Mechatalk: Real Robot or Super Robot

Not really a mechatalk post but in this blog post i will discuss about Super Robot and Real Robot in relation with the Poll that had been up for a while in this blog. First of all i have to thank everyone who had participated the poll for over 6 months. From the poll results out of 41 polls 29 prefers Real Robot which sums up to 70% of the total polls while Super Robot only account for 30% of the poll. The reason why i decide to put up the polling is to see which niche i should focus with for the blog in the future but it does not mean that i will neglect one niche over another.

Personally i am a real robot fan myself since Real Robots were the dominant niche in my time as it slowly take over Super Robots. Super Robots is quite unpopular to the current generation of anime fans considering the niche gradually become more obscure after seeing its Golden Age in 80s. One of the common things that i see from Super Robots that cause them to be unpopular despite having great mecha design are either having lackluster plots in their series, significant quality problems and overstretched plots which are rather common for 80s mecha series. Some of the good of example of these cases are Zeorymer, Dancougar and Aquarion which SRW series definitely help to contribute for their popularity.

While there are some gray area in distinguishing Real Robot with Super Robot considering some of mecha series takes several aspects of both niches and the series is taken into one niche if it mainly focus on the aspects of that niche. Out of many Real Robots series that i watched/read, some of the series that depict the characteristics of Real Robot really well are Full Metal Panic, Votoms and Patlabor which i will leave to future discussions how they manage to become the best example of the niche. Now it is time for me to prepare my review of the year

Gundam Seed Battle Destiny announced!

At last Vita got its first Gundam games made by Artdink which is well known for its Gundam Battle series. This time Vita get Gundam Battle series as well which features Gundam Seed series including Astray. It seems Bandai promotes SEED series rather intense for the HD Remaster of the series or perhaps there is something else that Bandai had in mind. From the first look, the graphics greatly improved from the PSP counterpart of Assault Survive at least and probably the gameplay will take some elements from Battle Memories. Personally this is not a game that urge me to get Vita soon as i am still skeptical with the gameplay due to Artdink's habit of over reusing materials and my bad impression left by Assault Survive which is a total grindfest. I am still waiting for the PV for clearer look on this game but my expectations wouldn't be high. I hope this game wouldn't suffer Bamco treatment of abusing DLCs and i wonder which mecha game will be coming next on VITA.

After Wars Gundam X

A promising yet really underrated Gundam series

Merry Christmas everyone!

It is abit late already but better than never, me Yami as the author of Realm of Darkness would like to say MERRY CHRISTMAS! While personally i don't celebrate Christmas myself, i begin to appreciate this very day that is considered to sacred for follower of Christs. Personally i think Christmas is not about having luxurious banquets or getting presents but gathering with your family and spend your precious time together which is something that money cannot buy. Being the last few days in the end of the year, Christmas is also the perfect time to reflect things we have done over last 12 months and think over what we should aspire for next year. For Christmas, other than the classic Christmas Carol i would recommend to watch Gundam 0080:War in the Pocket which is a perfect watch for Christmas. Once again i would like to say MERRY CHRISTMAS and hope we learn something valuable from this particular day.

Here is a music video that i find fits perfectly with the theme of Christmas

Mechatalk Gundam: EX-S Gundam

Arguably the most powerful mobile suit in Z to ZZ Gundam era.

1/100 MG Duel Gundam AS new Update

From the latest issue of Hobby Japan we finally get the release time for the MG Duel Gundam Assault Shroud. The kit confirmed to be released on February next year with the price of 4200 Yen. Initially i expect Duel Gundam will be released around march but i suppose Bandai is rather fast to release them as they just need to reuse the existing frames of Strike Gundam. While i plan to get this kit, i don't think i will buy it soon enough as i will spend plenty of my budget on January for several releases on that month. As a part of SEED HD remaster program i would say Aegis would have the biggest chance to be released after Duel Gundam if things going well.

Image source: Cybergundam

Break Blade Movie 1-6 Review

A worthy adaptation of the original manga.

Fate Tiger Colosseum Upper

The sequel that had even better story and more hilarity.

Ys 1 & 2 OVA

Just now i watched Ys 1 & 2 OVA which was left in my closet untouched for years. Surprisingly it is a decent adaptation in its time despite being non canon by now. What really contrast the OVA with the game is the character design especially the first one which really differs with the character design of the present YS 1 and 2. While the OVA take on different turn on telling the stories of the series, The OVA reveal more of the series settings such as the motive of Dark Fact and his character in Ys 1. For some reason the animation style of Ys 1 and 2 is different with the later had better animation(The Twin goddesses look quite beautiful in Ys 2 OVA) which i would say really good at its time. For fellow Ys fans i would recommend to try to give a watch for the OVA while probably for non followers these OVAs probably look like a generic Fantasy anime. I hope someday in the future there will be anime adaptations for Ys again.

ES Alloy Baikanfu / Vi-kungfu

Recently the classic mecha series Machine Robo: Revenge of Chronos get another treatment again. This time the lead mecha of the series Baikanfu got ES Alloy treatments which is a lineup made by Fewture that resemble with Megahouse Deformover and focus on classic mecha title from 70-80s era. The ES Alloy of baikanfu consist of 3 units which are Rom Stol , Kenryu and Baikanfu itself and Pile Formation gimmick also available where the smaller units can be put inside the larger one just like Matroshka Doll. The ES Alloy costs 8400 yen since the size of Baikanfu is 16.5 cm tall despite having an SD proportion. I am a big fan of Baikanfu itself considering i am still seeking for its Soul of Chogokin because it is one of my favorite unit in SRW MX and Rom Stoll is really badass for trolling the enemies at all times and i hope future SRW this could feature this guy again. 

Macross Frontier movie: Sayonara no Tsubasa thoughts

The proper conclusion of Macross Frontier

1/12 Chirico Cuvie

At last i got some internet connection set up in my current staying place and thus i will resume my blogging activity. Anyway i have been interested with some Votoms figure after i watched Votoms series last year. This particular figure is Chirico Cuvie sculpted by Yamato few years ago in 2005 and meant to complement the Scope Dogs that Yamato made on the same scale. The figure quality is great for its time and the only flaw i see from this action figure is its face sculpture. Chirico Cuvie is the lead character in Votoms series who is a battle hardened AT pilot who seeks to be freed from war. Chirico is very well known for his prowess as an AT pilot and survival skill where he can get away from situations where a normal man would have died already. Unfortunately the action figure is discontinued already but i would love to buy this guy if it is ever restocked. For your interest the pilot of Alteisen in SRW OG series, Kyosuke Nanbu had his character based on Chirico.

1/100 MG Delta Plus Review

I call it Knight of Gold δ

Volks A3 Fubuki Get!

Got my package from Mandarake last week and seems like my last loot for this year. This version of Fubuki that i got is the Japanese Imperial guard version which i mistook it for the UN version when i ordered it from mandarake. I get this Fubuki for 2500 yen which is the same price with Tamase's Fubuki and probably the actual UN Fubuki would be more expensive. Apparently the Japanese Imperial Guard version of Fubuki seems to appear in Total Eclipse as part of the Prominence Project where Yuuya probably pilot it for a while. Definitely this won't be the last time that i get Volks A3 since i need to get F-4 and F-15 first before stopping collecting these lineup.