Yami's Top 5 Female Seiyuu

 Might as well wrap up the end of 2016 with another Top 5 blog post and this time it is about my favorite Top 5 Female Seiyuus. Since i mostly watch mecha series most of my favorite seiyuus contribute a lot for the genre. In general i admire Female Seiyuus who can sing well and has no need to rely on Moeshit character to prove their talent. So probably you will see the seiyuus in my list are able to play strong willed female character type in general and most of the series they are well known to play are from early 2000s thus you wont see any recent popular female seiyuu in this list.

君の名は - Your Name Movie

 Managed to watch this movie along with friends recently and it is very satisfying ride for sure! I have been seeing this movie being praised a lot by many people and this movie definitely deserves it. Kimi no Na wa or Your Name is a teenage drama movie with a highschool boy and girl accidentally swapped bodies as the main premise of the story. The movie's storyline is minimalistic but able to deliver very powerful emotions and make use of every moment really well. But what makes this movie special that it is a very good coming of age movie making myself miss my teenage years. Lastly Kimi no Na wa is probably a fresh breath to the stagnating market of Japanese animation and i hope the animation industry could reflect upon themselves with this movie. Makoto Shinkai have solid reputation in his field before but with Kimi no Na wa, he definitely establish himself in the public. Makoto Shinkai may be nowhere to Miyazaki at the moment but one day if he could consistently pull quality stuff like this this movie, Makoto Shinkai will remembered by people as Miyazaki's equal. I think i will look into Shinkai's stuffs more now and on the body swapping theme this movie really reminds me of Remember 11 Visual Novel which explore deeper using the premise.

Tale of Sea King / Kaiouki

 Another Hidden Gem manga that instantly becomes my Top-10 Manga list! While i get into Masatoshi Kawahara's work through Shura no Toki, i would say his Tale of Sea King or Kaiouki is easily his Magnum Opus. Just to tell how great the series is, i bothered to get the complete locally translated set just because the english translations are really slow. If Legend of Galactic Heroes taken place into medieval settings with liberal dose of Naval Battle then we have Tale of Sea King! Kaiouki's story is all about the adventure of an enigmatic man called Fan Gamma Bizen who belong to a tribe famous for their seafaring abilities who also happen to be the captain of one of the eight infamous Black Ship in a medieval setting that had relics from futuristic civilization. Throughout the story Fan Gamma with his wits and charisma accompanied by his loyal crews encounter many Great people and fight many battles both land and sea.

 What makes this series especially good apart from the similar Quality that it shares with LoGH is that Fan Gamma is one heck of protagonist. You won't see any character development with him but you will get to see Fan Gamma showcasing his awesomeness. While your average Shonen protagonists rely on their brawn to solve their problems, Fan Gamma uses his wits and charm to solve his even though he is strong in his own right. Starting from winning his enemies heart to become his allies to fighting Armies with Gunpowder weapons merely with medieval weapons. Kaiouki span over 45 Volumes while it takes a bit slow for the story to build up, the ride is very satisfying. I guess the only flaw with the manga is that it rather lacks of world building due to the strong presence of the main characters but seriously not many shonen manga able to reach the caliber of Kaioki. It is unfortunate that the english scanlations are rather slow for this title and i still wonder why such great series havent got any anime yet.  Even if you dont like Naval Battles, Kaioki is very good epic adventure manga even though the fantasy theme is rather dry.

Ys Origin announced for Vita

 It has been Five years since i played Ys Origin and i have to say really glad that the game will be ported to Vita and PS4 soon. Slated for February Next Year, DotEmu will be the one that handle the western release for Ys Origin port. While Falcom series are usually handled by Xseed i suppose DotEmu's port would be good enough considering they handle Ys port on Itunes. While Ys Origin is not my favorite Ys title since i prefer the ones with Adol, it is very solid entry to the series considering it perfected the game engine used in Felghana and Napishtim not to mention the overall music score from this game is one of the best in the series too. I can't say i am too surprised with the announcement considering most of Ys Title can be accessed through Vita and Origin just complete the set. I wonder if Origin will come in Physical copies but i think more curious with the extras that will come with the port.

Hauls from AFA SG 2016

 Since this is my first time attending AFA i suppose i purchase too many stuffs on impulse from my shopping spree and spent like around 200 SGD in 2 Days visit. Compared to SMASH! AFA definitely have more things to purchase since they have some actual good bargains hanging around. I acquired my loots pretty evenly from Vendors, Artist Circle, Lotteries, Showbags and Freebies. From my acquisition this year i managed to get the Frame Arms Girl T-Shirt from Janken contest on Kotobukiya booth which fleets in a moment. 

