Some loots i got this month

I don't buy much stuffs nowadays as my backlog still keep growing, though i got my Limited Version of Gunhound EX and Vita version of Danball Senki W. I have been anticipating the Gunhound being one of the few games that have similar gameplay to Assault Suit Valken which is quite rare for mecha game. The limited edition is not that special though the packaging is quite nice. I had my Gunhound UMD processed in UMD Password which made the game available on my vita for download for 800 yen instead of 2500 yen which is not that bad. I will be writing the review of the game soon as i managed to clear the game recently as well. As for Danball Senki W i had promised myself not to play the game until i wrote the article of Danball Senki Boost which i already did and currently i am halfway through the game. Recently i also got 1/48 Layzner from Hobbyco for $36 which is quite good bargain but again i won't build this kit until i watched the anime.

Danball Senki BOOST

A really interesting mecha titles in PSP.

Otoyomegatari

From the author of Emma, Otoyomegatari(Bride's Story) is another manga that is added to my reading list recently. While i rarely read shoujo manga, Otoyomegatari is quite interesting to read due to its historical setting in antiquated era of middle east which is a rarity for manga. Taking place in 19th Century on Central Asia era nearing Crimean War, Otoyomegatari is about the slice of life of 12 years old boy with 20 years old girl as a married couple along with a pinch of Middle-east culture slideshow. Despite their huge gap difference the young couple tried their best to love each other and face the ordeals together. The strongest point of the manga would be the drawing which is beautiful and more vibrant compared to Emma and story is still going interesting though the chapters are going rather slowly. If you like Emma probably you will like this as this manga got the same feeling with the series save for the setting.

Volks A3 F-15E Strike Eagle Review

The leading 2nd Gen TSF is here!

Liger Zero Jaeger buildoff!

Picked up my hobby knife again  after being inactive for more than 6 months already. I just finished my LBX Odin and picked this Jaeger CAS units. Gotta say this is probably my favorite Liger Zero variants in terms of look because appearance wise, the HMM Liger Zero Jaeger is the coolest one out of Zero's CAS variants at least for me. Unlike my previous Liger Zero build i intend to do painted build for Jaeger which is rather straight forward unless i plan to make the kit looks more detailed. Just now i finished Sanding all of the parts for the Jaeger units which took about 2 hours which i bet Panzer would take much longer -_-;.

Rahxephon thoughts

 Another series that i watched due to SRW influence and quite an artistic approach for a mecha anime. Rahxephon is a beautiful anime but i don't think this series has a capacity to revolutionize mecha series. Overall my reaction for this anime is okay as it neither has noticeable flaws nor being particularly memorable for a mecha series. The main problem for Rahxephon is that it kinda lacks the Action bit as a mecha series and the pacing is rather slow. But this series got some really good music and gorgeous animation as well as romance which is the strongest point of the series for me. The main character relationship with the main heroine is one of the few example of romance in anime which is pulled of really well. Rahxephon is a beautiful mecha design which has special purpose other than fighting which is why it doesn't have any flashy moves. While Rahxephon has some similar elements with Evangelion mainly the character templates, i would say Rahxephon managed to stand its ground on its own. Despite Rahxephon is rather plain, nevertheless it is recommended watch for one of a kind experience in mecha series.

Wonderfest 2013 releases

Every year as always Wonderfest bring something surprising for collectors and especially for mecha fans. I am not really following RIOBOT series but from this Wonderfest, Sentinel introduced couple of awesome mecha figures. First is the RIOBOT Blodia from Capcom's mecha fighting series Cyberbots: Full Metal Madness which is piloted by Jin Saotome, the main character of the series. I saw Blodia first in action in Marvel Vs Capcom through Blodia Punch then played Capcom Beat em up called Armored Warrior in which it is one of the playable character and finally the Cyberbots itself which i played on MAME. I wonder if Reptos will get a Riobot eventually since Blodia managed to get it through. While there is a slim chance for me to get Blodia at least i will be getting Cyberbots from PSN.

