Merry Christmas Miracle's Bell edition

 Merry Christmas for 2015! Hope you have a pleasant day with your family this day and may next year will be even better year for everyone! For this year's Christmas i would like to share a song to fellow readers, a song from Sakura Taisen series that suits the mood for this special day; Kiseki no Kane or known as Miracle's Bell in English.

 The song first appear in Sakura Taisen 2 during the Christmas event in the game where Ogami can take one of the Kagekidan member for a Christmas date. Personally i think this is one of the more memorable song from Sakura Taisen series and perhaps this song starts that certain Christmas fad in anime. While I doubt Kiseki no Kane originally has such intention i just find the Japanese take on Christmas after the song onward is rather disrespectful toward the Spirit of Christmas. Christmas is supposed the day where you spend some quality time with your family and not your loved one not the day where couples spend night together on Christmas indulging in Carnal Pleasure like it was shown in anime like Amagami or School Days. I guess these kind of trends are inevitable with the nature of capitalism but the problem is if things like Christmas constantly get this kind of treatment, its original meaningful value will eventually fade away. I am not Christian but i do find this day is meant for spiritual cultivation and not for over-indulging in worldly pleasures which i hope people going to keep reflect on.

Dorei to no Seikatsu - Teaching Feeling

 Usually i don't discuss about Nukige for this blog in general but here it goes. Saw this game when lurking 4chan as usual and checked it got rather some kind of cult following in Japan becoming best-selling game on DLsite in short time. Dorei to no Seikatsu or Life with a Slave is a short text-based interactive game where your protagonist is a Doctor who just got a girl slave called Sylvie with burn scars all over her body as a token of gratitude from his patient. It is up to you whether you let Sylvie continue her wretched slave life or let her regain her humanity.

 The game is your typical simplistic text based Ecchi Simulator but it does got some interesting gimmicks if unpolished. The first instance i saw Sylvie, she instantly remind me of Hanako from Katawa Shoujo and her design is just perfect for hugable waifu material. i suppose the Crippled+Slave girl did make a winning combination in Japan whether it makes more adorable characters in some way or to fulfill weird fetishes for some people. If the artist is smart enough, he should use this momentary fame to rake more cash by making some sort expansion or ultimate version of the game in the form of more contents especially the interactions and the flavor text. I won't say this game is a Diamond in the rough or something but it does have a chance to become something more than a Nukige. I wonder if this will influence Japan's moe trend though i doubt it will be.Even if it is White Knight syndrome, it does feel nice doing good deeds in a game to help emotionally scarred character such as Sylvie by patting her head everyday and make her fall for you.

Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha

 Saw this on /a/ and marathoned the manga straightaway. Quite decently written romance manga i recently read which is quite rare even for Shoujo genre nowadays. Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha is the story about the friendship of a girl and a fox deity and after some random events, The deity lends the girl a fraction of her divine power. The divine power lent by the Fox Goddess allows the girl to transform to anyone which she used to try get herself closer with a boy she had a crush with. I find the main heroine which is the girl to be unbearable but it is as expected for a mid school teen doing stupid stuffs in shoujo manga for the sake of drama.

However the actual story of the manga is the love story between the Fox Goddess and the girl's Older brother. I just find the older brother and deity's love relationship too adorable and never had one so satisfying since Genbu Kaiden. I thought it would have been better if there were more obstacles for their romance since "The greater the obstacle, the greater the love will be" due to the nature of god and mortal relationship but considering the manga's setting took in modern one i guess it can't be helped. My gripe with the manga is how sometimes they handle the god-human relationship since i thought they respectful treatment. But in the end, overall the manga did the pacing really well and concludes thing satisfyingly though i don't mind a spin-off for the aftermath if the mangaka decides to make one. Doubt that i will give the anime a watch either since it was rather incomplete

SD Gundam G Generation Genesis

 After 3 years of long wait finally we get a new G-Generation gundam game! more importantly for the newer generation platform too which have been long anticipated! Nothing much have been revealed so far since the Youtube trailer is basically nothing but so far from what i know the game will be released around middle of next year and the rosters will be likely Universal Century era only covering up to Gundam Unicorn. So just like G Generation Spirits in PS2 i guess the game will serve as a change of pace since the last 3 G-Gen games which covered AU timeline.

