Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku Wo

 I generally avoid Isekai series because it is the cesspit of poorly written escapism story but Konosuba piqued my interest due the amount of merchandise that Konosuba had over short period and so i thought giving the anime a chance. My expectation wasn't that high but certainly Konosuba is quite entertaining to watch. Konosuba is a series that make fun of Isekai trope by having bunch of Misfits as the protagonists. Having a Neet Betakun protagonist accompanied by dysfunctional harems of Pathetic Goddess, Explosive obsessed loli magician and Sadomasochistic Knight does make good combo for an amusing story. In a way Konosuba entertained me like Haiyore Nyaruko San because the series doesn't take itself seriously. If i can't have my decently written High Fantasy like Lodoss then i don't mind some distractions like Konosuba for a while. So far i have finished both seasons since 10 Episodes for each are quick to finish. Personally i find first season is good while the second lacking, but i think the series easily could continue until the 4th Season. I suppose Deen Studio will have something to keep them afloat after struggling in recent years. Konosuba won't be a good fantasy story, it will give you a good laugh while it last!

Non Scale Twinbee Model Kit

 This is rather out of Blue for a Old School Series to get new Plastic Model but Plum did it. Whether it is for some kind of Anniversary, Plum is going to release Twinbee Plamo with price tag of 4000 Yen slated for October this year. Twinbee is one of the Konami Classic shooter series where one of its most known Gimmick is that in 2 Player Mode you can stick both Twinbee to pull out some powerful Shots. I started the Game from NES but really attached with the series with Twinbee Yahho! which i played quite a few times in Arcade when i was a kid. Twinbee also make its appearance in Parodius series which is quite fun Series. I wonder if Plum is going to release the Blue counterpart but the only difference is that it is Pink in Color and comes with a Ribbon. One of these days i should do some coverage for Twinbee Yahho which is available on PSP. Though it is a long shot, The Twinbee Plastic Model and Castlevania Animation might be part of the attempt of Konami trying to get its act together which might be a good thing if the gesture is genuine.

MG 1/100 XN Raiser

 Few Years ago Bandai released XN Raiser parts for HG 1/144 00 Gundam as a part of Hobby Japan Exclusive. I remembered the exclusive deal created quite a fuss as people hoarded the particular Hobby Japan just for the XN parts and scalped them for considerable price. Now as a part of 10th year of 00 Gundam series anniversary Bandai released XN Raiser again as Master Grade. The catch is that the kit will be P-Bandai Exclusive which is kinda hard to import without a reseller. XN is slated for July 2017 with the price tag of 8000 Yen. If you think your 00 Raiser doesn't have enough sword then XN would be another good addition apart from Seven Sword for 00 Gundam. Though i personally find regular 00 Raiser is overkill already and the bulk that XN added doesn't make 00 Gundam able to fight melee properly. The XN Buster does look cool but 00 Universe it feels out of place and a lazy copy of Astray Gundam's tactical arms. If you happen to live in Indonesia, Multitoys opened a preorder with rather good price which you can check Here but the Preorder closed by 21 May so better grab it fast!

Total Warhammer 2 Lizardmen Faction Trailer

 I don't talk much about Western Games in my blog but this news is noteworthy enough for me to make an exception. As a closet Warhammer Game. i am very thrilled that Lizardmen is one of the faction that will make it into the second Total War: Warhammer installment. While i never play the tabletop game, Lizardmen is the faction that i find to be the coolest! Who doesn't like Jurassic Park and Warhammer Lizardmen allows you to field Aztec Dinosaurs riding on Dinosaurs. For now only three out of four Factions to be revealed in Total Warhammer 2 but many people speculate that it will be Skaven. Even if it is not, The Skaven will make into Total Warhammer eventually because these infighting rat people are the most amusing faction in the series. As for the WHFB series itself, i do hope that Games Workshop will lend its IP to someone to release some more accessible boardgames, I like my Chaos in the Old World but i don't mind some Warhammer-themed Talisman!

