Arknights Nendoroid 1810 Saria

  Representing Rhine Lab, Saria finally joining Arknight Nendoroid series though she could have made it earlier. Scheduled for September 2022 release, Nendoroid Saria will be available for 6800 Yen. I suppose Hypergryph valued their IP that much that the merchandise tend to fetch relatively high price tag until this day.

In Arknights, Saria is a Vouivre 6* Healing Defender and one the best core member whether it is for Normal Missions or Contigency Contract. She is one of the most valuable operator for her ability to Heal Party members as Melee unit or Debuffing Boss units so that your main DPS can shred them to pieces. IIRC in Arknights Lore Saria was Rhine Lab Security Team Leader who defected to Rhodes along with Silence and Ifrit due to questionable experiments commited by Rhine Lab. Saria's might not be the most waifuable Operator in Arknights but she still got some good waifu potentials with those wholesome fanarts of her with Doktah. I really hope Angelina and Skadi will show up soon with their Nendoroids.

Choujuushin Gravion

 Masami Obari is one of the most influential talent in Mecha Genre and there was a period of time the man tried to make a name for himself by making his own anime series. Among his original works, Choujushin Gravion is arguably one of the Obari's works that are easier to get into. Gravion is essentially the culmination of Obari's experience handling Yuusha series. Overall Gravion is pretty much a Generic Super Robot series as it can get, excelling in Styles but lacks in substance which had been Obari's most glaring flaw.

The first time i was exposed to Gravion was from SRW Z which is more than a decade ago and to be honest SRW had better opportunity to make the series shine compared to the anime. Several things that are unexpected for me with Gravion Anime series are that Gravion's Final Form only show up for few minutes in the last episode and The main protagonist's elder sister relationship with Sandman.

In any case Gravion is still a fun ride if you look for mindless Super Robot action and its lackluster storyline is still better than Gridman.

Ichigeki

 

 A good Samurai-themed manga that had its translation finished recently, if you like samurai manga like Vagabond or Blade of immortal then Ichigeki might pick up your interest. Taking place in turbulent Bakumatsu period of Japan, Ichigeki narrates a story of a group of warriors recruited from peasant class tasked to fight against Satsuma warriors who made defiant stand against Tokugawa in Edo. In terms of storyline, Ichigeki offers nothing particularly flashy within the sword&sandal genre, but the manga managed to capture the brutal and bleak nature of that particular period of Japan perfectly with its 47 Chapters.

If i had to pick the best part of Ichigeki, it would be the main character Ushigorou. The character is very well made for a short manga, a person who come out on top against every odds by relying his wits and win even against skilled Samurais despite his peasant background. Usually Bakumatsu period Samurai manga tend to revolve around Shinsengumi which is quite overdone by this point, but Ichigeki is an exception. This manga is definitely a good read if you look for some newer realistic Samurai manga with no supernatural aspect considering most of these types tend to be covered extensively in old school style.

Fate/Grand Order Figma 560 Berserker Miyamoto Musashi

 

 I thought this would be released later around mid of the year but Miyamoto Musashi made it back to Figma in her Summer version! In her 2nd Ascension, Figma Berserker Musashi is scheduled for December 2022 release with 9500 Price tag.

Just like her Saber Figma version, the 2nd Ascension form is still the way to go for Berserker Musashi since it has the best balance between Style and Functionality with 1st Ascension being rather plain while 3rd Asc is way over the top. Out of summer SSR Servants, Musashi's summer version can be considered to be one of the more absurd design which worked out the less. In short for her summer outfit, Musashi had a cowgirl bikini getup and wield twin gunblade which is kind of ridiculous but suits her free-spirited character nonetheless. Surprisingly Max Factory went quite tame for Summer Musashi considering she is designed to be one of the most well endowed female servant in FGO.

 In FGO, Musashi is an AOE Arts Berserker Servant who made her debut last year on Global server during 4th Summer Event. Compared to her Saber class, Summer Musashi lacks staying power due to her berserker class weakness but capable of wiping out high level mobs when given proper support. Summer Musashi will be the premier Farming DPS choice when Castoria coming out during 5th Anniversary around August this year. I will be looking forward to Summer Okita Figma which will be a good candidate for GSC Summer Exclusive like Summer Mordred last year.