I really don't mind the game will focus on UC timeline since it allows the game focus on MSV series that previously didn't get much attention. However i will tolerate the game only if they don't put the same campaign map all over again which they loved to do for 0079 and Zeta. I also prefer if they don't put too much spotlight on Gundam Unicorn because personally i find the series to be unbearable with its autistic characters. But seeing the trend of Bandai in the recent years, there's a good chance they will do these things and if it turns out to be true while they slack on content, probably i will stick with G-Generation Overworld or the upcoming Extreme VS. I also hope one of these days Bandai could make a new version of Gihren's Greed eventually since the series deserve one too.

Madan no Ou to Vanadis

 Another LN series worth mentioning! Madan no Ou to Vanadis or Magic Bullet King and Battle Princess is another Fantasy series that i have been looking at recently. Up until the current LN translation, i find the series got some potential even though mediocre for now but still definitely much better than the recent fads of Wish Fulfillment or Uber Reincarnations which plagued Japanese fantasy genre with disgusting self pandering works. The Premise of Madan no Ou is a Feudal story telling the fate of a Noble Son intertwined with Seven Girls wielding Great power called Vanadis after a fateful encounter with one of them. Skilled with Archery, the Noble Son wielding mysterious family heirloom bow took a Fire Emblem-esque conquest impressing the Vanadis one by one with his strength and wits and basically gathering a harem for himself.

The reason i believe the series got potential has to do with the lore, depending on how the Author handle the Fluff and unveiling the secrets, Madan no Ou can be a mediocre fantasy manga or a great one. The manga adaptation of the series are quite good so far managing to balance the storytelling and fanservice which i hope will keep go on. The protagonist is not that beta which is rather common for this genre and that's good. But for some reason the main character really remind me with the one of those typical lords from Fire Emblem series since he got quite similar characteristics with them save for wielding Bow as his main. My favorite chapter from the series so far is the amnesia arc since seeing an Ice Queen melts does make a good sight which i hope will get decent treatment with the manga. So if you like harem fantasy title you can give Madan no Ou a read and the LN translation are available over BakaTsuki.

1/8 Al-Azif (Max Factory)

 I have been re-reading Demonbane like last month to remind myself the series awesomeness as a mecha series and at the same time a terrible Lovecraft adaptation. Thus i have been searching Al-Azif figurines to add into my collection and out of several renditions i find Max Factory's to be the best one. The figure was released on 2006 which aged already for today's figurine standard however Max Factory's rendition captures Al-Azif's proportion the best in her gothic lolita form which is why i am putting my attention on this one. Al-Azif or Necronomicon is the main heroine of the Demonbane series, she claims herself to be the strongest Grimoire who looks for a master to fight against Black Lodge until she find Daijuuji Kurou to be her last master and lover. Al-Azif is one of the most memorable Nitroplus heroine for me due to her strong personality and she just makes an awesome duo with Kurou. I still really hope Demonbane will show up to another SRW game since they deserve much more spotlight as an awesome super robot series.

Another Century Episode 2

 Another Century Episode series is always one of my favorite Mecha Simulator games, while not as hardcore as AC series, this is the only game that provide solid crossover mecha action experience. I used to play this game as a teen back in high school but never managed to finish the game unlike ACE 3. Out of 5 entries to the series, most of the fans who had gone through most of the games will agree that the only solid games of the series were 2 and 3. While the first one was riddled with issues as From tried to figure out what works and what doesn't, on ACE 2 they begin to find the working formula to the series. I will try my best trying to give the necessary coverage of the game in this post.

Saint Blaster Get!

Finally i got one of my long sought B-Daman Toys which i used to have years ago but lost them due to stupidity as a kid. At first tempted to get the set for 350 RMB, but in the end got the whole set for 200 RMB on Taobao which is quite reasonable and the kit's condition are not to shabby either. I could have got the Blue and Yellow Bomber's unit easily but it was the White one that's really hard to find and if it is not a complete set, there's not much meaning collecting them. The reason i bothered to collect this vintage stuff is because the kit represented well some of my favorite gimmicks in mecha; Gattai and Openable Cockpit. Since i got the Saint the Blaster, i just need to get the Black Dragon to complete my Saint Dragon set which is no easy task since the cheapest one i saw in Taobao was around 600 but eventually i think i should be able to find one for reasonable price.

