Kingdom/王者天下

One of the hottest manga at the moment which i have followed since the first translation came out. While a little bit over the top, this manga shows that history and shonen genre could make an epic tag team duo. Kingdom or Wangzhen Tianxia tells about the 7 warring states era in China in the perspective of a youth named Li Xin about his journey to become Great General under Heaven and unite whole China with Qin banner. Kingdom is not the first manga that tells a story about Warring states era, but possible the most epic one yet. The manga still very far off to finish since it still few decades before Qin dynasty arise which means more potential for more epic moments as long as the mangaka keep focused though the current arc is already so epic. Chinese histories runs really deep and make a very good story, with Kingdom hopefully we will see more manga cover the history of China other than 3 warring kingdoms which Genghis khan's tale would be a great start. I would recommend to stick with the manga because the anime got terrible 3D battle animation. If you like Kingdom you may check Bokko which covered the same period though different genre and i had given my opinion before which you can check here

Raystorm 1/144 R-Gray 1

I am never good at Shoot'em up or STG game but i do play some of the series due to the plane design and these genre were part of my childhood. One of the STG title that catches my eye is Ray series which are published by Taito back in 90s which i played Raycrisis the most. A few while ago Kotobukiya released a model kit for the plane model from Raystorm which is called R-Gray1 in the game which is the standard model of the plane used in every Ray series. What makes Ray series different with other shooters is that it have lockon system which you can destroy offscreen targets to make them stop shooting or coming to shoot you on the screen, The main fighter in the series use standard bullet and laser cannon to shoot offscreen opponent. I only just played Raystorm recently on my Vita through PS1 Classics which is a blast. As for the kit, it is quite expensive costing more than 5000 yen base price but if you experienced modeller, i think this kit is a good one to build. Personally i find the base color of the model is too bright and i think if i ever got one of this kit, i will make it in 2P colors. Speaking of STG game, 90s is the best time and i played Psikyo's title alot and Dreamcast got plenty of them as well. Though i wished PSN had more STG games other than the PS1 classics which i hope Ikaruga will show up someday.

Gundam Build Fighters, Ongoing thoughts

  I have considered to share my thoughts about Gundam Build Fighers when it finished as usual with other anime but i will just do it now before any possibility of disappointment when the series ends which i hope it won't. I would say this is one of the recent gundam anime that made me smile(and giggle abit) especially with the episode 15 which is the best episode yet. Gundam Build Fighters feel like Danball Senki in terms of story structure considering it is aimed to the young audiences but unlike Age i think Sunrise pull it off properly this time by not alienating the older fans because the more you have seen previous gundam series, the more satisfied you will be as Build Fighters pays homage to all previous series(except Age). I still feel that Build Fighters could help some more G Gundam which would make Build Fighters even more awesome but so far the series is still good. It really feels that the team who animate the series have good passion in mecha or gundam at least considering Obari also joining in which makes the impression "from the fan to the fan". As for characters i like Kawaguchi, Fellini and Dallara who are just awesome as they shown some passion in the fight and does not rely on too many gimmicks with their gunpla. Never like Nils and Iori/Reiji because they the opposite of the characters that i find likable considering these characters are aimed for young audience as self-insert. As long as Build Fighters does not get way over the top i think it will be really enjoyable series for the Older fan and while i am not a big fan of Wing Gundam, i will get MG Wing Fenice which is likely considering Bandai is churning out Build Fighters MG model which Fenice should get one due to the popularity.

If you could pilot your gunpla like in the Build fighters, which model would you like to use? i would be using High Mobility Gyan or Marasai with beam naginata and Zeta gundam i have to pick a gendum

Blue Gender

This is one of those few animes that got interesting concepts but the ending totally ruined the series and make it forgettable. Marathoned the series on December and i can see how Blue Gender got its reputation of grimdarkness and how it ties with Muvluv series. From what i know Ryosuke Takahashi served as the creative director for Blue Gender but he is not the main director in charge which is why i can see the outcome of the series. The story of the series basically about humanity fighting giant insect creature called Blue(basically mix of Radam and Starship troopers bug) to reclaim Earth as their home with some kill'em all and gore thrown here and there.

Blue Gender really strong lead heroine and protagonist with good potential as well as great Real Robot mecha concepts. I think that the concept of the main heroine regaining her humanity while the protagonist slowly losing his is an interesting one but Blue Gender didn't properly pull it off until the end to make any impact. Also another problem from the series, is that it kills way too many side characters for any good story development which at least have some of them survive until the end. The first half of the series is done quite well but from the second half, Blue Gender slowly decline and the ending probably drive the last nail to the coffin. The movie could have create a change but in the end it is even worse than the TV series.