Double Zeta Gundam

 Guess Iron Blooded Orphans make me decide to marathon my Gundam Anime backlog and went for Double Zeta after Unicorn. As a Gundam series ZZ is still a decent one but plagued by many problems stemming from the burden of being Zeta Gundam successor. For me, the main issue with ZZ is that it feels that the series are not focused which results in Half Baked characters and rather shaky if not wacky beginning. The first Half of the series is rather unbearable but the second half of ZZ do get better and now i get to see the infamous "Moon Moon"! The Protagonists in ZZ are definitely overshadowed by Zeta considering the Shangrilla Misfits are nowhere as good as Liutenant Quattro team and they survived mainly due to sheer luck. However Judau Ashta is one of the most likeable UC Era protagonist and i liked him better than Amuro or Kamile. This is because he is one of the most compassionate Gundam Protagonist out there without being too hypocritical and manage to retain his humanity even after going through horrors of war. Heck even he still managed to be badass in Late UC whether it is canonical or not. No doubt with his Personality, Judau would really get along with Garrod from Gundam X

 Fluff-wise the main points that i grasp from ZZ is that EFSF are already hopeless at this point and the biggest tragedy is that AEUG fight to maintain the stagnant status quo. I can see how the events in ZZ precipitated to Char's fall to Despair and lead to CCA event. Had Neo Zeon didnt collapse due to Civil War, i guess some better reform could have existed and i would look forward to see ZZ alternate take on next Gihren's Greed. With ZZ finished, i have watched most of Universal Century titles save for V Gundam and the Recent Thunderbolt and overall i got 3 Gundam TV series left away from completion. As a Gundam series, Double Zeta might be weak title but it is far from the worst though watching the series straight after Zeta do give you some shock Therapy.

 Also from ZZ Gundam, now i get why Elpeo Ple is such popular character at its time. Had she not died in the series, i think she has the best chance to be Judau's lover. But SRW gave plenty of consolation for such scenario already and in any case have some Purus!

Gundam Unicorn Finale thoughts

 Very late to the party on this one but managed to finish this Gundam OVA. While it is not the conclusion that i prefer for Universal Century, Gundam Unicorn has a fitting end to wrap up the early UC timeline. Unicorn will be remembered as the series that has one of the best mecha fight animation in gundam franchise but it is still riddled with issues. To me i just find the Gundam Unicorn tried too hard to shove its message to its viewer which is translated into Banagher Links aka Banana, one of the most idiotic mary sue Gundam Protagonist.

 The Laplace Box reveal does make sense but at the same time it makes the whole conflicts until UC Gundam feels futile. I understand the intention for the Anti-War Message, but the Laplace Box just makes the cause of struggle between Zeon and Federation are baseless to the point of being disrespectful. Nevertheless at its core i can see that conclusion of Laplace Box is that a well intentioned lie can snowball into nightmarish vicious cycle. It is just depressing that good characters in previous Gundam series struggled and literally died for nothing when the truth being revealed.

 With this i guess i can stomach the Gundam Unicorn stages in SD Gundam Genesis. But seriously i don't really like how Bandai put too much spotlight on this series because it just got too many magical hax bs. I still wonder if the existence of UC Gundam makes the Late UC titles being retconned too. For now i am just curious how Sunrise will handle the transition.

Chogokin Guruguru Doraemon

 Doraemon series is one of the most memorable childhood for majorities in Asia and now it seem that Bandai is going to exploit it by releasing some interesting toy for this series. Slated for September this year, Guruguru Doraemon has some interesting tricks on its pocket For 8000 Yen Price tag. This Doraemon diecast toy has couple of gimmicks to live up to its title, an onomatopoeia for spinning in Japanese. Guruguru Doraemon has neat gimmick that by pushing down Doraemon's it will either change its expression or literally take out of something from its pocket. This toy serve as Spiritual successor of GachaGacha Doraemon which was sold around 10 years ago which certainly a step up from its predecessor. I will probably keep watch on this toy because for 8000 Yen price tag, the gimmick is rather lacking for now because this version only comes with 8 Tools which was lesser compared to its predecessor. I think if the response is positive for this item then probably Bandai will release more accessories. Lastly i think with 8000 Yen, Bandai could have added voice effect for the toy. Just watch the official video below for better look on Guruguru Doraemon's gimmick.