Meanwhile i also manage to get the Mystical 4 Symbols version of B-Daman toys similar to Saint Dragon set for 100 RMB but the kit's condition is worse but still workable. Though from my impression it really looks like a villain's mecha and it got Gattai gimmick too! If you are interested to look for B-Daman toys in Taobao try search 弹珠警察 on the website.

Jurassic World

 Just watched the movie and considered i followed the series from the shooting game, thought about sharing some of my opinion about the movie. Frankly speaking Jurassic World got so much potentials with the ideas but in the end got them wasted. I believe Jurassic World got message to tell as well however unlike the first movie, it never goes past half way in this aspect which is why it failed to leave a legacy like the first movie and just become another movie of the year. From what i comprehend about the movie's idea, Jurassic World is about human's greed causing them disregard the nature and at the same time trying to play God to gain further profit which leads to retribution they receive as the consequence of their folly to.

 Indominus Rex supposed to represent this message in the movie but i guess it doesn't do enough carnage to show it, they should have allowed her to eat some of the visitors instead of Pteranadon pecking around and drop some to the pool for Crocodile food. In short Indominus didn't show absolute terror to show "how insignificant human is in this world" just like the CEO guy said in the movie who's probably the best character in Jurassic World. The movie got some decent buildup on the first half of the movie but through the second half, everything just go flat. Apart some of the characters most of the cast in the movie are quite forgettable, even the brats aren't annoying enough. I don't know whether it is the curse of the series but none of the sequels have managed to surpass the first movie at all. Jurassic World tried to surpass the high bar that Jurassic park had set for decades already but failed to accomplish it in the end even with much more sophisticated special effects because it goes half-hearted to deliver the message. I still hope the next movie could do better.

My Top 5 Capcom Beat'em Ups

 For some reason i just feel like to write down the topic about this, Capcom in early 90s made lots of quality Arcade Games but i remembered them most for their Beat'em ups. They made lots of Quality titles on this genre which establish themselves as one of the dominant Game Devs at that time. This is my top 5 favorite beat'em ups out of dozens of choice based on my personal choice which is definitely subjective so you does not need to agree with my list.

Ad Astra

 Another Promising historical manga here covering one of the most famous war in the Ancient Period, Second Punic War. That war is never complete without Scipio and Hannibal and the manga so far did a good job of portraying them though so far they are quite a bishies. I think what makes this manga appeals for me is that the liberty that the author to fill the dots of the 2nd Punic war yet still able to make it believable. The author also did a respectable job of portraying that there is more factors than the battle itself that affects the outcome of the war for instance the Romans lost badly in the beginning as their leaders were motivated out of self interest and Hannibal did a good job of making use of it. So far the manga had cover up to the famous battle of Cannae which was Hannibal's greatest legacy and the translators should be able to catch up eventually. I am curious how the Author will be able to handle the story after the highest point of the 2nd Punic War which should put his skill into a test. Personally i think why Carthage lost in the end even though they got Hannibal is because they were not as unified as Romans who were bunch of loose ends at first but unified due to Hannibal ironically. Personally i think Ad Astra should be on par with Historie and definitely make a good read for those History buff out there

Farewell Cthuko...

A short post dedicated in Condolences for Miyu Matsuki who recently just passed away after long-fought battle with Pneumonia. You shall be missed by you fans and for me your role as Cthuko was great one. Even though i never like Nyaruko as a series, you make the series Hilarious with your attempts to make Nyaruko and Shonen your lover. Good Night Sweet Princess.

Hanachirasu

 I think this is one of the most random VN i have read so far and probably my least favorite out of Nitroplus VN so far. Just like Kikokugai, Hanachirasu is VN with plenty of violent actions revolving around Japanese swordplay. However in the end the VN didn't make any lasting impact for some reason as everything falls flat in the end. I still don't really get what kind of message that Hanachirasu tried to convey or perhaps there was none in the first place but it does have some shock value. In some way Hanachirasu is kinda like reverse Kikokugai just that it is bit more nihilistic.