Apart from Blodia, Riobot Jehuty which was announced a while ago got prototype model which really gorgeous and looks like Anubis soon will be following as well. I am still looking forward to the Riobot Orgun which has been taken a while but still get a better chance to me to get it compared to Blodia.

Usually i don't really care with Max Factory releases on Wonderfest but certainly they caught my attention this time with Figma Guyver and Dougram Plamo. I am actually fan of Guyver which is quite interesting and have been looking for a good physical rendition of Guyver 1 but no luck and Max Factory finally decide to release a figma for it. As for Dougram my wish seems to be granted again in one way as Max Factory decided to create Plamo for Dougram, Soltic and Blockhead in 1/72 scale which would be the same as average 1/144 Gundam kits.

Finally in the Kaiyodo and Kotobukiya section, with popularity of Rathalos Blademaster Kaiyodo decided to expand its Monster Hunter Revoltech lineup with Jinouga/Zinogre Blademaster which seems to come with SnS and other weapon which is quite random since Jinouga had weapons in all weapon tree IIRC.

For the Kotobukiya, it is abit disappointing this time since there are no major release for SRW or Muvluv appeared in the exhibition but at least the 1/144 YF-23 Blackwidow is pretty much confirmed now. HMM is also getting Gojulas which i bet will be as expensive as Iron Kong. This Year's Wonderfest seems to add plenty of stuffs again in my want list which is too tempting.

Variable Action Rahxephon

I have been waiting a good physical rendition of Rahxephon for a while already and finally Megahouse answered my wish by releasing this beautiful mecha in Variable Action lineup. The Figure is planned to be released on May this year with price close to 12000 yen and you can get it for 9330 yen in Amiami. I really want to get this figure straight away but due to the steep base price i guess i will be waiting for a while until the price dropped to 5000-6000 yen range. I suspect the possible cause of the expensive price tag is due to the license or limited production number since my Vardant being in the same lineup only have 6500 yen for the base price in the lineup.

I become interested with Rahxephon when i played SRW MX which Rahxephon is particularly remembered with its beautiful design and God-tier theme in SRW. I am currently watching the anime which i am up to 12th episode what i can say is that the series have no noticeable flow but no significant merit at the same time. Rahxephon has beautiful design for a mecha but it is not as flashy compared to other super robots which makes it doesn't really stand out.

Fate Extra 1/8 Caster/Tamamo no Mae Review

I am not really a collector of figurine but i bought this figure from Amiami on a whim when i played Caster's route on Fate Extra. You might have seen a glimpse of the figurine from my Fate/Extra post about Caster's playthrough which is a few months ago. Since i am not a collector figurine i can't really appreciate this figure to the fullest but i would say the sculpt of the figure is decent quality but not as good as Alter's figurine out there. The figurine comes with modest content with the Caster figure along with Yata no Kagami which Caster swings around in the game as well as basic base for the figure to stand on which seems rather fragile. Tamamo in Fate/Extra is far from the accurate depiction of the Heian Folklore version since her very design is meant to pander Otakus being a Waifu material. I am not really fond of her new costume in CCC but at least give her route a try when the game comes out. If you are haven't played Fate/Extra, Caster's route is one of the more interesting one but definitely will be frustrating for first run.

Ys Celceta no jukai localization announced!

Today Xseed announced couple of games localization at the same time which is awesome and certainly being a Ys fans, Celceta no Jukai caught most of my attention. Planned to be released on Fall this year under the title Ys: Memories of Celceta. Certainly in mid of this year Vita will be really shining with the release of several interesting title like Muramasa Rebirth and Valhalla Knights 3. Personally i am not that hyped with Ys Celceta as i preferred Old school Adol but this game definitely will be day one purchase for me because i am following the series mainly because of the God-tier music for a JRPG. If things goes well for Xseed i hope Sora no Kiseki SC managed the cut by the end of this year because the wait is too long already.

