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