Max Factory 1/7 Kotona Elegance

 While Zoids Genesis is rather disappointing at very least it got pretty good eye candies like Kotona and Reimi. Out of the two characters Kotona obvious got more figure treatment due to her voluptuous body and Max Factory created one of the best rendition for her on 1/7 scale. The figure posing on the chair is probably based on the illustration given by the famous artist Tony Taka on his doujin. In Zoids Genesis, Kotona Elegance is a zoids pilot from mysterious tribe that protects a great secret. She is very skilled in Assassination and carries lots of hidden weapons so she is kinda like Femme Fatale version of Fiona from Chaotic century. Kotona pilots bird type zoid called Rainbow Jerk which is specialised in Recon and aerial combat thus not as powerful as Ryuji's  Murasame Liger. Probably Kotona harbors some feeling to Ryuji which make her shota but probably she will let Reimi take Ryuji due to their sisterly relationship. Kotona is one of the more attractive female design out there though it was kinda a waste that she was used on kids series like Genesis.

Saya no Uta

"Fuminori.. to you, who loved me... i give.. this planet"- Saya

 I think this is my third time reading this Stellar Nitroplus works and still gives me the same chill just like the first time i read this VN which was before this blog was up. I should have covered about this VN years ago but will do it this time given the opportunity. Saya no Uta is a very short VN but the it is undisputedly masterpiece with its twisted yet beautiful story . The story borrow on Lovecraftian theme to take on love story of a man who finds himself in love a mysterious girl called Saya after having his perception distorted into hellish vision and Saya was the only normal looking person to him. The story pretty much focus on the relationship between Saya and Fuminori as they only find solace with each other being the outsider of the world and their journey to find some semblance of peace. The love that Saya and Fuminori shared may look twisted yet it is pure at its core which is why the VN is quite popular in Japan.

 As i become more familiar with Lovecraftian Horror being exposed to some of his works and some RPGs and Boardgames, i grew to appreciate Saya no Uta even more than in the past. You don't need to borrow the name of Cthulhu or other Eldritch gods to make a good Lovecraftian Horror and Saya no Uta is a testament to that. The VN portrayed the core value of HP Lovecraft works; "the sense of Human's powerlessness against Enigmatic Cosmic Entities" and "the truth that leads to Insanity" perfectly and even make it blended really well with beautiful love story which is rather rare feat for Japanese Work. Saya no Uta is easily one of Nitroplus Best work and you will miss a great deal of good stuff not reading this VN. I think Saya no Uta story would make decent Custom Call of Cthulhu campaign or Unique Rumor for Eldritch Horror since it adapts Lovecraftian element well. Also if you want a good Lovecraftian Japanese work go for Saya no Uta and not Demonbane or Nyaruko. I wished Saya had a Nendoroid since she is one of the Nitroplus chara that deserve one the most.

We Love Katamari

 Katamari series is one of the most original stuff i have seen in gaming world in my opinion and playing the game is just another whole different experience. Since i get PCSX2 running again obvious i give the series a try again from the original platform and play the 2nd Title of the series; We love Katamari. My first Katamari was the Me and My Katamari which is on PSP and made me instantly fall in love with the series. We love Katamari was kinda different than i expected, while i though it has bigger scale Levels, turns out it is not but at least you get to roll the Sun in this game! 

 Rolling things to oblivion surely lighten up your mood for some reason and Katamari is one of the better choice to unwind things from a bad day. Music plays really important part in Katamari since they contribute to the game that makes the experience of playing Katamari become such an Acid trip and We Love Katamari got some of the best song of the series. While the newer titles of the Katamari were disappointing especially the Vita one, at very least the PS2 Generation ones are undisputedly good games and doesn't really age.

DXF Monster Hunter Male Hunter Lagiacrus X Review

As Promised i am taking some shots for DXF Lagiacrus X,  I never expected Banpresto had a production line for figurine until i got this Lagiacrus X figurine. Impression wise it seems that DXF lineup appear to be big ticket ufo catcher price but the sculpt is still quite good for the caliber. I got the Lagiacrus X and its matching Gunlance for 200 RMB which is abit expensive that i should have spent. But i would expect the price turns to be the same if i ordered it from Japan anyway.

