, when susie and kris return to the light world after their adventure, they're in the abandoned classroom, despite the fact the last time they were in the lightworld, they were in the supply closet. if darkworld shenanigans can make you move into an entirely different room (as was true in chapter 1), it's not a stretch to say it could also make you get out some books, and sit in chairs far from the door.
but kris just as easily could NOT be the knight of the cyber world. why didn't ralsei notice the fountain until susie and kris leave castletown? why does kris approach the fountain to seal it without our input?
also obviously... in chapter 1, kris backs away from the supply closet when the Dark World Aura is oozing out, and the door is slammed by SOMEONE when they and susie enter it. i know the argument is usually "kris made the cyber world" and not "kris made both the card kingdom AND the cyber world", in argument of multiple knights. but then why does kris have the save file in the dark world in chapter 1 that we write over?
but if kris made both darkworlds, how'd they learn to? why do they seal them? why'd they back away from the door? WHO SLAMMED THE DOOR?
a pet peeve of mine is when people leave out these contradicting details in their arguments for different knight candidates, but ultimately i do get why people do it. it's easier to form a cohesive argument/narrative if you leave certain details out since a lot of things contradict others.
moving onto another mystery, ralsei! i got my socks blown off by this theory, specifically the part (24:21 - 25:25) making a connection between goners as sort of "duplicates" and how that would tie ralsei to asriel.
but beyond that, i'm very curious how attitudes will change towards ralsei (will there be a big surge in fans of ralsei? or a big surge of ralsei haters? will everyone be just as confused????).... and i'm curious why he wasn't present in the footage of chapter 4 shown at the nintendo direct, i know he's shown up in other chapter 4 related things... but-
actually... speaking of that trailer WHY ARE KRIS AND SUSIE DIFFERENT COLORS? (the fact ralsei is shown in screenshots from the chapter where they have their typical colors seems to imply they're different points in the chapter) and it's crazy that in this footage posted on social media that kris is in the same area as was seen in chapter 1 before arriving at castle town... it's obvious that the area would return at some point. it's very exciting that it's return (to some capacity) will be in these two chapters.
oh! the spamton sweepstakes stuff also. i really liked this video going through it, specifically worth calling out is the section from 32:37 to 38:32 discussing the number pages. i had the tiiiiiiniest unrefined idea when i saw the pages on my own when the update happened, so hearing the way OP explain it made me go "yes! exactly!"
i also liked this video covering the same stuff... specifically the part (30:32 - 31:16) connecting IMAGE_FRIEND, which thanks to it's appearance on the cat petters game seems to be a cat, to "mike", but tying this to the idea that mike could be mike as in... mikeneko (三毛猫)... the term for calico cats in japanese.
okay second to last thing. this one note on the cheatsheet "Some bosses may not be able to be defeated with violence. Likewise, some bosses may not be able to be defeated nonviolently. When it seems like you need to fight, please do so with conviction." has me conflicted. when i first saw it i got this grand idea for two different secret bosses, one for each major route (normal, or weird). i've been hoping that the secret boss is based off the knock off controller under asriel's bed (goes along with the theme of being forgotten/overlooked), and the idea of two different secret bosses made me go "THE TWO CONTROLLERS...." but after thinking on it more, i think this is thinking on it too hard and it's just explaining unusual cases like the giga queen fight that needs to be ""violent"" or the spade king, where it doesn't matter... the only thing is i can't think of any enemies/bosses that NEED to be defeated nonviolently? but i've only ever done nonviolent runs, so i wouldn't have noticed.... i guess we'll find out soon enough!
anyways, i should wrap up, i said so much lol. everyone vote now on your phones, will i go crazy for toriel? toriel is my favorite character in undertale, but since she's been in a small role in deltarune so far, she's been in a similarly small place in my thoughts... given chapter 2's ending, she might have a bigger role! so yes. vote now on your phones, will i go crazy for toriel, or will my love for her be confined to the undertale universe lol.
last thing. i was hoping i'd have the time before the chapters release to round up various deltarune related drawings i made from 2021-now that i haven't shared publicly into a "sketch dump/page" sort of deal, but there isn't enough time now. perhaps i'll do something down the line... in march i actually was working towards making a kris keychain sort of thing. one side being their lightworld form, the other being darkworld form. i've never done fan merch like that before, but as u may guess from this journal, i'm quite passionate about this series so it feels like a good start lol.
it's ironic because a little over a week ago i turned on tomodachi life for 3ds for the first time since 2022, and now today it was announced that a new tomodachi life for switch will be releasing next year! i am so over the moon about it.
i remember first learning about tomodachi life through lin and ko, a youtube couple i started watching because of their coverage of animal crossing new leaf before it released in english, showing the game off. their perspective in the video was very "this probably won't be officially release in english since tomodachi collection didn't", so i was very surprised when it was announced it would be!
i bought it soon after release, and so in the summer of 2014, i had a character roster of me, my then two closest friends, and characters from shows i liked (i was taking a break from making my own characters at that time). i had a lot of silly fun, especially from my ""look-a-like"" and my then favorite character being married.
as is with most games, i eventually stopped playing regularly.
cut to 2018. at that point i'd been having a blast with own characters/stories for two years. but only just then occurred to me how fun it'd be to put them into tomodachi life.
this ended up being the most passionate/regularly i got into the game. i got my three main ocs levels well into the 80s (i'd like to get them to 99 before living the dream comes out), figured out all their most favorite and least favorite foods by giving them every food item i had access to, and sent them to space.
