#Azone International

[roomly]

My Sweet Girl／くれは（スウィートピンクver．）

[grailfigure]

Remilia Scarlet // Touhou Project

PureNeemo (1/6) by Azone

[my-plastic-life]

I did a thing... actually, I did several things. :D My ani-ME (anime doll version) needed manga in her house, so of course I had to make mini Inuyasha manga! I've done this before, but this time it's different... I didn't do miniature versions of the Viz BIG volumes. Nope, I did all 56 original Japanese volumes. Because ani-ME is in Japan, so she must have the original volumes!!! :D What a task this was - because the volumes are so old, it's hard to find high resolution pictures of them online. And even if you do, many times it's just the front, not the back and definitely not the spine. I found some, but then the front and back cover colors were completely different, some had text and graphics cut off from what was most likely a scanned image, the colors were inconsistent between various websites, some colors were clashing badly due to low quality resolution, etc.

So I literally made a template in Photoshop of the real size of the original manga (obtained via Amazon) and rebuilt EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. from scratch. I was able to find a site with all the original cover photos, and then I found the most high resolution cover I could find to duplicate the pattern that's on all books (colors vary), recreated the logo for each book (the character symbols and the gradients are all different for each volume), redrew the SS Comics logo that's on all books, and I even replicated each individual barcode. Because I'm nothing if not a consistent perfectionist. :D

For the backs, I used the images I found and just copied and pasted the characters and Japanese text, and for the teeny tiny characters I used the brush tool to trace over them. Even though I knew you probably wouldn't be able to see them in such a small scale, no way was I leaving them out! Consistency, darn it! :D

For the spines, I found complete sets on eBay and used a photo of the spines from those auctions as a template. I redid everything on the spine except the character head at the top of each, which is copied and pasted from the eBay files. They're definitely pretty low resolution, but hopefully it's not noticeable at such a small scale.

And the volume numbers? Try as I might, I could NOT find a font that matched them. So I got the most high resolution volumes I could find and made number templates... so each time I needed one of the volume numbers, I'd just use a color overlay on it and plop it where it needed to go on the front and spine.

Then the fun part - resizing them all to 1/6 scale. They're a little over an inch tall right now. And because they're not very thick in the spine, wrapping the covers around foam board to mimic pages wasn't working. So I had to make pages... for 56 volumes LOL. I just took my cover template, sized it down, and made it a blank white with a black stroke so I could see where to cut. I could fit 11 mini pages in one row across a regular sized sheet of printer paper (I used cardstock for extra thickness and stability), and I could fit like six rows on a sheet. I was able to fit 11 pages in one volume to allow the spine room, so 56 volumes x 11 mini pages each = 616 total pages I wound up cutting, then stacking and gluing together. But, of course, that wasn't a perfect fit, as the pages, despite being sanded down to be completely straight and smooth, poked out of the covers. So I had to wrap the covers around the pages, mark where they hit, and use an X-acto knife to trim the pages down before gluing them inside the covers.

But finally, I was done! It was time-consuming, but I love how these little books turned out. They don't open, but that's totally okay. That would be way too much work, and every time I make a book that opens, it never closes again. I did, however, manage to find some pages from the original first volume (in Japanese), so I printed a second volume 1 cover and glued those pages inside. So now ani-ME has an open book she can read too!

So there you have it! My mini, 1/6 scale Japanese volumes of Inuyasha - all 56 of them! I made that bookshelf just for them, but I intentionally left more room in case I want to add more manga later. But of course we had to have Inuyasha manga on the shelf - it's the most important! :D And the poster on the wall is totally a tag from one of my shirts LOL.

Showing off her new bookshelf stocked full of all 56 volumes of the Inuyasha manga:

Relaxing in bed, reading from the beginning:

Why yes, she is reading the Inuyasha manga on an Inuyasha pillow :D

All 56 volumes on the bookshelf:

What do you do with an Inuyasha shirt tag? Make an instant doll poster, of course!

Front covers:

Back covers:

Volume 1 pages (glued in order, right to left):

Size reference (shown with American penny):

[aerohail]

[the-woods-call-me]

~~ Cuddle Buddies ~~

Azone Picco ExCute "Moi Lumi" Raili and Cocoriang "Wizard Tobi"

[poteusaloppy]

[enivaqueen]

[nymphodisiac]

Не поверите, спустя три года от предыдущего я сделала групповое фото. Это мой табун на июнь 2023.

[struungout]

Pulled Alaska out of a drawer for the first time in years. She’s super cute, but I just don’t do anything with her. Gave her a wig and outfit change and plopped her down with my Angelphilia and custom Blythe.

[ghouls-rule]

[h0neytune-cherub]

Sahra Meow × Meow a la mode Secret Story by Azone International (via)

[roomly]

Alice/Time of grace Ⅲ～Easter Bunny in Wonderland～Caffe latte(通常販売ver.)

[grailfigure]

Akemi Homura (School Uniform Ver.) // Puella Magi Madoka Magica

PureNeemo (1/6) by Azone

[my-plastic-life]

It's March 3, which means it's time for hinamatsuri! Kiku loves checking out this festival every year. A Japanese festival with a big emphasis on dolls? We're both there! She's currently enjoying two different displays.

Hinamatsuri is an annual festival in Japan known as the doll festival or girls' day. The day is meant to celebrate having a daughter. The festival was traditionally known as the Peach Festival, as peach trees typically began to flower around this time. This is no longer true since the shift to Gregorian dates, but the name remains and peaches are still symbolic of the festival.

The primary aspect of the festival is the display of festival dolls in an elaborate fashion. Layers of dolls are displayed, with the emperor and empress on the top. The most recent emperor and empress were enthroned in 2019, marking the start of the Reiwa Era. While there are many ways to display these dolls, a full set of festival dolls includes seven platforms as follows:

1. Emperor & empress 2. Ladies of the court 3. Musicians 4. Ministers 5. Servants 6. Personal items of the royal court 7. More personal items of the royal court, plus hishi mochi

Emperor & empress:

Ladies of the court:

Musicians:

Personal items of the royal court and hishi mochi:

That was the new 2023 Re-Ment Hinamatsuri set. I also have this set in my collection from 2011, which features only the emperor and empress.

During this special time, girls also receive special sweets made of rice called hishi mochi. These sweets come in three colors: pink (meant to chase away evil spirits), white (symbolizes purity), and green (symbolizes health). The shape is believed to have originated in the Edo period, and to be a representation of fertility.

Handmade dolls are given to a young girl in February in a glass case, which is displayed prominently until March 3, then put away until next year (leaving them up on March 4 is believed to be unlucky and result in a late marriage for daughter). In many areas, the maternal grandparents still present the dolls.

This concludes today's daily cultural lesson. Enjoy!

[aerohail]

[the-woods-call-me]

~ A Lady's Study ~

Azone "Welcome to Picco ExCute" Himeno