Zoids Genesis

 Another backlog cleared from my constantly piling anime stash and glad finished the Series. Overall Zoids Genesis as kids anime is decent enough but as your regular stuff it is much left to be desired. The overall plot formula is based on previous Chaotic Century it is just that there are lack of the variations. The Dilga empire Zoids are really plain compared to Zenebas Empire as they only get 4 or 5 variants in the show which are basically more boring counterpart of Empire's Zoids. Even the  Zoids designs from protagonist that i find cool are only Murasame Liger and Sword Wolf. The sole redeeming point of Genesis for me is that it got good eyecandy Re Mii and Kotona and it is up to your preference to pick one. Worst part of the series is that the doesn't even get proper closure, i wished Tomy would have bothered to show the aftermath of the finale at very least.

 I think Genesis was intended to reboot the interest of the Zoids series through anime but i guess it failed at that considering Genesis was kinda in the part of twilight of 50 Episode anime shows that are used to promote toys as we don't see this type much anymore by mid 2000s. While the series is lackluster i would be happy to watch the series if i was a kid. If you are interested with Zoids series you can play Zoids Legacy game in GBA which is really fun but if you want Genesis stuff you can check SRW K and Zoids DS which are unfortunately still in Japanese. Lastly out of the two girls from Genesis, which one you prefer? Re Mii or Kotona?

Another batch of loots here!

I think i have spent abit too much over the Chinese golden week early this month getting rare stuffs from Taobao yet again. I spend almost 1000 RMB getting some MH and Persona stuffs as well as a Muvluv Kit. Overall i still get these items slightly cheaper than the official japanese price and some i might spend abit much but still in the end turns to be cheaper than getting them shipped from Japan because domestic shipping in China is really cheap.

For the loots this time i got CFB Rajang with DXF Lagiacrus X which makes decent pair then D-Arts Elizabeth and Thanatos from Persona which is Asian copy distributed by Bandai Hongkong which the sculpt looks legit enough which is acceptable for me since it is kinda hard to find the Japanese copy of the figurine without breaking a leg. I will definitely get P3 Protagonist Figma and i would imagine the chinese "Official" Good Smile Company would stock up one eventually. Lastly i also get Type-00C Takemikazuchi and i got it for around 250 RMB which is like 5000 Yen which is still reasonable enough and definitely will have it painted one day.

I won't be reviewing any of them anytime soon like my previous loots since i don't have the proper props at my current place but probably i will take some shots for the Lagiacrus X in few days.

Armored Core Nexus thoughts

First time i wrote full blown opinion of this series which i should've done a long time already being a big fan of the series. I've had plan back then to play Armored Core Nexus ever since i finished Last Raven on my Vita (and i have beaten final pulverizer too) years ago, but my laptop at that time was too weak to run the game. As of now i have finished my first playthrough and i kinda see how Nexus attract many haters due to some flaws. As for me i find the game to be still decent but kinda lack of punch, the one that makes AC3, Silent Line and Last Raven more memorable. Also in this post i will share some of my opinion about what makes this series so appealing.

Gunka no Baltzar/Balzer

Another promising manga i happen to see when lurking the web as long as the author doesn't screw up. From a first glance the series give an impression of mixture of Koukoku no Shugosha, Pumpkin Scissors and a sprinkle of Valkyria Chronicles. The story roughly take place in 19th century-esque setting narrating about the life of Bernd Baltzar, a promising young officer of Weissen;roughly equivalent of Germany who is climbing up through promotions and suddenly find himself sent to Allied nation which kinda resemble Austria to serve as Instructor adviser in military academy but it turns out his task is not a simple one as he is given an important role that may affect the relationship of different nations.

The main selling point of the series is to show a glimpse of Europe looks like in 19th Century with the dawn of Industrial Age that follows with Twilight of Line Infantries and Monarchy and sprinkled with ideas of Socialism. While the story takes on fictional setting, so far the manga displayed these characteristics very well. The main Character Bernd Baltzar is well written character too, he doesn't need any Hax power to accomplish his goals unlike those recent emo betamax shonen protags. He just rely on his wits to get through sticky situations and his promotions are no fluke either as Baltzar is competent in both Military and Killings. Even so while he is good at killing and sometimes resort to utilitarian method, he still have his Conscience which makes his character likable. Also i find that Baltzar kinda look like younger Zengar from SRW for some reason. I wonder if he will get together with his reverse trap student. Anyway if you like this manga you can give Koukoku no Shugosha a read as well.

