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Five years ago he met his wife at work. And now, though he could never have those years back, four words were going to make it all better, take the weight off and remove the hands around his neck, so he logged in a request, “please kill my wife”. To make that wish come true, all he needed to do was remove the string from around the neck of the straw doll that Enma had given him and she would give him his revenge in three shakes of a lamb’s tail. His revenge was expensive, both he and she, two souls bound to hell to fulfill one wish.
He stood in the driveway of where she lived now. It was a quiet suburban neighborhood with a top tier school district. Every driveway had both a car and an SUV. Must be nice to have two and a half incomes, he thought.
He held the doll. To destroy his wife all he had to do was pull the string to untie the knot, which felt delicate, as if a breath could undo it. He felt so warm, so cozy, when Enma appeared to make all his dreams come true.
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Click to enlarge or view on Flickr
Review of Enma Ai from Alter
Alter actually made a figure with a good looking base? It’s a good thing they did, as I think the figure would have felt a bit plain without it. The base looks great. At first the sunburst on the floor looks a little odd, I mean that’s one worn out floor, but when you sit the figure on top of it, sunburst creates an attractive halo around the figure. Now that’s a complementary base, a perfect example of how the base can enhance a figure.
The sculpt itself is decent and the pose is nice and relaxed, plus the figure does have an aura about it which gives it a little bit of life. The mood conveyed by the figure Perhaps it’s not quite as razor sharp in the details that I’ve come to know from Alter.
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Click to enlarge or view on Flickr
Other Stuff
I haven’t seen Jigoku Shōjo: Hell Girl. I love the artwork though. Any opinions on the anime? Worth renting a disc or will it make my eyes burn and make me wish I never watched it? Sometimes a series is best enjoyed through the art books where you can form an opinion or relate to the characters based on how the artist depicts them.
Watching a few shows had taken some of the luster off of a character that was built up from what I had imagined from looking at illustrations and design work. Saber and Rin were so much more appealing before I watched Fate/Stay Night, though Rider’s awesomeness did manage to survive — though she was so underused that there wasn’t much time for the anime to wreck her. It’s not that F/SN was awful, but the anime had none of the atmosphere or mystique that I saw in all of those wallpapers and stuff. Shana is another one I wished I just stuck to the artwork.
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Click to enlarge or view on Flickr
Click to enlarge or view on Flickr
Oh my, dark little thing Enma Ai is. Jigoku Shoujo never really had me latch on to it, but Enma Ai’s design was pretty damn cool. I like this figure quite a bit at that, I didn’t even know they put out this character in figure yet.
I really like the stark constrast black-on-white from your first post-review picture. Excellent snap there, and uber kudos for the red feathering opening pic, subtlety in colors is awesome.
Fate/Stay Night’s anime was very subpar… it didn’t really carry or reflect the generated awesome the game had originally brought to the eroge world in the slightest. Then again it’s not too often a port-to-tv version of a series stays true-blue to the games they emulate. Clannad for example is a rare gem in this light, FSN? Not so much. I’m with you about Rider though, I just wish she’d have stayed around longer in the series.
I hate how you make a such ordinary figure so … so … HAWT LOOKING.
I think you might react to Ai-chan here the same way with Saber and Rin, as you watch the show, but I think it’s a worthwhile experiment. Mamiko Noto fits the role well.
Wow these are great photos that you have taken. I have only seen about the first 5 episodes myself. So far I like it. Worth the rent I think, not a purchase.
I haven’t watched the show but always thought the designs looked gorgeous like how these photos have turned out. I love it. XD
Wow, that one close up of her face is amazing! I love these photos! I really like the eyes on this figure.
Hell Girl is good for a renter. Nothing too exciting, but it’s fun hearing some familiar VAs sent to hell.
Although in all honesty though, I got it because of the Mamiko Noto factor. Yeah I’m shallow indeed.
Nice pics too. It has the right mood with the dark background.
Worth renting… but things don’t REALLY pick up until Tsugumi and Hajime are introduced, to give it a ’story’ to complement the episodic formula of ‘person condemns another person to Hell’.
great shot, love the first image
got the hellish image out of her
Great pics of the extremely creepy Enma Ai. The show is really a hit or a miss affair. You’ll either immediately love or hate it.
I love this set of photos, the red fur thing looks just right with her. I have watched both seasons of the anime, the first season is repetitive and doesn’t get interesting until the end, the second season was much better.
i love these photos! i seriously look up to you and your photography skills! If i could get even half as good as you it would be amazing!
