Raystorm 1/144 R-Gray 1

I am never good at Shoot'em up or STG game but i do play some of the series due to the plane design and these genre were part of my childhood. One of the STG title that catches my eye is Ray series which are published by Taito back in 90s which i played Raycrisis the most. A few while ago Kotobukiya released a model kit for the plane model from Raystorm which is called R-Gray1 in the game which is the standard model of the plane used in every Ray series. What makes Ray series different with other shooters is that it have lockon system which you can destroy offscreen targets to make them stop shooting or coming to shoot you on the screen, The main fighter in the series use standard bullet and laser cannon to shoot offscreen opponent. I only just played Raystorm recently on my Vita through PS1 Classics which is a blast. As for the kit, it is quite expensive costing more than 5000 yen base price but if you experienced modeller, i think this kit is a good one to build. Personally i find the base color of the model is too bright and i think if i ever got one of this kit, i will make it in 2P colors. Speaking of STG game, 90s is the best time and i played Psikyo's title alot and Dreamcast got plenty of them as well. Though i wished PSN had more STG games other than the PS1 classics which i hope Ikaruga will show up someday.

Gundam Build Fighters, Ongoing thoughts

  I have considered to share my thoughts about Gundam Build Fighers when it finished as usual with other anime but i will just do it now before any possibility of disappointment when the series ends which i hope it won't. I would say this is one of the recent gundam anime that made me smile(and giggle abit) especially with the episode 15 which is the best episode yet. Gundam Build Fighters feel like Danball Senki in terms of story structure considering it is aimed to the young audiences but unlike Age i think Sunrise pull it off properly this time by not alienating the older fans because the more you have seen previous gundam series, the more satisfied you will be as Build Fighters pays homage to all previous series(except Age). I still feel that Build Fighters could help some more G Gundam which would make Build Fighters even more awesome but so far the series is still good. It really feels that the team who animate the series have good passion in mecha or gundam at least considering Obari also joining in which makes the impression "from the fan to the fan". As for characters i like Kawaguchi, Fellini and Dallara who are just awesome as they shown some passion in the fight and does not rely on too many gimmicks with their gunpla. Never like Nils and Iori/Reiji because they the opposite of the characters that i find likable considering these characters are aimed for young audience as self-insert. As long as Build Fighters does not get way over the top i think it will be really enjoyable series for the Older fan and while i am not a big fan of Wing Gundam, i will get MG Wing Fenice which is likely considering Bandai is churning out Build Fighters MG model which Fenice should get one due to the popularity.

If you could pilot your gunpla like in the Build fighters, which model would you like to use? i would be using High Mobility Gyan or Marasai with beam naginata and Zeta gundam i have to pick a gendum

Blue Gender

This is one of those few animes that got interesting concepts but the ending totally ruined the series and make it forgettable. Marathoned the series on December and i can see how Blue Gender got its reputation of grimdarkness and how it ties with Muvluv series. From what i know Ryosuke Takahashi served as the creative director for Blue Gender but he is not the main director in charge which is why i can see the outcome of the series. The story of the series basically about humanity fighting giant insect creature called Blue(basically mix of Radam and Starship troopers bug) to reclaim Earth as their home with some kill'em all and gore thrown here and there.

Blue Gender really strong lead heroine and protagonist with good potential as well as great Real Robot mecha concepts. I think that the concept of the main heroine regaining her humanity while the protagonist slowly losing his is an interesting one but Blue Gender didn't properly pull it off until the end to make any impact. Also another problem from the series, is that it kills way too many side characters for any good story development which at least have some of them survive until the end. The first half of the series is done quite well but from the second half, Blue Gender slowly decline and the ending probably drive the last nail to the coffin. The movie could have create a change but in the end it is even worse than the TV series.

