S-Rank Boukensha de aru Ore no Musume Tachi

 One interesting Fantasy Manga that I read recently and this is another one that is slightly cut above among those many powercreep fantasy. If you have Princess Maker and Genji Monogatari mixed into one manga, then S-Rank Boukensha de aru Ore no Musume Tachi or My Daughters are S-Rank Adventurers is the end result! The premise of this series is about a former Top Adventurer who retired after failing to save a settlement from Ancient Dragon and then devoted his life to raise 3 Baby girls who were the sole survivor from the disaster. Few years passed and these Daughters grew up and turns out prodigies in their respective fields and obviously they are Head over Heels toward their foster father. And this manga is a slice of life of a perfect Dad Adventurer with his talented daughters.

 Usually Isekai or recent fantasy manga tend to have Teen Protagonist but S-Rank Musume tachi had a perfect specimen of Early-Middle Age male as the main character. This is certainly a treat for Semi-boomer audiences who actually have some spending power compared to younger audience and the manga do make sure to put the momentum into good use as the niche is largely untapped at this point. If executed properly, S-Rank Musume Tachi will be easily a popular series when the anime came out. Personally I am rooting for Kaiser's former redhead companion as the main waifu but the key of this series success will be in its ability in maintaining the romcom as the thirsty Three Daughters will have to contend with ever increasing number of women who fall for their father.

Yolopark 圣斯基 Soskill x UltraEgg SPA Duck & B.Duck

 A distinct Chinese Model Kit that managed to catch my attention as I am still a sucker for anything with Cockpit gimmick and this one even look more promising compared to Rihio Animacha! Created by a studio called 圣斯基 or SoSkill, Spa Duck is 22cm Hot Spring themed Mecha Model Kit that has Duck as its pilot and comes with another 8cm duck figure in a bucket tub. Scheduled for April 2024 release, SoSkill Spa Duck will be sold for 238 RMB or around 35 USD in Mainland China but expect the price will be higher for overseas market.

Being a comical themed mecha, Spa Duck comes with Watergun and Shower handle as its armament and for its price tag this model kit also comes with LED gimmick and Cloth parts. A brief look at SoSkill weibo, the company previously had made some Transformers, Robot model kits and Hatsune Miku figures. It seems that Spa Duck will be part of the first wave product release by SoSkill and it won't be the last time we will see another Duck themed mecha from them. Though It would be neat if they can create more for another animal.

Jan 2024 Loot

 First loot of the year and we already seen some heavy duty stuff! As some of the more expensive preorders of Mine have arrived around the same time. Overall another Top Tier haul this time that have balance of Chinese and Japanese made products. The best of the haul is no doubt the Metal Build Sirbine and Myethos 1/7 Skadi Alter though I would favor Myethos Skadi because the value for money is simply a tie breaker! Not even Phat 1/7 Scathach-Skadi Box size came close with her Arknights counterpart despite the price difference are not that significant. By this time Joytoy Warhammer had become a regular part of my hauls and my set collection become more complete than ever. But Skitarii Marshal probably stick out the most since I never consider to collect Mechanicus faction before until I got Tan'Gida Skitarii Marshall in Warhammer Tacticus. Lastly I finally got my SHF Griffith which will complement well with SHF Guts that came earlier and I would like to see if Griffith's horse is on par with Lartoria's Dun Stallion.

Mechatalk Final Gear: Jasmine - Phantom Rose

 28th Final Gear Mechatalk here and it is yet another post for the Sniper Class! This time we got ourself one of the low rarity pilot that had what it takes to compete with other Top Tier Final Gear Waifus and it is no other than the Femme Fatale Sniper Bounty Hunter, Jasmine! Jasmine was one of the few non SR/SSR rarity pilot that eventually got her own unique mech along with UR Upgrade even though the Global server handled her Unique mech rather poorly despite she had rather bizarre background story along with Event quest when the game was still active.

ACT MODE Navy Field Tia & Type Penguin

 Couple years ago, I have seen some unique Mecha Musume product which is a hybrid of Figma and Model kit dubbed ACT MODE. While I am not really into Mecha Musume niche, I will give the proper due credits when the product turns out to be exceptional and the new product in the lineup happen to be one! Dubbed as Navy Field Tia & Type Penguin, this is another new character from the heavy weapon setup and look quite promising. Act Mode Navy Field Tia & Type Penguin will be scheduled for July 2024 with 15800 Yen Price tag.