As the header of this post implies, Muvluv does take plenty of inspiration from Blue Gender, mainly for the TSFs and BETAs. The Assault Rifle, Servo Arms and couple of bits from TSF are based on Armor Shrikes parts and you can see F-22's spiky kneecaps is a homage to Armor Shrikes in a way. While Blue doesn't have many similarities with BETA when it comes to appearance, the concept does. From the Hives and how BETA make humans as their raw material is likely inspired from Blue Gender, i think that Sadogashima Hive Spire is also inspired from this series as well. There is one Blue strains that is probably the inspiration for Ruitare or Destroyer class which i can't find the picture but it is shown in the early episodes. With this much similarities you can see how Blue Gender influence Muvluv and in a way you can say that Muvluv is the more commercially successful version of Blue Gender. Unfortunately from Alternative onwards, the series have been stagnating too much.

Blue Gender probably makes a good SRW material with gruntish mecha like Votoms and the OP theme definitely will make an awesome theme in SRW. I still wonder why there are no single plamo or two ever comes out from the series. If you like Muvluv, i think Blue Gender worth to have a watch to see one of the series source inspiration.

Assault Gunners

A mindless fun 3rd person mecha shooter in PS Vita

S--CRY-ED,

 In order to wash off my bad aftertaste from Valvrave, i give a watch another anime title made by Sunrise back in early 2000s called s-CRY-ed which turns out to be a fun ride. The story is typical shonen but i never expect Hirai sameface works fine for the series and my opinion to Soichiro Hoshi become much better after finishing the anime. Storyline is quite simple, after great disaster in Japan ,some people got special powers called alters which similar to Jojo's stand. Shortly after the phenomenon, the people with special power divided into 2 groups, one sided with government and other one does not serve anyone which the plot of the series revolves around the rivalry of 2 Alter users from opposing sides. The main appeal of the series is the rivalry of the 2 main characters which is just full of hotblood and manliness. Never expected Soichiro Hoshi can tag along with Hikaru Midorikawa really well, at first i thought Hoshi can only play characters like Kira Yamato but with his role as Kazuma, i respect him even more. The main villain of s-CRY-ed is well written one, for a shonen series a good villain is someone that can make you absolutely hate his guts and s-CRY-ed have one. If you ever want some anime that makes you feels manly afterwards go watch this series and you won't

Non Scale ARX-8 Laevatein

I have been predicting Laevatein would get a kit eventually after Gernsback and Arbalest got one from Aoshima but never expect that Kotobukiya would be the one that release it. The kit will be released on March this year with 5500 yen price tag. The sample looks gorgeous but from the accessories that i see, i think the kit doesn't have all of its armament from the series but it still comes with its signature howitzer that can one shot Behemoths along with shotgun and knee blades. Laevateinn is Sousuke's ultimate arm slave which is named after Surt's legendary fiery sword which got more powerful Lambda Drive that are enable it to fire the Howitzer without recoil which could have wrecked the Arm Slave normally. I will keep my finger crossed on this kit if it ever got the final loadout set somedya which have Laevatein armed to the the teeth and still wonder if Laevatein will be granted an appearance in SRW?

Legend of Galactic Heroes Quotes: Free Planet Alliance

In every age

In every place

The deeds of men

Remains the same

 So at last this time is the LOGH Quotes for Free Planet Alliance side which i will also throw in some Phezzan quotes. Free Planet Alliance is a showcase how democracy can turn for the worst as the people in the government prioritize their self interest over the well being of the nation and alienated the virtues that were the foundation of the nation itself. What makes FPA significant is that how it portrays  the current situation in Developed nations nowadays which is scaringly accurate. While majority of the characters from FPA side are less memorable compared to their Galactic Empire counterpart, Yang Wenli himself  makes up for it. Again he is probably the wisest character that i have ever seen in anime, no even in fictional works and probably he is the best representation Republican Democracy in the most idealistic way in anime. Nevertheless i do like some characters from FPA like Poplan, Schenkopp and Bucock who are really good character which you should observe if you are watching the OVA. As usual the contents are spoilerific and better you watched the OVAs first before treading into this post.