As the header of this post implies, Muvluv does take plenty of inspiration from Blue Gender, mainly for the TSFs and BETAs. The Assault Rifle, Servo Arms and couple of bits from TSF are based on Armor Shrikes parts and you can see F-22's spiky kneecaps is a homage to Armor Shrikes in a way. While Blue doesn't have many similarities with BETA when it comes to appearance, the concept does. From the Hives and how BETA make humans as their raw material is likely inspired from Blue Gender, i think that Sadogashima Hive Spire is also inspired from this series as well. There is one Blue strains that is probably the inspiration for Ruitare or Destroyer class which i can't find the picture but it is shown in the early episodes. With this much similarities you can see how Blue Gender influence Muvluv and in a way you can say that Muvluv is the more commercially successful version of Blue Gender. Unfortunately from Alternative onwards, the series have been stagnating too much.

Blue Gender probably makes a good SRW material with gruntish mecha like Votoms and the OP theme definitely will make an awesome theme in SRW. I still wonder why there are no single plamo or two ever comes out from the series. If you like Muvluv, i think Blue Gender worth to have a watch to see one of the series source inspiration.

Assault Gunners

A mindless fun 3rd person mecha shooter in PS Vita

S--CRY-ED,

 In order to wash off my bad aftertaste from Valvrave, i give a watch another anime title made by Sunrise back in early 2000s called s-CRY-ed which turns out to be a fun ride. The story is typical shonen but i never expect Hirai sameface works fine for the series and my opinion to Soichiro Hoshi become much better after finishing the anime. Storyline is quite simple, after great disaster in Japan ,some people got special powers called alters which similar to Jojo's stand. Shortly after the phenomenon, the people with special power divided into 2 groups, one sided with government and other one does not serve anyone which the plot of the series revolves around the rivalry of 2 Alter users from opposing sides. The main appeal of the series is the rivalry of the 2 main characters which is just full of hotblood and manliness. Never expected Soichiro Hoshi can tag along with Hikaru Midorikawa really well, at first i thought Hoshi can only play characters like Kira Yamato but with his role as Kazuma, i respect him even more. The main villain of s-CRY-ed is well written one, for a shonen series a good villain is someone that can make you absolutely hate his guts and s-CRY-ed have one. If you ever want some anime that makes you feels manly afterwards go watch this series and you won't

Non Scale ARX-8 Laevatein

I have been predicting Laevatein would get a kit eventually after Gernsback and Arbalest got one from Aoshima but never expect that Kotobukiya would be the one that release it. The kit will be released on March this year with 5500 yen price tag. The sample looks gorgeous but from the accessories that i see, i think the kit doesn't have all of its armament from the series but it still comes with its signature howitzer that can one shot Behemoths along with shotgun and knee blades. Laevateinn is Sousuke's ultimate arm slave which is named after Surt's legendary fiery sword which got more powerful Lambda Drive that are enable it to fire the Howitzer without recoil which could have wrecked the Arm Slave normally. I will keep my finger crossed on this kit if it ever got the final loadout set somedya which have Laevatein armed to the the teeth and still wonder if Laevatein will be granted an appearance in SRW?

Legend of Galactic Heroes Quotes: Free Planet Alliance

In every age

In every place

The deeds of men

Remains the same

 So at last this time is the LOGH Quotes for Free Planet Alliance side which i will also throw in some Phezzan quotes. Free Planet Alliance is a showcase how democracy can turn for the worst as the people in the government prioritize their self interest over the well being of the nation and alienated the virtues that were the foundation of the nation itself. What makes FPA significant is that how it portrays  the current situation in Developed nations nowadays which is scaringly accurate. While majority of the characters from FPA side are less memorable compared to their Galactic Empire counterpart, Yang Wenli himself  makes up for it. Again he is probably the wisest character that i have ever seen in anime, no even in fictional works and probably he is the best representation Republican Democracy in the most idealistic way in anime. Nevertheless i do like some characters from FPA like Poplan, Schenkopp and Bucock who are really good character which you should observe if you are watching the OVA. As usual the contents are spoilerific and better you watched the OVAs first before treading into this post.

You can check the quotes for Galactic Empire here