To be honest this Particular Act-Mode caught my attention because the weapon setup can be arranged to highly resemble with Vardant from Kurogane no Linebarrel which is still one of my favorite Mecha. While not as cool as Mio and her type 15 Orca/Dolphin mech, Tia comes with 4 Robot Penguins that controls 4 Large contraptions that resemble 00 Raiser's giant Shoulder armor. From the first glance, in terms of Aesthetics, Tia with her Type-Penguin is more like a highly defensive unit with Long range offense capability as each Robot Penguin controls what looks appear to be large-type autonomous weapon that can either shoot energy beam or do ramming attack if necessary. Considering Mio had couple iterations already, I think Tia could get another new weapon setup in the future.

Dungeon Meshi Nendoroid Laios Touden

 As Dungeon Meshi has begun its airing on Netflix, the merchandise for one of the best Fantasy series from last decade has started to trickle in! While Marcille will probably getting the most of the merchandise being the token waifu from the series, now we have the main protagonist Laios kickstart the Nendoroid lineup for Dungeon Meshi! Scheduled for July 2024 release, Nendoroid Laios will be sold for 6900 Yen.

For the 7000 Yen price tag, Laios accessories is rather lacking with Walking Mushroom Monster and his creepy face being the only notable Accessory. Personally I will be waiting for his possible figma release because this best recent Fantasy series deserves this much at least. In Dungeon Meshi, Laios Touden is the de facto leader of Touden Adventuring party who leads the ragtag team to rescue her sister after being devoured by a Red Dragon. Being a fighter in his team, Laios strength does not come from his martial prowess but mainly from his intimate knowledge of monsters that stems from his obsession. Despite his quirk Laios is not to be trifled with because he survived many TPK scenario with his believable character and I will take Laios on any day over those poorly written Isekai protagonists.

Mechatalk Final Gear: Compendium - Sniper Class

4th Final Gear Compendium is here and we only have 2 more to go! It has been around 6 months I have kept the Final Gear Mechatalk going on consistent pace and the magnitude for this particular article series bear its result quite nicely. The 4th Final Gear Mechatalk Compendium will be assigned for the Sniper Class units! One of the two Pilot classes in Final Gear that can bring death from afar!

Being on the lighter side of the Long ranged unit, Sniper Class serve either as Pure DPS that can wreck multiple enemies in a straight line or Semi DPS that can cripple enemy with their Debuffs, in fact the best Stunlock unit in Final Gear belong to Sniper Class! However my best unit from this particular class happen to be Healer Semi DPS that can put up serious DPS which is no other than Arlen with her Ode to Joy!

In terms of overall Aesthetics, Final Sniper Class is probably considered to be the edgiest one since this particular class has plenty of Mechas with sinister designs ranging from Baroque Demons to Aliens. However I still quite like the futuristic mecha design that this particular class had whether it is Lilian's UR Mech, Megaera's Whale Leader or Mirabelle's NF-X

Tsukihime Figma 623 Ciel

 Following up after Type Moon's popular Moon Princess Arcueid Brunestud, The Curry Senpai Ciel follow suit in her Executor combat uniform from the Tsukihime remake! Scheduled for October 2024 release, Figma Ciel comes with Regular and DX edition selling for 9800 Yen and 12800 Yen respectively.

Figma Ciel comes with her Iconic Black Key swords which is available in her Regular version and then the DX Version comes with more heavy duty stuff! In the DX version, Ciel's Trump Card Seventh Scripture is available in 2 variations, Pilebunker and Machine Gun which seems to be the recent addition in Tsukihime remake. I really look forward for the Switch Port Translation for Tsukihime this year to see how Ciel Senpai able to obtain this gimmick. On first glance, Ciel's new combat uniform really make her look like Mash's senpai due to similar getup which I blame for Takeuchi being lazy with his sameface Syndrome. Considering Ciel able to make it, I won't be surprised if Tohno Shiki or Akiha could follow up some day.

52Toys Beastbox BB-64 Radioheadar

 Another solid entry by 52Toys for their beastbox lineup! While this is not the first of the flying animal series, Dubbed as BB-64 Radioheader This Bat Beastbox have some quite neat gimmick to offer. BB-64 Radioheadar will be sold for 28 USD with Q1 2024 Release schedule.

 Painted in sleek black color scheme, Radioheadar exudes a high tech infiltration unit that takes form as a Bat. This particular beastbox comes with Radar equipment as the extra accessory and having alternate form of Jet Fighter which is the biggest selling point for me. Given the quality of the sculpt, I can easily expect that this Beastbox will be coming in another palette swap likely in more aggressive Red color for instance.