 
 Spent like 65 SGD for One Figurine and 2 Nendos. Bought Miku Acute Version since i dont have any vocaloid figurine. Bought Two nendoroids from La Tendo despite never a big fan of the lineup but for $20 each it was a steal. The Two Nendoroids are Cryska from Muvluv and Mirai Suenaga from Danny Choo. Not a follower of Danny Choo but might use the props.

 Bought two showbags from AFA and glad not to buy more, While $15 for each Showbag is still acceptable the content in general are mostly unusable. I dont think even the Showbags sold by the bigger vendor worth the price tag.

As i mentioned earlier i spent quite abit on Ichiban Kuji which are some kind of paper lottery. Each tries mostly cost around $10 SGD depending on the series and Pokemon seems to be the most popular one for this year's AFA. As for me i tried Neko Atsume which i did 6 tries though my luck is not good on this one.

 From the Artist Circle all i get is Tamamo's poster and some Gundam Badges. Fortunately there is at least one Circle selling mecha stuff. While i am not a big follower of Gundam i supported the circle so that they continue their passion on mecha and perhaps they will make more stuffs other than Gundam.

From this year's shopping lesson i will probably shop smarter and might as well raise my budgets for next year's AFA.

Super Robot Taisen (SRW) V Original mecha and character revealed!

 Abit late but recent Dengeki Hobby issues had revealed the Original Character and mecha for upcoming SRW V for Vita and PS4. The original protagonist mecha is called Van Grey which looks like Dakka oriented original. On the first glance, the design is a straight rip from Linebarrel with bits from Armored Core 4 and perhaps a dash of Gundam 00. The Head fin definitely gives out really familiar vibe

 As for the Original Protagonist for SRW V they come as a pair it seems. The male protagonist is named Murakumo Seiji while the Female one is Kisaragi Chitose. So far nothing other than the name has been revealed so far. But the male protagonist gives the impression of Adult version of Koichi from Linebarrel with tanned skin where as the heroine seems like your token eyecandy.

 I find the recently original design for SRW is rather a miss for me i suppose it has to do from the departure of the homage of older mecha series as the newer designs feels completely different when compared to SRW OG mechas. Unlike G Generation Genesis, SRW V is definitely a day one buy for me. For your interest the game will come in two different flavors, regular and deluxe edition. You are paying over 10000 Yen for the vocal version of each series theme which may or may not appeal to you.

Anime Festival Asia Singapore (AFASG) 2016 Thoughts

 Abit late writing this post up due to a bit busy short after my return but i am glad that i managed to attend this year's AFA. I have been yearning to go to this convention ever since i was in Sydney and probably AFA is one of the reason why i went to Sydney's SMASH in the first place. For this year's Anime Festival Asia i attended two out of three days and find out AFA is rather different than my expectation for better or worse.

RE/100 1/100 Bawoo

 With RE1/100 Lineup i know it is bound to happen that one of those Mobile Suits from ZZ Gundam got their plamo made and it happens to be Bawoo that gets one first. Slated for later November this year Bawoo will come with price tag of 3500 Yen. I haven't watched ZZ Gundam but i had this guy in 1/144 scale back then and certainly would love to get one again. Bawoo is probably one of the more distinct MS in early UC era for being one of the few combiner transforming MS which become a trend on V Gundam period. In G Generation i remembered this guy for all rounder elite grunt unit that had its mega particle cannon on its shield to be its strongest attack. I think the RE/100 wont have much difference compared to the 1/144 and to be honest it is one of the cooler MS from ZZ Gundam.

1/8 Al-Azif Review

Necronomicon now comes in Gothic Lolita flavor~

Nendoroid Nyaruko Review

 My Cosmic Horror can't be this cute!

