Golden Kamuy

 Another Great manga that recently finished its serialization and who expects Manga series that had Ainu Culture as its main theme would be such a great ride! A Seinen adventure manga, Golden Kamuy story takes place in 20th Century Japan shortly after Russo Japanese War. A veteran from the war, the main character went to Hokkaido in search of fabled Ainu Gold relying to find a group of Tattoed prisoners as the lead to the fabled gold. In search of the gold, the main character is accompanied with an Ainu Girl for an epic adventure across Meiji era Hokkaido, encountering wide range of characters including some famous Shinsengumi hero and their journey will somehow lead to some big conspiracy which determine the Fate of Imperial Japan and Ainu people.

 As a manga, Golden Kamuy is one of the few that has complete package for its story. This series is more capable to make the readers laugh and cry at times. Props to the mangaka who is capable of making very colorful cast of character especially the Convicts who can exhibit some really interesting behaviors that leads to some great Dark Humor situation. Golden Kamuy's main strength is no doubt lies in its comprehensive depiction of Ainu Culture which is no simple feat for a weekly basis manga that tend to sacrifice quality for quick output, nevertheless by far this is the best manga when it comes to Ainu subject matter.

If i have to point out this series flaw, Golden Kamuy had rather rushed and abrupt end, hinting the possibility of the series getting axed considering plenty of the main characters died in quick succession in the last part of the series while even the secondary convicts took their time for their death. Personally i think the main antagonist Tsurumi is one of the best antagonist out there from recent works and could have delivered something more which won't happen due to unfortunate circumstances. But my main personal gripe would be the location of the Ainu Gold which is rather disappointing. Considering the manga spent most of the chapters narrating the attempts of the protagonists searching for overly elaborate Ainu Gold location hints, only to have the stash located at one of the most famous landmark in Hokkaido. In any case Golden Kamuy managed to wrap up its story properly and i will be looking forward to some Gaiden story related to the series.

Mobile Suit Ensemble EX-40 Dendrobium Gundam

  Gundam Ensemble had been very active on Stardust Memory series and now we are getting the big ticket item! If you have to mention the most iconic mecha it would be the Gigantic mobile armor Dendrobium Gundam and Neue Ziel! After appearing in many forms, at long last these two made appearance in Gundam Ensemble! Slated for September 2022 MS Ensemble EX 40&41 will be released with 14300 Yen price tag. 

Out of non HG choice, Ensemble Dendrobium and Neue Ziel are no doubt the best incarnation of the mecha by far. The details are probably more impressive compared to Converge, SD or the 1/500 scale and it is no slouch when it comes to size either as Ensemble Neue Ziel will stand 20 cm tall, probably twice as large compared to the converge counter part. Some interesting things from these 2 Ensemble EX is that the Dendrobium include the parts to connect Gerbera Tetra to reenact Cima's horrible death scene while Neue Ziel got Anavel's Zaku hidden inside just like Ensemble Apsallus which is very cool gimmick even probably not accurate. Personally i would love to see Ensemble continue 0083 series since we still need rendition for Powered GM and GM Cannon II

Plinius

  Another hidden gem of Historical Manga that is overlooked by me until recently and this one is another high quality work. If you like Thermae Romae, this one will not disappoint because it is made by the same mangaka, Mari Yamazaki who is one of the few Japanese mangaka that had intimate knowledge about Roman civilization.

 Taking place during the middle reign of Emperor Nero, Plinius is essentially a biography manga for Pliny the Elder, one of the leading figure in natural science in his time. Through this character you get to see Rome Empire during its height which is a rarity for this medium. Compared to Thermae Romae or Cestvs series, Plinius strength lies in its wide coverage of Roman Civilization life that only high budget movie or TV series could rival. To me what Plinius did the best is its Depiction of Rome which fleshes out the inherent flaw of the City that caused it dubbed as Sin Cit. The original manga spans over 12 Volumes and so far only 4 Volumes are translated, but hopefully the translation will catch up someday just like Thermae Romae. Seriously Mari Yamazaki is another top tier mangaka who is worth following because she is another mangaka that i can think of apart from Urasawa who follows the path of Osamu Tezuka.