Figma P3 Protagonist / Makoto Yuki

 While i am browsing figures of Makoto Yuki to complement D-Arts Thanatos which i am planning to get, i find a promotional poster about him getting a figma treatment which immediately puts my attempt to get his figure on hold. While up until now Makoto Yuki got couple of figures for him, he still doesn't get as much attention compared to his fabulous successor Yu Narukami thus doesn't get much mainstream treatment he much deserved. With the Persona 3 Movie airing i guess the series get more opportunities to chug out more merchandise. The figma announcement comes out around Wonderfest this year which for some reason i didn't notice. Soon enough we should get to see the prototype of the figma and i assume the price shouldn't be much different compared to Figma Yu Narukami.

 As generic as the name sounds the P3 Protagonist is named Makoto Yuki for a reason. In chinese
(i imagine the meaning in Japanese probably the same) 结成 理 means "forming the truth" or "becoming the truth" which are really aligned with Persona series core theme since they are based on Jungian Philosophy. While Yu Narukami is more popular guy because he is more fabulous i still prefer Makoto since subjectively speaking i find him more badass compared Yu for some reason. I have watched the first 2 movies and so far Makoto is kinda antisocial i just wonder if he will be as awesome as his incarnation in the game.

Armored Core 1/72 Crest Evangel CR-C89E Oracle

  Since i got new Laptop i am able to run PCSX2 once again and played Armored Core Nexus which is surprisingly fun though wonder why /m/ hate this game. Ever since i finished All of the routes in Last Raven years ago, my skill in this game has improved vastly and going through Nexus is rather smooth.  As I got back into AC series again, i kinda want to talk about Armored Core kits and this time i would like to feature Oracle the AC piloted by Evangel, a Raven who appeared in both Nexus and Last Raven. This version of Oracle is from Last Raven where Evangel acts as the Posterboy for Alliance. Appearance wise compared to other AC kits out there, Oracle gives the Main Hero kind of vibe due to its balanced armament and color scheme. However Evangel is more like a douche despite his protagonist mech depiction but in the end he do still have some redeeming features.

Combat wise Evangel is deadly in Middle-Close Combat since he can kill you really fast with his Linear Gun on his arm and his back. When it comes to piloting AC, Evangel is stronger than Jack-0 but still no better than Zinaida and He is the strongest in the mission where you are sent by Vertex to hunt him down though the 2nd Arena fight with him in Nexus are no Pushover either. The kit price is almost on par with AC4 kits costing around 4000 Yen but if opportunity arises i will get one. Also this is how Evangel looks like in AC Nexus

Muv-luv Integral Works

Should have posted this when i finished Alternative but seeing the recent kickstarter attempt by Age to bring Muvluv series to the west makes me kinda want to write a post about this. While now i still hate the series since it was ruined by fanservice and ultranationalist pandering, but i do still like mecha designs which are the best part of the series in my opinion. The series do have the artbook specifically for the TSFs called Integral Works which contained most of the TSF designs, personally i find Ni0 did good job on designing the mecha for the series. The book has been out for a long time already and cost around 4000 Yen, would have got one if i could find cheap copy though prolly i will save the opportunity till i went to Japan. Probably i have said this many times but Muvluv as series went well till Alternative even though it is not the most original thing ever. But afterwards the series just went downhill went it goes tryhard route and things gets rather derpy and adding balloon tits along with "Japan is the Master Race" attitude just make things even worse. Nevertheless i will still collect the Volks A3 and the Koto kits

Knights of Sidonia ended

That was rather unexpected that the series ends this fast and the ending was rather anticlimactic but Knights of Sidonia did end the serialization with its 78th Chapter. While it was rather abrupt the ending is quite sweet and in some way Nagate did managed to meet Hoshijiro Shizuka in the end. I wonder if the serialization was intentionally cut short though the ending was an open one and could continue if Nihei wants it. Personally i find the main source driving the stories are the character interactions since Gauna is kinda like STMC and doesn't really have personality and probably Ochiai's treachery drive the story this far. I will give the anime a watch if they managed to cover up till the manga conclusion. I wonder if Nagate's last mecha will get a plamo too?