Funko POP! Cthulhu Review

 Happy Halloween! and as part of the celebration i will be doing couple reviews in the spirit of Halloween and this is the first part. I don't really collect Funko since they are too expensive to collect outside USA but i do make exceptions for some including Cthulhu. There were two versions of POP! for Cthulhu and i happen to purchase both version during my trip in Singapore. Apparently the cranky version of Cthulhu is supposed to be glow in dark but mine doesn't really work

In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming

  The first time i really got exposed to Cthulhu Mythos is when i played my first run of Arkham Horror years ago and got hooked instantly afterwards. Cthulhu is the most well known creature from Lovecraftian Horror because of its distinct Winged Humanoid appearance topped with Octopus Head and one doesn't simply face this guy since a single mean look from him will make you die from insanity. In the lore he is introduced as gigantic alien creature who is sleeping under his sunken city R'lyeh in Pacific Ocean. He had fishmen creatures called Deep Ones do his bidding and they had significant colony in a rural American fishing village called Innsmouth from the unholy interspecies mating between the creature and human. Apparently Cthulhu is powerful enough that he is capable of destroying earth when he is fully awakened but for now he will dream until the day comes.

 Cthulhu: ZZZZZ

 Nyaruko: Taste my space CQC >:)

Cthulhu: Are you trying to disturb my sleep Nyarlathotep?!

Nyaruko: Nope, Nothing~~~ :P

  In my opinion POP! doesn't really worth $20 pricetag but my admiration toward Cthulhu mythos warrant me to get some for Cthulhu since they are the most decent looking and accessible version of this guy. What makes Cthulhu Mythos appealing for me is the potential of the genre to bring out the greatest amount of despair which is important for horror in my opinion considering one does not simply face Cosmic Horror. During Halloween after more than 3 years getting into the hobby, i think playing Boardgame is the best way to celebrate since there are tons of quality Halloween materials in this medium and here is my playlist for this year.

Monster Hunter Double Cross Announced!

 From the recent Nintendo Direct, Capcom announced a new monster hunter title named Monster Hunter Double Cross serving as the Grank version of MHX/Monster Hunter Generations. The game will be scheduled to be released on March 2017 and so far here are the main things that have been revealed:

• 2 New Hunting Styles, one has been revealed as Brave Style which seems to be capable of dishing tons of damage once you build up your power bar. The other style has not been revealed yet but it appear to involve lots of bombing.
• New Hunting Arts, but nothing much revealed at this point
• Prowler mode will have some boost for melee option including adept style dodge and aerial jump
• New Map, one is revealed as mountainous type, reminding me of part of Great Forest map from Unite
• The G-Rank Quest Hub will be revealed as Airship
• 2 New Monsters revealed so far, One is Devil Blos which will likely join the Deviant Group and other one is Silver colored wyvern which seems to be the agile type

I think more information for MH Double Cross will be revealed later on considering the current stuff is lackluster for an expansion game. I think with the recent popularity of MH in the west it is possible we will get the English version of Double Cross on late 2017 probably around 6 months after the Japanese release. I am still crossing my hands on this one since the current new features does not convince me enough to get a copy and to be honest i am rather burned out with MH on Nintendo Platform.

1/60 ARX-7 Arbalest Renewal ver

Years ago Alter made Quality figure for Arbalest long before they made one for M9 Gernsback and this time the toy come with more improvements i suppose. The Renewal version of Arbalest will be slated for  release on May next year with price tag of 14800 Yen and Arbalest will still come in 1/60 Scale. While the toy will be smaller than the plamo version made by Aoshima a while ago, the Alter's version of Arbalest come with more accessories no doubt. I wonder if the decision made by Alter to renew the series coincide with some plans to reboot the series in the future? Considering the anime got into some complicated license dispute back then, A reboot is certainly a nice thing to have considering FMP is one solid Real Robot series. I think i should repaint my FMP kits too.

Shura no Toki

 An old battle manga but this is really awesome mix of history and martial arts title. As far as i know Shura no Toki is the spin-off series of the Author's previous work narrating the tales of the protagonist's ancestors. They were known as Mutsus and while they were not recorded in the history, they are well known for their undefeated status as martial artist fighting anyone with their fists and win anyway. With their prowess, they inevitably got themselves involved with famous people throughout Japan's History like Nobunaga or Yoshitsune and the series strong point is how the author blend the fictional part with real history seamlessly. So far the manga had 17 volumes already which are partially translated and back then there was even an anime for this series. I would really love to see someone pick the translation for the prequel since it looks interesting enough.

Union Creative Monster Hunter Revo Glavenus Blademaster

 It appears that one of the Monster Hunter action figure that had the prototype shown got a release date at last and it is the Glavenus Blademaster Set. The Action Figure will be released on January 2017 around 6000 Yen pricetag. Compared to the Revoltech Figurine, it seems the the Union Creative lineup will stand around 18cm taller with 31 Articulations. The Glavenus Blademaster Action Figure will also come with the matching Greatsword and SnS though the latter doesn't have the shield part show up. From the shown sample it seems that the Revo series will be better quality compared to the previous Revoltech Figurine and for the quality it offers it seems more worth it compared to Figma.