Hellishly great pictures ^^
Watched the anime mainly because of Noto Mamiko voicing Ai. But since you watch anime with english dub, I can’t really give any advice. I have not started the second season, since the first was a bit boring to me and not really my cup of tea.
I guess most of animes are just a kind of promotion for other supports, like games, mangas, novels… seeing how much stories and/or characters like F/SN’s or Claymore’s are underused.
Though I don’t think Jigoku Shojo is like that, since it has a second season.
That second picture is absolutely perfect.
And I love the red fluff, makes her look really creepy ^o^
I have not watched the anime, but I thought it looked at least a little interesting.
Len: I imagine she kind of slipped under the radar. I remember when Rider makes her exit in the show, I was like that’s too soon! That fight with her and Caster was a highlight of the show.
Omo: Thanks, but the figure looks real good in person too. That base does a lot to enhance it.
Tuna: My Netflix queue is getting real long.
Deranged: With character design art this good, I really do want to know if it squeezes all the jelly out of the donut by watching.
Bigearl: The sideways close-up? I liked how that one turned out, makes it look like something is going on in her head.
Nork22: It must be fun for the actors also to send people they know straight to hell! Second Noto fan.
Haesslich: So there’s even more than the usual 6-8 episodes before getting to the story?
~ron: She kind of does have that look.
Yamcha: At least I’ll know if I don’t like it at first, I probably should press on.
Valho: Hopefully I like the first season enough to get to that better second season, though if not much is really revealed in the first season and I don’t like it, I’ll still give the second one a shot.
Dancing Queen: Oh wow…*blushes* As long as you really enjoy doing it and think about it before, after, and while you’re doing it, then…
Lu-k: Another Noto fan! I do watch good shows in both languages, but usually first in English.
A lot of anime do seem to be support material for other products. It almost feels odd when a show isn’t from some other property, especially those shows which are supposed to be accessible, easy to watch.
Morimoli: The faded ones gives it an older feeling to the shots or something. I don’t really know it just looked good to me when I was playing with the saturation.
Okay, that’s a really cute figurine.
I have this ordered the other day on hobby link and hopefully I can get it by the end of this month. I haven’t watched the anime series either, but going to watch it some day…
I have read your site for going on a year now, and this is by far my favorite set of pics. Great Job!
LianYL, of course, aren’t girls who send people straight to hell always adorable?
Lsio, I don’t know about you, but the wait always kills me, which is why I can’t ever use SAL.
Vik, hey thanks. Glad you’ve been checking things out.
oooh. I love the high-contrast in this shoot! It really brings out the dark side of this figure! Excellent!!
Nice pictures as always, really like the first and third picture. Tell me do you use any sort of lens filter to take the pictures or just a photo manipulation program like photoshop?
I use is Photoshop Elements 4.0.
Amazing photos of Enma Ai but her eyes doesn’t seemed to give chills like in the anime. By the way, why didn’t you take some pictures of her doll?
Gosh, I’d give anything to take photographs like you one day! Your Enma Ai shoot is lovely!
[...] time to time, super rats brings us another one of these figure postings that leave me without words. It makes me want to buy the figurine, but then I think “There is [...]
I preordered her then canceled because of money problem . But seeing your shots made me buy her , getting her in two days . Thanks for helping me losing money :p
Awesome shots , i think it’s maybe the best fig in the way she totally looks like in the TV show . I can’t wait for next Jigoku Shoujo season ^^
nice photos you took ^^
now kind of regret not getting her
Great Shots!
Very Seductive Poses ^^
Maybe you should start taking Pics of girls for their boyfriend.
While your shots are great,i actually dont like the figure.Speaks for your photography skills
Photographing actual people…I could go for that, but really have no idea about how to get that going.
Are you still using your Cheap Lightning Setup?
I guess with that it would be a bit more difficult to take shots of actual People^^
Cant wait for your Photobook.How far have you come so far with it?
Gonna try Shooting some Pics with your Guide in the next Weeks
Essentially. I’m using two swing arm desk lamps now (mainly got tired of switching which side it was on…plus when shooting against a white backdrop I aim both of them at the backdrop to blow it out somewhat evenly). The tabletop lamp I used in the tutorial, I no longer use that, but use a different lamp that uses a compact spiral like the swing arm lamps. All the bulbs are still the daylight bulbs, which can be found at a hardware store, Lowes to be exact.
Photobook…I have to get back to that. It’s just one of those things that I set aside and set it aside way longer than I thought.
Hope you get good results with the tutorial.
Enma Ai… I am so envious!
I can’t find any of her figures now T_T All sold out.
Awesome pictures though, especially the one with just the white background. I think that emphasized her beauty more.