Klonoa: Door to Phantomile

One of the PS1 classics that i played on Vita recently which i got quite a number now. Back then when i was a kid i remembered i played this game and somehow the gaming experience remains vivid and i decided to get back to this game. I didn't managed to finish this game when i was a kid and i feel obligated to finish one of the game in my past as i have a chance. Klonoa is one of those animal themed sidescrolling game which was quite a boom back in early 90s though this series itself is rather late joining the party. I remembered the graphic of the game was quite something else back then and every elements of the game just blends really well. While the game is targeted for younger audience, the game is quite challenging actually which i sometimes doubt if a kid able to finish this game. The game spans for 12 stages with one secret stage(pretty hard!) and roughly about 6 bosses. For a sidescrolling game the level design is challenging and unique at the same time which makes this game one of the renowned title of its genre out there. If you feel nostalgic with your PS1 and want to get a good sidescrolling game, Klonoa would be a perfect choice for you.

Half-minute Hero

Played this game on my PSP before and now i play this game again on my Vita which i start from Hero 30 till Hero 3 mode. Half minute Hero is really enjoyable ride as it gives another refreshing experience of JRPG. Don't let the graphics fool you, while the game got 8 bit graphic the gameplay is something else and somehow it gives me same vibe with "Yuusha kuse ni Namaikida!" series which is a plus if you like that series. The game offer 6 modes of gameplay which initially you only got 3 modes and have to unlock the rest with 4 different main characters. Hero 30 is the main attraction in this game which you need to defeat evil lords within 30 seconds and you will spend most of your time in this mode. Sadly according to XSEED this game had their lowest sales record but it doesn't mean this game is bad. If you like classic JRPG this title probably worth your visit, if you are a graphic freak better look somewhere else.

Date Masamune(Yokoyama Mitsuteru)

Not the one with "Put ya Guns On!" but it is quite interesting read. After reading Sangokushi, i am interested to read more Yokoyama Mitsuteru's work and came upon this manga. While Yokoyama is not the writer of the story, i find the series is quite interesting enough to keep reading the series. The story of the series is obviously about the life of one of the prominent Daimyo in Japan during Sengoku Jidai named Date Masamune. The series supposedly covers the entire life of Masamune and so far the translation covers up to the end of Momoyama period. Unlike the popular depiction in games and animes, Masamune in this manga is depicted as Shrewd man who is a capable politician rather than a warrior. But what makes the manga truly appealing for me is that it shows the political setting in Sengoku Jidai and shows some important event in the era and the catalyst of it. What surprise me is that Mitsunari Ishida is quite an ass and too ambitious at least what the manga depict while Tokugawa is virtuous and really shrewd at the same time but that's what makes this manga to be interesting. If you are a Sengoku Jidai fans for its history you should try read this manga.

Assault Suit Valken

Played this on my Android Phone and finished it a while ago. Assault suit Valken probably represents my favorite genre for niche Mecha game which is not much either. Valken is the 2nd Assault Suit series that i finished which is quite fun but not as good as Leynos 2. The gameplay is somewhat similar with Metal Slug but with Robots instead and the difficulty of the game is quite challenging considering it is rather old game. The Plot of the game is pretty simple but you can expect something else in the gameplay which is rather intense. The game spans around 7 stages which starts from space then slowly descend to earth along the game, you will get powerups which you need couple of them to upgrade your weapon up to 3rd level. my suggestion is to Max your Vulcan first then try to max out Laser once you get it which is really deadly weapon against both Grunts and bosses. If you haven't played this game yet better do because Assault Suit series is well known in mecha world despite being unheard in gaming world. Since i played it on my phone, i can't give much screenshot but at least i will show you my final score.

Some more Volks A3 Fubuki shots

First post of the year! few while ago i promised i will be taking more shots of my Volks A3 Fubuki as a commemoration for the Total Eclipse anime and here it is! I took more Fubuki shots in Blast Guard pack and i would say Volks made the missile pod really well. Back in Muvluv Unlimited opening i saw UN version of Fubuki using Blast Guard equipment joining in supposedly Sadogashima operation. Though by Alternative Fubuki is totally rendered to be a practice TSF which is kinda a waste for such a sleek TSF design. In Total Eclipse Fubuki had a small screentime early in the anime where Yuuya complains it being such bad TSF before he gets to fall in love with Shiranui, Anyway here are the rest of the pics.