 This Reddish Blademaster Armor is made from Glavenus or Dinovaldo in Japanese which is one of the Flagship monster in Monster Hunter Generations and in the game the armor grants its wearer more power when they polish their weapons. Stature-wise Glavenus is quite similar with Deviljho with its Blade-like tail as its most prominent feature. Despite its size, Glavenus is very agile and wield its tail dexterously and occasionally imbue its tail with fire element. This guy is very capable of sending new hunters to Kitty cart with its signature 360 degree Spin Slash which has huge coverage. I wonder if Union Creative will make the Hellglaive repaint of this guy considering they did the same thing with Rathalos Blademaster.

Figma Makoto Yuki

 Took long enough for Max Factory to announce the release but we got the release date for this guy Finally! Announced around the mid of last year, Figma Makoto Yuki will be released on April next year with almost 6500 Yen Price tag. As i expected the figma version of Makoto Yuki did cost as much as Yu Narukami considering the popularity of the series and from the sample the figma will come with the signature Evoker and a main weapon. While i think the figma is overpriced i might just get this to complete my collection along with D-arts Thanatos and Elizabeth which would make an awesome set altogether. I have watched two of the movie so far and might as well finish the rest before the Figma comes out.

Chaos in the Old World First Session

 It has been more than Three years since i begin collecting Boardgames which by now rival my toy collection. Personally i find boardgames are one of the few things worth to collect from the west as each box directly represent an idea of the creator and usually it is a good one! I tend to play thematic games whether it is Euro or Ameritrash though recently i get to appreciate Eurogames better.

Plamax Gipsy Danger

 Another Max Factory Plamo kit lineup after Dougram and we got Pacific Rim this time! Now we got a substitute for NECA for those who want more customizable version of the Pacific Rim Jaegers. For the initial release, Max Factory show the prototype for Gipsy Danger and Cherno Alpha as the first batch of Pacific Rim Kits. The Gipsy Danger kit will come in 1/350 scale which will be around 20cm in height and sports the price tag of 8800 Yen. Plamax Gipsy Danger also comes with LED Unit and effect parts such as the cannon arm and wrist blades. In the Pacific Rim movie, Gipsy Danger is the poster boy Jaeger of the series representing USA piloted by the Main Character and his twin brother in the beginning of the movie sporting the most well rounded stats among the jaegers. I hope Striker Eureka will get a release eventually which is going to be likely if the first batch are popular enough.

Misadventures of Tron Bonne

 My first entry to Megaman Legend series and arguably leaves me more lasting impression as i never get to finish the game until now. Tron Bonne was a fun game but unfortunately i raised my expectation too high due to Nostalgia factor. For a time the PSX copy was a highly sought after collector item but fortunately you get this game on PSN without paying hundred bucks.

Fall of Ming

 One of the Chinese movie i watched and as a fan of Chinese History, i am really pleased with the Movie. Taking place at the twilight of Ming Dynasty, Fall of Ming try to illustrate the bleak condition of China that eventually lead to the downfall of the last Han Dynasty by Manchu. The movie narrates its story through a Civilian Doctor whose life got involved with an Army General and A scholar turned rebel as he. While the movie focus more on the relation between the Doctor and General, the doctor relationship with the Rebel expand more on how three men who lead different life met their own different end. Despite Fall of Ming is not that heavy on the action department, the movie perfectly capture the image of China plunged into Chaotic period as peasants forced to rebel due to Famine and Heavy Taxation while any decent men from the government failed to do the right things due to rampant corruption by officials and merchant. I really like the General Sun Chuanting in the movie who's portrayed as a person who really try his best to save his nation and doing the proper thing but met so many obstacles due to corruptions and impatient leader. To me Fall of Ming Dynasty is one of the most regretful things that happened in Chinese history as the Succeeding Manchu lead a regressive reign after few decent emperor which leads to the defeat of China by western force by 19th century and perhaps Ming could have survived longer if Yongle didn't forcefully take the throne and moved the capital to Beijing. In any case this movie is a good watch for those Chinese History fans out there.

MH Generations N3DS XL GET!