so anyways! after i accomplished all this i felt i'd run out of things to do. i turned on the game in 2022 to add my girls bolton and yorkie into my island, but i didn't get back into the rhythm of playing from that... unfortunately i was feeling the shortcomings of a title that at that point had turned 8 years old. which brings us to last week when i turned on the game again... and brings us to now!
i'm so excited for this new game! i love how the miis look (very cute! very promising!), and how open the island looks! i like that everyone seems to have their own home, as opposed to living in an apartment complex.
additionally, the full view of the island in the 3ds game feels like a menu, meanwhile now.. at least from what i gathered from the reveal(specifically the part from 0:34 - 0:47, but admittedly most of the shots back this up given they're outdoors moving freely, albeit at a closer angle). it seems to be a pretty default/advantageous view to scope out the going-ons of your little guys when they're not in their houses!
here's my biggest hopes for this game:
- gay relationships. which is likely given nintendo said they'd be in the next game after tomodachi life released in 2014. i'd also like to hope that miitopia is a good sign? but it feels less direct given the difference in genre.
- the miitopia switch port's mii customization options... or even more!
- a way to introduce mii's to each other
- the option to make miis related to each other, but not to you. (as it is, you're able to mark your own relatives as related to you, but two miis cannot be marked as related to each other unless it's through two married miis having a kid.)
- a way to more specifically manage how a mii acts (how their personality is & manifests)
i'm also curious what team is making the game! what i think is interesting is how previously the same team (SPD group 1) who did tomodachi life also did rhythm heaven, meanwhile both games got announcements in this direct... which means they can't be being done by the same team!
the producer of both tomodachi collection and life has more recently been working in EPD group 7. so perhaps it's them! very big change of pace for them to do metroid dread, famicom detective club, and then BOOM tomodachi life... but tbf. the producer's credit before those two game's was miitomo so it's happened before.
i'm also very curious how the person to person interaction will be in this game. obviously tomodachi life is a single player game, but there was spotpass/streetpass, and being able to send share miis. i wonder how that will go!
my only disappointment is one i can easily live with, and that's the release date being next year. it would have been great to have to wait less long, but deltarune chapters 3 & 4 are this year, and who KNOWS what next week's direct will have in it. it could be nothing but silence and i'd be happy given today's announcements. the funny part though is that it's been a minute since i've been excited for a video game like this (splatoon 3 is probably the closest comparison, because as pumped as i was for pikmin 4, i managed to be pretty chill about it) so i kinda forgot how to deal with that brand of anticipation.
lastly, it's surreal to age wise be the place where i'm at. i remember when pikmin 3 was shown off at e3 2012, and i was watching youtubers react to it. they were all talking about how long it's been since pikmin 2 released, and how they remembered it's release vividly and personally, so it was so amazing to now have a sequel before their eyes.
those feelings were very esoteric to me. i understood them in that i understood what those words meant, but when i thought of 2004 (when pikmin 2 released), i thought of being a very small child who didn't keep up with video game news, or releases.
now i'm here, remembering being a teenager in 2014 when the game had just released, and feeling that "wow it's so amazing to now have a sequel confirmed" those youtubers felt about a different game back then. it's surreal!
in taking the plunge and making visage of sweet love, i've learned a lot of things! it's humbling to realize how much i needed to learn to actually see a project through to some sort of fruition.
something that's been on my mind with that: is how many hats we need to wear.
to make your own work: you need to brainstorm/come up with ideas, which has different needs from sketching - which itself can manifest as a form of brainstorming, OR as laying the groundwork for a finished piece, and those two themselves necessitate different approaches.
then once you have a sketch (regardless of which variety), then you have to take the role of a decision maker. deciding what parts you like - and will bring forward, and which things to let fall by the wayside in the quest to see it through to being a final piece. and that quest is arduous! and requires donning so many different hats in itself, and the ones it requires of you can change piece to piece - depending on what the piece is.
something i've been thinking on within this is how some things can be productive at one point, but not at another.
for me for example (and from what i've gathered, is also true of many others): i love listening to music and daydreaming of scenes. for me, this is really productive when i'm in the brainstorming phase! it helps me come up with ideas, or hone in on preexisting ones. and it's good for when I need a morale boost!
but when i'm in the phase of seeing a piece through to it's fruition? it's just me avoiding putting the work in (whether that be not wanting to be the decision maker, or otherwise), because it's not conductive to me being productive at THAT point in process specifically.
and that "it's productive at point Y, but not productive at point X" is what's jarring to me oftentimes!
there's times where i'm working on an art piece, and i'm so painfully aware of my own limitations. whether they be material (what supplies i have) or experience (how many hours i've spent honing in on something), but the bottom line is that sometimes i just become so aware that i don't know what i'm doing as adequately as i'd like to.
the knee jerk insecurity is that in a few years from now, i'll look down my nose at the piece with disdain. but truthfully, i tend to be kinder to my past self now than i was when i was younger since i realize the harm it can do. nevertheless, the insecurity remains.
to grow and learn is to brush against your own limitations. part of that is grieving not already being done growing and learning. it's rough!
it's tempting then to just not work on the piece/project, but obviously that means less introspection and improvement. it's just avoidance.
it's really walking a fine line? if you have too much ego, then you won't try challenging things so the illusion that there's nothing more for you to learn won't be broken.
meanwhile if you have too little ego, you'll lose the drive to take on challenging projects because you'll have such little faith in your discretion.