Mechatalk Final Gear: Lilian - Queen's Cradle

 Glad that I am able to make it this far and fulfill the promise! Fortunately Final Gear Global managed to live long enough for me to complete the circle and thus Final Gear Three Great Nation's Leader article properly concluded with the 27th Final Gear Mechatalk. What have started with Hexel's Noctris will now conclude with the Kegha's Empire great leader, Queen Lilian! Considering Lilian's special status in Final Gear, this article will be higher in terms of quality compared to the usual and would have been even better If I had spent some crystals when her Banner was still around during the maintenance mode of Final Gear. All Hail Queen Lilian!

SRW OG Riobot Dygenguar / Daizengar

 SRW OG series has been getting some serious attention by Sentinel lately as we are getting yet another seriously big entry and something that can rival SRX popularity! The ever popular Giant Samurai mecha Daizengar is now preparing to make its entry to Sentinel Riobot lineup. Coming with the proportion close to 1/144 Scale along with LED and plenty of other gimmick, this possibly the best rendition yet for Daizengar by Sentinel will be scheduled for September 2024 release with 42000 Yen Price Tag.

One of the first Dynamic General Guardian unit, Dygenguar or Daizengar is the Ultimate mecha piloted by Zengar Zonvolt, a Stoic German Ace Pilot belonged to the legendary Agresssor team who is very skilled in Japanese Swordsmanship. Daizengar comes with assortment of weapons but Zengar mainly use a Giant Sword Zankantou which is pretty much SRW equivalent of Berserk's Dragon Slayer. Together with DGG-02 Aussenseiter, Daizengar forms an unstoppable duo as Daizengar rides Ausssenseiter Trombe form and literally cleave everything in their way with Zankantou and can hit really hard on Bosses with Zankantou Tatsumaki.

Riobot version of Daizengar comes with tons of Accessories to make it the definitive version of this Ultimate Samurai Mecha and collectors got an option for Store exclusives which are shown below that comes with Zankantou throwing blade version and additional faceplate if they wish to go for extra mile. I wonder if Bandai will put up some reaction with this move by Sentinel this time given they had some Chogokin for the DGG Duos which were open for rerun less than 2 years ago.

Mechatalk Final Gear: Compendium - Demolisher Class

 Third Final Gear Compendium Mechatalk and we are already halfway through this series! As always I spent some of my effort to create this post to give the opportunity for people to take a glimpse on Final Gear mech units that I am unable to provide dedicated mechatalk article whether due to lack of time or material to work them on. This time It is the the versatile Demolisher class that will take turn for the 3rd Final Gear Compendium.

In Final Gear, Demolisher Class is one of the more versatile class among 6 Classes that can serve either as DPS unit or Dedicated Support which some of the best DPS buffer or Healer belong to this class. My Strongest Demolisher Unit is no other than Noctris which is still my personal favorite UR Waifu up until now in Final Gear. Overall in terms of Roster, Demolisher Class had a robust selections of Unique mecha and one of the more notable trait from this particular class is that the Waifu pilots belong to Demolisher Class tend to be more cheerful. Perhaps this is due they have the pleasure of having the option to blow the enemy units into smitherens or literally disintegrate anyone foolish enough with Giant Laser beams if it is Noctris.

52Toys Evangelion Beastbox Kabuto-Eva Set

 Given Evangelion's existing popularity, this Mecha series has always been frequently getting collaborations whether it is Gacha Games or Toy Products. Around last month before 2023 ends, we were getting a good Eva collab products from 52Toys as part of their Wonderfest Exclusives. Not something that average 52Toys fans expected, but 52Toys released their Kabuto Beastbox in EVA 00, 01 & 02 color scheme. These limited EVA Beetle Beastbox can be purchased for around 400 RMB or 50 USD price tag but for Overseas collectors, you can expect to spend 100 USD at least for this set.

A rather peculiar choice by 52Toys for the Eva Color Scheme candidate considering I have expected we will get some more Eva Dios instead to complete the circle for the Evangelion collab, but it is a good one nonetheless. The Beetle Beastbox is actually one of the better products made by 52Toys whether in terms of Playability or Gimmick especially the one in EVA-02 Color Scheme. The paint finish effect also look superb nonetheless and will provide a good value for Eva Collectors due to its Unique selling point and still look better compared to the random Gattai Robo that had Eva combined with Toei's popular series like Godzilla or Kamen Rider. I will definitely get this one for my 52Toys collection If I can get it within reasonable price which is up to 52Toys dealing with their distributor.

Macross Plus DX Chogokin YF-21

  Macross Plus will never be complete without the eternal Rivalry of YF-19 with YF-21 thus lo and behold! YF-21 is getting their Chogokin treatment by Bandai that doesn't lack any oomph compared to YF-19 either! Scheduled for June 2024 release, Chogokin YF-21 will be sold for 38500 Yen Price tag.