 Never intended to play MH Generations but after some goading by my friends, in the end i gave in. As my old 3DS got worn out from thousands of hours from Monster Hunting, i decided to get a new 3DS and thought might as well buy a new 3DS. There were 2 candidates for my new 3DS which were the Animal Crossing Home designer version N3DS and MH Generations N3DS XL which in the end i picked the latter. While i think the Limited edition for MH4U N3DS XL was cooler, the MH Gens limited edition doesn't look too bad with Glossy exterior and Matte interior. Surprisingly the data transfer between the 3DS is much less complicated than what i would have thought.

Since i have clocked few hours in MHGens prior to the Data Transfer, i might as well share my first impression about the game. I was on the fence with MHGens due to some mess that Capcom did with 4U and it appears that Generations did fix some of them. The most apparent one is in the Palico system such as acquiring Equipment for Palico doesn't rely on annoying minigame anymore and Weapon variations doesn't get too redundant with the new forging mechanics. I hate to admit it but Capcom did a good job on hooking older players into this game with the nostalgia factor and certainly the solo experience on this game felt better than 4U. While Generations lack of G-Rank, the game will bombard you with high number of quests so it will take a while to complete all of the quests. As of now, i managed to reach 6* Village and the new Flagship monster is not half bad. As always i am still a Lancer and i use Guild style since i like the versatilty that this style provide even though i know that most people are probably using Striker style. I will share my overall thoughts about this game again once i reached the endgame with my First char.

ACI Toys Greek Hoplite 2.0

  When i saw the pictures for this year's Hongkong Toy Show highlights, a company called ACI Toys caught my attention with their product. It appears that they make high-end 1/6 Scale posable figures comparable with Hot Toys lineup. One of their featured products in the exhibition is their Greek Hoplites which looks gorgeous and soon will be available in 4 different styles. The Hoplite comes with Linothorax Armor along with Xiphos and Greek Shield as the armament. When i check the ACI website for the Hoplite 1.0, Hoplite 2.0 is designed as another variation of 1.0 which come with Cuirass and Javelin. Apparently they will sell the Hoplite's Equipment separately from the figure for some reason, probably because of production cost. Even though i am not to familiar with High-end toys like Hot Toys, but i think the Hoplite 2.0 will cost around 100-200 USD.

 Hoplites were the  Heavy Infantry of Greek in classical period which are mostly composed of Free Citizens of Greek City States and have been used as mainline infantry through the famous battles in Classical Period. Usually They fight with Spear and Shield and when 2 Forces of Hoplite fight against each other, the sight looks like 2 Porcupines sticking out on each other . Some of the more outstanding tactics using Hoplite in the period were the Oblique Formation used by Theban General Epaminondas and the Hammer&Anvil tactics by Alexander the Great. The Linothorax armor itself are rather interesting piece of equipment, made of layers of Linen Cloth, the armor provide better comfort than cuirass and at the same time capable of protecting the user from arrows in the period. The armor also had been featured in Homer's Iliad and seen to be worn by Alexander the Great on a famous mural. Nevertheless the depiction of the Hoplite's equipment looks accurate enough for a history amateurs like me and the Hongkong based company deserved a praise for putting respectable amount of effort on their research.

 Apart from the Hoplite 2.0, ACI Toys also made the figurine of famous Greek character based on Troy movie which starred Brad Pitt and i do see Paris and Achilles prototype from the exhibition which looks gorgeous. However the ones that i look forward the most is ACI Toys prototype for Sengoku Period famous Warlord, Shingen Takeda which is spot-on in terms of looks which will wait for its preview.

Sakura Taisen Variable Action Koubu Ichiro Ogami Ver Review

Imperial Floral Assault Group has come forth!

Some shots for Shiranui UN version

 I accidentally deleted my photoshots on Shiranui UN for stupid reason and here are some of what i can salvage from. I intend to do another take on this guy which i will do once i finished reading Muvluv Alternative which i intend to do in near future despite 6 months of procrastinating. This time i will do it with better setups compared to last time since these pictures are taken with Digital Camera instead of DSLR. Anyway case here are some of the shots that were taken for the Review.

Mechatalk: Super Robot Wars and Char Aznable Part 2

 A while i ago i have discussed how SRW further explored the much beloved Gundam series Anti-Hero, Char Aznable. As Alpha series provided the final showdown befitting of the caliber of his character, This time i will discuss the exploration of his character done in SRW MX. While MX did not incorporate much of Universal Century Gundam in its storyline, it does provide an alternate take on Post-Zeta Gundam Char something that is not much explored in the Gundam series outside Gihrens Greed. You can look at the previous SRW and Char discussion here