Tekkaman Blade 2

Tekkaman Blade is one of the scifi series that are generally well received on /m/ but for some reason its sequel is almost unheard. Thus i am taking a look into the series out of curiosity and finds out why the OVA got such treatment. Tekkaman Blade 2 continues 10 years after Events in Tekkaman Blade took place and earth are confronting Radams with their full scale assault while facing some threats from rebelling incomplete tekkaman. The story focus on the new generation of Space Knight's Tekkaman who are training to fight Radams replacing Blade. Basically the OVA destroys what the Tv series had been built up and we get unappealing new story instead. This is quite similar with some anime series that i watched because that's the risk when creating a sequel from well established series without proper execution. The weakest aspects of the OVA is the new characters who are just lackluster when they are compared to the old cast of Tekkaman Blade and even fanservices(which are plenty in this OVA) doesn't help the main characters to be less shitty. But what puts me really off is that the design of the new Tekkamans which i find doesn't really feel like a Tekkaman and more like generic tokusatsu design. You won't lose anything if you didn't watch the OVA but you can give it a watch if you like to see D-Boy in some action and Opening is not half bad.

Armored Core 3

I am not really good at Armored Core games but i always really like the series. I have played couple of AC titles but rarely finish any because the series is not that noob friendly. but at least things are getting better for me since i managed to beat the final stage of Armored Core 3 recently. This makes me finished 2 AC series including this game and Formula Front. The last stage is not that difficult, despite you had to fight 2 ACs at the same time in which i used Heavy type EO AC with Grenade Launcher. For now i am going to hunt secret parts and gather OP-Intensify skills so i could have some funs by having my AC shooting back weapons while standing. I recommend this title if you want to get into the series since it is the easier one(don't touch Last Raven first!) and quite fun. Though i wish there are decent ranged weapons for left hands in this game.

1/144 Alteisen Riese WIP log

In this post i will put all of the links of my Alteisen Riese WIP which makes it easier to find my WIPs and also neater at the same time. Certainly this is not the best of my WIP yet but i will promise there are going to be more WIPs in the future starting with Shiranui perhaps.

Alteisen Riese WIP 1

Alteisen Riese WIP 2

Alteisen Riese WIP 3

Alteisen Riese WIP 4

Alteisen Riese WIP 5

Alteisen Riese WIP 6(Final)

Megaman Legends 2 finished!

After over 10 years this game is released, i managed to complete this game at last even if it is abit too late. I really had high expectation with this game since i never been able to finish the game back in the past. Unfortunately my expectation of this game is betrayed and i find Megaman Legends 2 is rather lackluster.

In this game i managed to clock 12 hours for my first playthrough which could be even shorter if i am not going back and forth looking for stuffs.The first reason why i am disappointed with this game is that the game rather lacks of content and gives false sense of big overworld, while the world map seems big there are only handful places can be visited. Apart from the 4 main dungeons, the rest of dungeons are pretty small and boring. Secondly i find the game is counter intuitive because you are forced to search every corner of cities in order to find materials to make sub-weapon which i don't mind if it is located in dungeon. Long story short, the game basically force you to waste couple of hours to look for those items if you are not using faqs. lastly the weakness of this game is the story and character, while i didn't expect much from megaman series in this department, i think legends actually managed to be the worst among other Megaman titles mainly because some characters plainly lacks of common sense or it is due to degradation by the dubbing. Nevertheless, Megaman Legends 2 still did well in terms of gameplay just like most other Megaman series did but i still find mechanical designs of Legends are rather silly.

Despite i heavily criticise Megaman Legends, i am still a fan of megaman series at heart because i spent my teen with them, Regarding Megaman Legends 3 i am taking neutral stance with the cancellation of the title because i think Capcom had a valid reason even if it is not ethical one. I think it is better that the game cancelled halfway rather than it bombed really hard when it is released and disappoint the fans like a certain conclusion(cliffhangers) of other megaman series. However i believe that the reasons why Capcom decided to cancel Megaman Legends 3 are significantly affected by Corporate politics(Sony? Nintendo?) rather than simply profit(which is still major one) but Capcom still pulled the decision really slow (probably intentional). The only regret that i have with MML3 cancellation is the chance to see the game to be improved but in the end 3DS still got Monster Hunter anyway in exchange of this title.

1/144 Alteisen Riese Review

The Old Iron Giant rise once again!