Based after real life F-22 Raptor, YF-21 proves to be a worthy opponent for YF-19 with Top of the line Valkyrie Fighter tech along with advanced Neural Input control scheme. Despite the end result of the test for these two units, both YF-21 and YF-19 do still end up as the Elite Valkyrie Fighters for UN Spacy Top Tier Pilots. The Chogokin version of this particular guy apparently cost way more than YF-19 by roughly 150%. Probably this is because YF-21 transformation gimmick is rather complex as the Battroid had rather curvy form while the Fighter mode still able to maintain the sleekness of a Jet fighter. I would probably have gotten YF-21 If i had preordered DX Chogokin YF-19 back then but regardless I will still be eager for the VF Hi-Metal should Bandai ever released one.

Mechatalk Final Gear: Rin Kamiuezono - Fallen God

 26th Final Gear Mechatalk is here!  This series will still going strong as long as Final Gear Global does not close its server. This time we will have another Oriental Beauty apart whom along with Aya Kujou hailed into Final Gear in its early days, Rin Kamiuezono! Final Gear had some good Japanese themed mecha and both Rin and Aya had shown a glimpse what Japanese themed Mechas that Final Gear would have should they decide to pursue into this direction.

Joytoy 1/25 God of War 86-II

 After strings of Quality 40k Products, Joytoy decided to pull off a Combo Breaker and return to their 1/25 Mech lineup that resembles after those Titanfall mechs. Named as God of War 86-II These 1/25 Mechs comes in 2 Color Variants with 70 USD Price tag and March 2024 release schedule.

Coming in Black and White color variant, this mech had rather close resemblance with the recent Dual Pilot Tiekui series due to sharing similar color scheme along with LED Gimmick. I suppose the naming designation is probably because Joytoy had some plan to revive the old lineup as the sculpt will be a huge step up compared to the previous iteration. Among the two color variants, I actually favor the White color one which capture the image of Fast assault unit perfectly whereas the Black color appear too fragile with the cumbersome Gatling Gun while still having paperthin armor. I don't think this will be the last of these 1/25 Joytoy Titanfall mechs as they will probably come up with something else at some point after they had their well-earned rest in CNY.

Mechatalk Final Gear: Compendium - Shooter Class

 The Second out of 6 Final Gear Compendium mechatalk series is here! The reigning Meta class of Final Gear; The Shooter Class surprisingly able to make it earlier than others. Divided into 2 Subclasses of Light and Heavy variant, The Shooter class reigns supreme when it comes to DPS as some of the hardest hitting Waifu pilots belong to this class so don't be fooled with their lower BP scores!

As always, This Final Gear Compendium Mechatalk series will list all non-crossover Unique mechs belong to the shooter class starting from the highest  BP Score. Surprisingly the Unique Shooter class units are not as many as I thought initially despite their influence in Final Gear but they still have wide range of aesthetics in terms of mech design second only to Striker class. Whether you prefer classic Shooter mech that shoots out inefficient amount of Dakka or Futuristic Robot that spews out Death Rays, Final Gear's Shooter class got you covered. If time allows it, probably there will be some full Mechatalk article dedicated for members belonging to this shooter class with Haela and Ariel being the Prime Candidate at some point. With the Shooter Class compendium done, 4 more Final Gear Compendium articles left to go and lets hope Final Gear Global able to survive by then.

Macross Plus DX Chogokin YF-19

 Macross Plus has always had a special place in my heart as the series captivated me with what is has to offer since Another Century Episode 3. Pound by Pound it is still the overall best Macross series for me as it nailed the Holy Trinity of Macross series in the right proportion to make a good mecha series. Around mid 2023 Bandai announced their DX Chogokin version of YF-19 with 24000 Yen Price tag and December 2023 release date. This is by far one of the best commercial rendition of YF-19 in the market apart from Arcadia's which fetched higher price tag.

Among many Macross Variable Fighters, YF-19 is still the best one for whatever reasons when it comes to the "Protagonist Mecha" look even if there are plenty of other superb Macross designs by Kawamori-sensei. Actually this is probably not the first time Bandai ever made Chogokin for YF-19 considering there was one in 2018 but this one is probably the first one available for international market. In terms of accessories this version of YF-19 may not have as much compared to the previously released full pack but I would expect Bandai had made some improvements over the previous iterations as the punch effect parts are different already. In any case the selling point of these Macross Chogokins will always be the main body that had the best transformation gimmick in terms of robustness and playability and will be looking forward to YF-21 full specification.