Recent Nendoroid Loots

  During my stay here in China i have been shopping online from Taobao alot. You can find lots of things there and it is easier for me to buy Japanese related stuffs  compared to browsing Evilbay. These are my recent Haul and i got them for decent price too. The first loot is the bomberman toys on the left which is the Super Bomber Armor which you can combine 3 different vehicles to form Giant Robot. I used to have this toy when i was a kid and got this for 50 RMB which is really good deal considering it was quite a vintage and quite impossible to find the japanese copy now. The rest of the loots are 2 Nendoroids which are Erica Fontaine and Nyaruko. While i don't really collect Nendos, they just happen to have the characters from the series i followed, as for Erica's i got her from supposedly official outlet of GoodSmile in China which is located in Shanghai. Won't review them anytime soon till i went back home and got the proper props. As for the Super Bomber Armor ,here is the look of the Combined robot form of the toys which will look more glorious once painted.

Non Scale Astranagant

Koto has been slow on SRW series over past few years and more focused on the newer model but didn't expect Astranagant would get a turn to get his model considering he is rather curvy to sculpt. If you noticed i used Astranagant and Dis as my Banner's blog since they are some of the most badass mecha in SRW verse(more like OP though). The release date and price is not confirmed yet but i would expect around 6000-8000 yen range.

Astranagant is the end game boss in SRW Alpha piloted by Ingram Plisken, double agent sent by Balmar to infiltrate Earth though Ingram who at some point mentored Ryusei for a while. In terms of Firepower Astranagant is one of the most powerful unit rivalling Granzon and its equivalent, and its successor Dis can erase an existence easily. Ingram himself is quite badass antihero since he serves no one and even tried to take down Euzeth himself. In OGverse He also serves the same role in Alpha though he piloted R-Gun Rivale instead of Astranagant since Euzeth suspected him for some reason. My SRW lore is really rusty now and i should get back to the series at some point. Once i had my painting tools again definitely i would get this guy but not at this moment. I wonder if Koto would do Dis as well since he is one of my wishlist for a long time already.

Variable Action KG-6 Sleipnir

I watched Aldnoah Zero which is mediocre i guess since it got good visual and terrible main casts with terrible storyline but it got diggable mecha nonetheless. Megahouse adds another of their Variable Action lineup with the Aldnoah Zero Posterboy, Earth Faction mainstay Cataphract; Sleipnir. The model has been released early this year with price around 8000 yen. This version of Sleipnir is originally used as training units due to lighter frames and lesser armor but later used by Inaho A.K.A Mary Sue of the year as his Cataphract fighting against Vers Cataphracts. At its core design Sleipnir is a real robot but due to the broken skill off the Pilot, it is able to put toe to toe with Vers Super Robot-ish Cataphracts. As the name implies which is based on Norse Myth where Sleipnir is the steed of Deity Chief Odin, the one in this series is like one too since in the middle of the series, Inaho get even more broken with artificial eye replacement. Personally i find Aldnoah Zero is pretty forgettable due to terrible writing but i guess it has to do with the current taste of the audience which are getting worse each year. Anyway sometime soon the Sleipnir will get its space pack which has been used extensively on the second part of the series and i wonder if Tharsis will get any Variable action too? Actually scratch that, Tharsis got one but it costs whopping 24000 yen

Disgaea 4 Vita first playthrough

Another quite long gap of posting here due to plenty of distractions and such with one of those distractions is playing my way through Disgaea 4. I have played the 1st till the this one but only actually finished 2nd and 4th and due to the grindfest nature of the game it obviously too get the most out of the content. As for the 4th Disgaea i intended to unlock all the job class at very least which i am halfway through. Personally i find Disgaea 4 is kinda weak, even though the Story characters are interesting, the stage and props are kinda weak.Valvatorez would have been really cool character if not for the overuse of his Sardine Jokes. Compared to Disgaea 3 the generic classes are really cut down here so some of my favorites are not available in this game but again the game mechanics is getting better despite i missed combining the special attacks. While Disgaea 4 didn't use its potential to its fullest i still like Valvatorez and Artina pairing which could have been one of the best couple in the series since Adell and Rozalin. I will get Disgaea 5 if it ever goes portable which i doubt anytime soon and here some more Pics of the ValxArtina pairings

Sakura Taisen 2 Playthrough part 2

Maria,Sumire and Reni's Ending completed!

