As I look back, I think 2013 has been really amazing.

The year has brought me great opportunities and unforgettable experience in my hobby life. While I may have short comings, I always look on the brighter side of things and keep positive.

It started in January 2013.

I haven’t been active in Deviantart, I logged in there to just keep my account updated and share few photos to toy photography groups. When I logged in, I was surprised to a get thousand notifications and realized that my Azunyan’s Birthday photo received the Daily Deviation award.

I made this set for Azunyan’s Birthday on November 2012. I made those tiny birthday decorations, from hat to birthday presents. Azunyan is actually my fave among other K-On girls, and K-On is one of my fave anime too.

Later after that, Super Sonico in the Recording Studio stole the spotlight. This set of Super Sonico has received great feedback in MFC and Facebook fans.

It was one night I feel like I want to take photos of her, inspired by the bands I watched in Youtube, so I recycled the background I used in the past and shoot. This is one of my personal fave set I’ve made in 2013.

A month after that, I made the next set which I truly enjoyed the shoot. It’s Nano and Hakase’s Everyday life. It was even featured by Mamitan in Good Smile Company tumblr and even Danny Choo enjoyed the set leaving a comment in figure.fm “Great photos and write up!”

The truth is, the anime Nichijou was really funny especially Nano, Hakase and Sakamoto scenes. If you haven’t checked the series out, then you should. 😉

Late March 2013, Tokyo Otaku Mode’s interview with me was published on their website. Being part of Tokyo Otaku Mode as Special Creator has introduced me to wider audience -worldwide.  Tokyo Otaku Mode is otaku/anime related platform based in Japan with other popular Special Creators like Redjuice, JohnHathway and Kishida Mel. They share my work to their 14 million fans on  Facebook, thousand followers on Twitter and Google+.  I am really grateful with TOM that I’ve brought smile to many people’s faces through them.

and then sometime last March, I received a notification in TOM.

Being a fan of Good Smile Company nendoroids, this made me jump on my seat. Still not sure if he’s the real Takanori Aki. Lol. >_<

In April, Kotobukiya started sending their Cu-Poche samples to me for figure photography. Which I happily accepted the offer for I am a fan of their figure line. I currently have 6 Cu-Poche! Cu-Poche is the newest chibi figure line with articulations and very cute.

I remember having an interview from SomethingWeLike.com last 2012, I was asked what would be my collaboration/dreams like and I answered “It would be nice to be working with Good Smile Company.”

Looking back at that moment, months after that interview, it was Kotobukiya who contacted me. The time when Kotobukiya noticed my work is one of the best things. When I started figure photography in 2011, I didn’t expect that a Japan toy company  would be interested. It’s really an amazing experience and one of the best highlights in my  hobby life. My Cu-Poche figure photos were published on their Facebook page.

The most well-received Cu-Poche photo set is Kirino Kousaka. I recreated her room in the anime and made dozens of figure boxes for this shoot.  This is 2nd most visited post in my blog.

In June 2013, I got invited to be part of Figure Photo Studio. It is a group of figure photographers with members JF, Vixion, Allgroassi, and Nikicorny from Indonesia. These guys are active in anime conventions such as Anime Festival Asia-Indonesia and Singapore.

Figure Photo Studio sells very cool figure photos (posters, calendar, Miku Photobook and badges) by talented members. So if you happen to live in Indonesia and Singapore, you can grab these goodies for sure.

Because of the movie Despicable Me 2 popularity, Minion fever kicked in sometime in July.  Minion toys were so popular that I also joined the trend.

This Minion photo playing cards was featured on Tokyo Otaku Mode and got 45,000+ likes and shared more than 7,000 times. It was also shared in Official Minion Facebook page. Crazy isn’t it? 😀

August 2013, Revoltech Philippines also contacted me to do toy photography of their Yamaguchi figure lines. I think it’s great to know the right person in this community. I was actually recommended and introduced by my toy collector friend (Hubbyte) to Revoltech Philippines.

Revoltech figures are really challenging to shoot, aside from the fact that I don’t know the characters. But challenge is fun in toy photography.

It was October that I was also invited to be a creator of GoBoiano. Another anime related content and platform and still in Beta. The people are also friendly and accommodating. Once they open, be sure to check them out. I think they are giving away early invites who like to join the group.

Last Thanksgiving Day, Danny Choo also shared my Mirai Thanksgiving photo to his thousands of fans in Facebook and Twitter.

In November and December, I got featured at Tomopop. I’ve been a constant visitor of Tomopop ever since I started collecting and being featured there is an unforgettable experience. They featured my video of Nendoroid Dressing Up, Thanksgiving and Christmas-themed photos. Yay!!

I always enjoy reading figure updates and reviews in Tomopop. I used to join their Monthly Megapixel photo contests and sometimes I still join especially if I really like the prize. It’s fun being challenged with such a theme.

I also found out through a fan in Malaysia that I’m in Kreko Magazine Issue #34 of December 2013.

I didn’t get a copy of the magazine. I think they based the information in my Tokyo Otaku Mode interview and my biography here in wordpress.  I just hope that someone can send me a copy.  It’s just awesome to be in an international magazine don’t you think? Haha.   >_<

This December, I made Christmas-themed shoots and one of them is Asuna and Kirito which is by far hit the most visited post in my blog, this photo is also featured on Tokyo Otaku Mode, Good Smile Company Facebook, GoBoiano and Sword Art Online page. It has received POTD award on MyFigureCollection.net and was over the internet for the past week.

Not really a SAO anime fan, but I am a fan of the couple. I like their pairing and it’s really nice to make romantic shoots using these two.

Looking at these events that happened in 2013, it’s been really a fun year for me. I am thankful to all people who are behind me and in full support. I’ve made new friends and met awesome people in the internet and in real life. My room has become more like a stock room or toy store. I should seriously consider buying glass display cabinet next year @_@

May this new year 2014 brings another amazing experience and opportunities. There is always room for improvement to self and skills. I will gladly open myself to new adventures.

Hopefully, I will have my own photo book published next year. It will be announced in my Facebook page, so watch out for it. ^_^

My next post will be on New Year’s Day. See ya!