Mechatalk FInal Gear: Nova - Unknown

 25th Final Gear Mechatalk is here! As promised this one will be something abit more special as it features my 10th UR Upgrade unit which is given for Final Gear's Alien Hatsune Miku, Nova! I thought my last UR would have been Viola but Final Gear still managed to stay around somehow until Nova gets her Upgrade as well. By this time the most precious resources would be the Gold credit because these UR Upgrades doesn't come cheap as each of them will require 20 Million credits for full upgrade and slightly even more for SR Rarity and below.Without further ado let's see what this Alien Miku had in store for Final Gear!

Warhammer 40k Joytoy 1/18 Sigismund

 Joytoy have been pampering Space Marines collectors over 2023. On the last December not only Grey Knights are enjoying the treats, but also the first founding chapter Imperial Fist as they kickstart the Horus Heresy lineup for Joytoy. Following after Rogal Dorn and Imperial Fist Astartes with MkIII armor, the finest Champion of the Chapter Sigismund now joins the fray in his Defense of Terra rendition! Slated for March 2024 release, Joytoy 1/18 Sigismund will be sold for 70 USD Price Tag.

Sigismund is one of the more famous named Space Marine from Imperial Fist because he is the founding father of Black Templars chapter. Being one of the more consummate Duelist among his Brethrens, Sigismund fought many duels against other Space Marines from other chapters even before Horus Heresy happened and befriended with Kharn the Betrayer at some point. Sigismund then tasked as Emperor's Champion to lead on Heroic defense during Siege of Terra slaying many Chaos Champions and many foes alike. After the loyalist won the costly victory, Sigismund eventually lead the eternal Crusade as the first Black Templars High Marshall until he eventually slain by Abaddon the Despoiler. While Sigismund never lived to see the events of 40k settings, his legacy lived on with Black Templars being strong as ever with their eternal crusade.

For a 70 USD Action Figure, Joytoy really did a rushjob on Sigismund as the accessory is very lacking for its price tag not even coming with any spare helmets. But 40k Fans especially Imperial Fist will get this guy anyway due to his importance in 40k Lore. I really hope Joytoy would do less of this effort lacking stunts for the future products since even Helbrecht got whole better deal compared to Sigismund.

Mechatalk Final Gear: Compendium - Defender Class

 Another Side project of mine for Final Gear before the game inevitably close its server. Considering I am probably unable to cover all of the Unique mechs through the Final Gear mechatalk series due to combination of several reasons including Time constraints and Personal Interest, I might as well make a compilation of the unique mechs sorted by the 6 Job classes starting with Defender Class! This series will only include Final Gear Non-Crossover Unique mechs as part of the rosters sorted by BPs starting from the highest to the lowest. I will also include links for the Mechatalk Article if the Units happen to have one written in this blog before or background profile for the ones that didn't have one.

In Final Gear Defender class is probably the one that had the least share of Unique mechs in the roster but very essential in the party if you seek to compete in Top BP Leaderboards due to the innate high BP Multiplier. Metawise, Defender Class units are very useless in terms of DPS and only serve as Tarpits in PVP which will be easily mowed down by Ruby and Zero. However without any high performing DPS, you won't expect to break free out of these Defenders encirclement.

My main reason of creating this Compendium series is to make people have easier time to navigate the existing Final Gear Mechatalk series and I pick Defender Class as the first due to higher proportion of Mechatalk been done for this particular class and my favorite waifu in Final Gear also happen to belong in this class too.

Verndio - Surreal Sword Saga

 

 Happy New Year 2024 and starting out this Blog's first post of the year with another Fantasy series Manga! Created by the Author of Helck, Verndio Sword Saga is another promising fantasy series. Probably taken on the same universe but different timeline with Helck, Verndio is a story of former Mercenary accompanied by a mysterious Demihuman waifu trying to make a place called home for himself and his companions in war-torn world where Powerful weapon artifacts known as Surreal Swords are wielded by ambitious Individual who seek to carve out their own Kingdoms.

Just like Helck, Verndio is a very good manga if you seek a wholesome Fantasy Series in not so peaceful settings and apparently the Protagonist will face the same adversary that Helck faced at some point. Given the recent resurgence of Helck popularity with the Anime adaptation, I decided to give this series a run after I finished reading Helck. Overall Verndio is a very solid manga which had the same flaw with  Helck with pacing issues on the moments that mattered. So far Verndio ran for 53 Chapters for its First cour storyline as the Mangaka took a break due to health issues. Thus you can see what this manga able to offer as it stops at the right moment for the cliffhanger. I do hope the Mangaka can recover well before setting out on Verndio once again since this series had what it takes to surpass its predecessor.