Persona 3 Nendoroid 1863 Makoto Yuki

  Things finally come into full circle for Persona series in Nendoroid lineup! took compared to Figma, but Persona 3 Protagonist Makoto Yuki made it as the last Modern Persona series Nendoroid. Nendoroid Makoto Yuki is scheduled for October 2022 release with 6100 Price tag, slightly more expensive compared to his compatriots probably due to weakening Japanese Yen.

Nendoroid Makoto Yuki accesories pretty much mirror the Figma counterpart with an extra Tarot Card and it is kinda lackluster for its price. Seeing the recent movement on Shin Megami Tensei series i think it is a good moment to re-release HD version of Persona 3 to follow up SMT 3 which got Figma Hitoshura recently as well. I think Nendoroid Makoto Yuki could use a companion like Thanatos or Elizabeth to accompany him for an extra selling point for this personal favorite Persona Protagonist of mine.

Kurogane no Linebarrel RIOBOT EX Linebarrel

 I think it has been more than a decade since we got something from Kurogane no Linebarrel series and Sentinel planning to release one heavy duty stuff for one of the better modern mecha series. There have been plenty iterations of Linebarrel before but Sentinel goes big and released the Heavy Armor variant of Linebarrel dubbed EX Linebarrel. Scheduled for May 2023 release, Riobot EX Linebarrel is going to be sold for whopping 50000 Yen which is as expensive as Sol Gravion.

I didn't noticed this version of Linebarrel except that it is apparently the Ultimate Version of Linebarrel exceeding Linebarrel Overdrive. From Its Aesthetics, Linebarrel EX is a heavy melee unit equipped with tons of Blades to the point of overkill and Vardant still have better extent of agility compared to this version of Linebarrel. As expected from Sentinel, Riobot EX Linebarrel is unreachable for regular collector yet again. It is highly likely that GSC will release some moderoid for this series at some point but i personally prefer if they can make some action figure for this underrated Mecha series.
 

Sengoku Komachi Kuroutan

 Oda Nobunaga always make popular choice as Sengoku Period manga and this rather new entry took an isekai spin on it. If you have been following Nobunaga no Chef, you will find right at home with Sengoku Komachi Kuroutan! The manga premise is about a Highschool girl from Agricultural school who somehow find herself stranded in Sengoku Period and in a strange turns of event ended up serving Oda Nobunaga. Using her knowledge from modern world, the heroine attempts to make a better place for the populace she is in charge of while at the same time strengthen the dominion of Oda Clan with her inventions. Unlike most Sengoku period manga, Sengoku Komachi doesn't shy away from alternate take of this rather colorful period of Japan history. 

 I think the primary goal of this manga is to showcase how Oda Nobunaga reacts with modern technology to the extent that are even very hard to swallow for people of the period. Simply to say Nobunaga is portrayed to have excellent adaptability and make good use of these novelties which is the way the manga justify how this particular Daimyo to be the most influential person in his period. The main heroine herself is quite likeable as she is not milksop and had a good sense of reality which majority of isekai theme protagonist lacks most of the time. At this time Sengoku Komachi is still far from being concluded but its potential is good enough for me to keep a close tab on it.

The GATTAI Mugen Gattai Gurren Lagann

  A surprising entry for Guren Lagann but a welcome one nonetheless! Recently there have been some movement for Guren Lagann series indicating something will be up for the series once again. Sentinel did their part with Riobot Guren Lagann costing whopping 32000 yen and then GSC followed up with Mugen Gattai Guren Lagann which appear to be better bargain. Scheduled for November release with 24900 Yen price tag, Mugen Gattai Guren Lagann feature 8 Ganmen robots including Guren Lagann that has awesome gimmick of combining into one Giant Robot.

At one glance Mugen Gattai Guren Lagann reminds me of Bandai's particular combiner robot from Doraemon and Disney series, serving as better application of the concept. In terms of design this version of Guren Lagann are somewhere in between Guren Lagann and Arc Guren Lagann. As long as Guren Lagann unit articulation is good enough, Mugen Gattai will be a valuable collectible for the fans considering Sentinel's pricing are pretty much unaffordable except for High-end dedicated collectors. I am quite sure Bandai will have something in response for this move by GSC since their last contribution for the series were SRC and NXEdge.