Armored Trooper Votoms Shining Heresy

After i watched the TV series of Votoms, finally i managed to finish the Shining Heresy which is the chronological sequel after the last episode of Tv series 4th season. Taking 32 years after tv series ended, Chirico awakened again after long slumber but find his lover Fyana, missing. Soon after Chirico awakened, he find himself targeted by a religious sect and seems that his destiny this time force him to face this religious sect to save his lover. I find the religious plot in the OVA is really confusing but the battle animation is superb as always(though abit scarce) and now i find out some people said the OVA is quite tragic. If you have been following the series, Shining Heresy is a must watch as it is one of the main part of Chirico's story but you had to watch the TV series at least or you will get confused with the plot. With this the only Votoms OVA left for me to watch are Mellowlink, Case Irvine and Phantom again which will conclude Chirico's tale and probably i will start with Phantom first.

Real Robots Final Attack

Recently i am finding searching for some PSX games to be played on my psp and i stumble upon this game. Real Robot Final Attack is an action game which is similar to Sega's Virtual-On in terms of gameplay and just like its name implied, the rosters consist of Real Robots(except Shining Gundam and Dunbine i guess). The game also featured SRX team of SRW as secret units which is the main reason why i have a try on this game. In terms of quality, Real Robot Final Attack is quite lackluster especially in graphic department which is even worse compared to Saturn's Virtual-On and obviously Oratorio Tangram wins undisputed. Probably this game is the closest thing to knock-offs ever made by Banpresto  though i think it would be lovely to see a Virtual-On game with SRW OG cast. If you looking for some psx mecha games i think you might consider to look into this game as it is actually fun for a while except the final boss who spams even worse than Jaguarandi.

Detonator Orgun

Obari's Finest Hour?

Holyland

Out of several Martial Arts mangas that i read, Holyland is probably one of the few that had a lasting impression for me. The story is about a mysterious figure called Thug Hunter who beats up delinquents at night in city which cause some unrests on the street. It turns out that the Thug Hunter actually a normal highschool boy called Kamishiro Yuu who used to be bullied really bad and the manga revolves about his life on the street. Unlike most martial arts manga that cover a particular style of martial arts, Holyland focused on street fighting and incorporates some aspects of martial arts styles. While this manga doesn't have any flashy techniques or superman-like character, i find the fighting techniques in Holyland is quite practical compared to other martial arts manga. While it is not the epitome of Shonen manga, if you like martial arts probably you will really like holyland.

1/144 Alteisen Riese WIP part 6

Finally we are at the final WIP of Alteisen Riese which will cover the Backpack parts. Unlike Alteisen, Riese have rather huge backpack as a part of the upgrade which looks really cool when expanded.

The Wing Binder has the greatest number of parts for backpacks and apparently plenty of seamlines too. I cut some of the White parts to make easier insertion for the red parts without disassembling it so that there will be less risk of the seamline showing up again.  The Wing Binder connector to the back also took some works as there is no workaround for this one.

 The tail binder on the backpack is probably the part in Alteisen Riese that has biggest Seamlines took a while to fix the seamlines but in the end it works as well.

 That's the current progress of the kit right now and eventually i will put up the full review of the kit by next week at least and please look forward for it. With this post, it marks the end of the 1/144 Alteisen Riese but i will be making another WIPs in the future.

SRW Original Generations Gaiden Review

Onore Dark Brain!!!!!!!!!

Jigoku Sensei Nube

This series is one of the manga that i really like to read when i was in primary school and middle school. Jigoku Sensei Nube or Hell Teacher Nube is one of the Shonen Jump title back in early 90s with theme of Youkai which is somehow prevalent around this era. The story of this manga is about a Primary School teacher called Nube who is just assigned to Domori Primary School as a Homeroom teacher for 5th graders. He is an exorcist possessing a powerful demonic on his left hand and apparently the school need him due to high spiritual activity within the school which will often involve his students. The manga is well known for ecchiness level in its era and reference of the pop culture of Japan throughout its period. As a horror manga, i find this series is quite scary back then especially the earlier volumes though it gradually becomes more generic shounen manga but it still have some awesome moments. The series had 33 volumes though the current scanlation is rather slow probably due to low interest. If you like youkai manga like Ghost Sweeper Mikami or Nurarihyon, i think you will enjoy this manga too.

1/144 Alteisen Riese WIP part 5

This time the WIP comes to the 2nd part of my work on the arms which will cover both left and right arms at the same time. Perhaps i will be able to complete the WIP with one more progress and then it will goes straight through Review.