Sakura Taisen 2 Ending CGs

• Maria Ending
• Sumire Ending
• Reni Ending

Omamori Himari

Rather generic Youkai manga but the harem element certainly done well here, or probably its only redeeming point. Again seeing the pic on /a/ makes me giving the manga a read. The story is about a boy who possess Demon Hunter Blood and upon reaching age 16 he met beautiful cat girl who claimed to be his protector and shit hits the fan from there one and the boy slowly gain his harems. As i said the story is as generic as it gets and i kinda find the story flow is rather horrible and i doubt the anime is any better. But this is one of those few manga that the MC gets to tap his Harems even though it only happen on last chapter and the MC is not too Beta as well. Favorite girl in the manga is the MC's Fiancee who seems cold but very adorable when she went Dere mode. Also here is the Harem scene pic that makes me read the manga, since it is abit risque so tread with your own discretion

Mushoku Tensei -Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu-

Marathoning the translated WN after reading the last Arifureta and while i got some complaints about the series it is still enjoyable read at the end. Out of the reincarnation based Fantasy i heard Mushoku Tensei is one of the popular one though just like most WNs it is not that outstanding but still passable. Like the similar pandering series, the series main protagonist is a fat loser otaku who died miserable death and end up reborn as a child named Rudeus in RPG esque world with surprisingly high talent of Magic. As Rudeus grows up he meets different strong people, explored the world, gathering harems and end up serving powerful being to fight against scheming deity. From the way the story being told, Rudeus story served as prologue of the Author's series which is not clear yet.

Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou

Watching how /a/ raged on this series i decided gave the translated Web Novel a shot and overall it is pretty much amalgamation of Tate Yuusha and RE:Monster. The premise is about a beta-guy end up transferred to RPG world along with his classmates and being the weakest he eventually got betrayed and left for dead. Raged being betrayed, the beta eventually turned to emo/edgy OP Alpha guy with harem of multiracial girls lusting for him. The series pretty much comes out from the latest trend of reincarnation of beta dude becoming most op guy ever and steamrolling the bad dudes which is just pretty much a platform of self-inserts for otaku dude. In terms of writing, it is on par with Tate Yuusha so it is rather mediocre and uninspired. The only redeeming point of the series is that Arifureta got one of the best Vampire Loli and the MC actually tapped her. At the moment the translated WN is halfway through the series and currently the Japanese version is supposedly on the last arc. Given that i bothered to give the series a read, i might just finished the whole series.

Here is the link for the WN translation:

Translated WN

Original WN

Ghost in the Shell Arise

A worthy continuation of the series indeed! Initially when the new design was released i thought the new OVA going to suck but as i watched the 4 OVAs GiTS Arise has proven itself. While appearance-wise it is different, Arise still retains the essence of the series which attracted its fans; what you found in previous series titles you will still find in Ghost in the Shell: Arise. The OVA still tells the story about the adventure of Major Motoko Kusanagi investigating crimes that usually always end up to conspiracies related to government and kicking some ass at the same time. The OVA serves more like the SAC prequel around the part where she assemble her elite team of Section 9 but at the end of the OVA there are some foreshadowing to things linked to SAC's story. In terms of looks, Motoko's new design is less sensual compared to SAC's Motoko and emphasized more on cool factor. While Atsuko Tanaka doesn't reprise Motoko's role this time, Maaya Sakamoto did very good job on portraying Motoko considering she's one of the better VA imo just not too popular for some reason. While it was a pity that Origa no longer able to contribute more GiTS soundtrack, the current one is quite good enough. So for those GitS fans who are hesitant to give the new series a watch, hesitate no more and give the OVA a watch.