A significant amount of time i spent on this kit is to undo the works that i had done to the kit before, which are Gundam Markers most of the time considering my iven modelling skill at that time. I used Acrylic thinner to remove the paint which finish the job at least though not as good as Gundam Marker Eraser.

Arms part had quite significant amount of seamlines though some of them are not that noticeable on the kit, but anyway i will still need to work on them anyway.

This is the upper torso that i applied putty before has already painted and the result is reached my target more or less.

The arm parts that connect the lower arm with shoulder is one of the more annoying part to work. I never really like to work White colored parts since Spray Paints is not the best thing to paint white color and they are really easy to get dirty. When i work on this part, i find that Primer somewhat helps in concealing the Seamlines which is helpful for this part.

Compared with the left arm, i find the right arm is trickier to work with, this is because the Revolver Bunker had plenty of seamlines and i need to insert the Nail parts first before attempting to apply the putty which is slightly annoying.

Out of the parts i worked one, this is the most annoying parts i had to work on due to the assembly method. I cut some of the parts to make the other parts that connects with it is easier to insert since i need this part in one piece to remove the seamlines.

With this the WIP leaves the backpack parts left and probably i could show the progress rather fast.

Hobby Japan Type 00-C Takemikazuchi

I was a little bit surprised when i came across this pics when i lurked at GundamGuy. From the recent Wonderfest, Hobby Japan show the Type-00C Takemikazuchi model at their booth. From the posters shown on the pics it appears the model is featured on July issue of Hobby Japan last year and it is really awesome mod. Type-00C is the fourth variant of Takemikazuchi which are used by the lower ranks of Shogun's Royal Guards. While it is the weakest version of Takemikazuchi, it's performance is quite high and easily surpass Shiranui. I wonder if Kotobukiya will ever release the head parts of the type 00-C?

Late February loot

These stuffs are what i bought around the end of last month which are from Amiami mainly and again no gundam stuff this time. I boguht myself a Kotobukiya Shiranui, SRW OG Masoukishin 1&2, Volks A3 Shiranui and Machine Robo Revenge of Chronos DVD. I decided to buy Shiranui since it is technically the lead mecha in Alternative which makes it a must have for me and i will be do some paint job for it as well. Apparently i decided to get Shiranui's Volks A3 as well since it was pretty cheap in Mandarake and i think it will provide a better comparison with Kotobukiya's lineup. The Volks A3 Shiranui had Blast Guard and Impact Guard which would make nice pairing with Kotobukiya's Shiranui once i built it.

I bought Machine Robo's DVD from local DVD store nearby my place. While i am not really interested with the series at the first place, SRW MX makes me decide to give the series a watch. I don't think the DVD is genuine copy but it is good enough since it is hard to find old mecha series like Machine Robo over the internet.

When the game was announced, i preordered this game immediately at Amiami and decided to skip the NDS version of the first Masoukishin. The game comes with Maosukishin OST which contain the Masoukishin 2 OST that have the latest version of the series music. Currently i am playing the first Masoukishin at the moment and i would say this game is quite awesome while slightly differ with other SRWs that i have played.

If you had PSP get this game immediately!

1/144 Alteisen Riese WIP part 4

Another WIPs for my Alteisen Riese, this time i will show the work for Upper torso part and some starters for left hand since i forgot to make enough documentation on torso part. Anyway the upper torso work is rather simple since i just need to fix one part with seamlines only. I also have completed painting the lower body part which the results is shown below.

I think the results doesn't look that bad but certainly it would be much better if the kit is in good condition. Most of the noticeable seamlines are taken out already but there still some bits left on the back leg. The lower body is simple enough compared to the some parts that i will be working on.

This is the part of the upper torso that i forgot to document for the upper torso, the paint job are quite straightforward though the head part is slightly delicate. I snapped the Plasma horn back in the past which makes me have to handle this part with care and probably you could seem some cement mark on the horn.

As for the hand parts, i also working on the left arm which would probably has the most annoying part to work on along with the right arm. This is mainly due to the wing stabiliser parts which is one of the few parts you would rather not to work on after assembled it and it has quite noticeable seamlines too.

That's all for the WIP this time and i will update the WIP again in 2 days.

Denjin Makai 2 / Guardians

One of the great hidden gems of Arcade Beat em Ups!