You can check the quotes for Galactic Empire here

Loot from Mandarake

Bought some stuffs from Mandarake this month which serves well as my own Christmas present. I bought myself Armor Plus Sol Tekkaman 1 and Riobot Orgun which i got for 60% worth of the original price not too bad i would say. I think i will not be ordering stuffs from Mandarake like i used to do since they won't ship SAL to Australia at least for a long time due to some new regulations. Luckily my order went through just few days before the rule comes in effect and shipped without problem. From a short glance of the items, Armor Sol Tekkaman 1 is meant to be paired with Sol Tekkaman 2 since it got some parts that need Sol Tekkaman 2's as well. I am abit sad with Riobot Orgun though because the figure is small compared to my Tekkaman Blade though it should be a great pairing for the Figma Tekkaman Blade but nevertheless articulation is very good. I will probably take a while to post reviews for these but you can anticipate something within 3 months.

Completed my Armor Plus Tekkaman series yay!

Valvrave the Liberator

人間をやめますか？

If Code Geass and Gundam Seed ever has a kid together Valvrave is likely to be the outcome, truly a mixed bag from the beginning until the end. I have marathoned the series from 2 weeks ago until the last episode of the second season that i watched today. I have expected the Valvrave to be disappointing as Sunrise doesn't make any good mecha anime anymore but i am rather sad the good mecha designs are wasted in some worst possible way. Valvrave just shows how High school hijinks and mecha does not mix really well and while the main character is Beta guy, he still got some redeemable factors with him whereas the main heroine represents every worst thing in the anime. Valvrave could have been a decent mecha series but unfortunately most of the aspects in the anime are ended prematurely thus the anime does not have any lasting impression that it could give and i feel the story direction is rather indecisive.

Nevertheless Valvrave still got some redeeming values which is why i said at the beginning it is a mixed bag, L-elf is rather well written character which unfortunately paired with Beta protagonist and the fist fight between them on 22nd episode is some of the best scene in the series. The Valvraves itself is rather good looking mecha and kinda remind me of Aquarion for some reason though i really feel the true power of each Valvraves are not shown in the anime. With how the 2nd season wrapped up it seems there is a possibility for continuity of the series but i am not too optimistic about that either. Nevertheless if Sunrise ever make another mecha series better they abandon the high school BS or else it will not be a good mecha title ever.

Legend of Galactic Heroes Quotes: Galactic Empire

In every age

In every place

The deeds of men 

Remains the same

 As promised from me few months ago, i present the Quotes of the LOGH casts as Christmas present from Realm of Darkness! I think this is the only series i bothered to do this thing to pay a respect for a great masterpiece that anime will unlikely ever see again. As i do my second run of LOGH, i write down the noteworthy quotes by episodes and in total i did like more than 9000 words of document from the quotes which just show something. At first i expect Free Planet Alliance side will have the greatest number of quotes because of Yang Wenli but as i progress through the Word document, in the end Galactic Empire got the highest amount of quotes with Reinhard came into equal number with Yang with each of them have 3 pages worth of quote. Also due to the nature of the quotes, you better watch the series first before treading into this post. Probably i missed some of the quotes but i think i do write down most of the good ones.

 You can check the Quotes for Free Planet Alliance characters here

 

Utawarerumono: The One being Sung

Another VN that i revisited from my past collection and this is probably the first proper post for the series for my blog. For those who don't know about the series, Utawarerumono is fantasy themed VN by Leaf with heavy Ainu influence and kemonomimi where the story revolves around amnesiac masked man named Hakuoro who will greatly change the fate of a war torn land. The VN got Strategy RPG element in it which is passable and i have some hard time pulling out full combos.

 I got into Utawarerumono from the anime first six years ago and then give the VN a run which should be in the first 10 VN i have read. Back then i played the VN halfway but in the end stopped halfway being distracted with other stuffs. I have to say i got really nostalgic with Utawarerumono with my second run and this is certainly one of the good VN title out there. My favorite part from Utawarerumono is the slice of life which i believe the main charm of the series and feels like a fleeting dream. While the VN is made around 2003, the quality is surprisingly very good and compared to the anime, VN is still better since some of the parts are more coherent. However Utawarerumono is one of the few VN that have good anime adaptation. What makes me prefer the VN version is that Hakuoro is more badass in the VN which you should see yourself. Recently i watched the special edition episode of the anime and the OVA which includes some of the slice of life scene from the VN that didn't make into the anime and that scene where Touka beat the hell out of Oboro is really hilarious. As for now i think i will give PSP version of Utawarerumono a run and hope there will be more news about Utawarerumono 2. I also hope Aquapazza got ported into Vita somehow and meanwhile have Eruruu singing Musou uta

Space Battleship Yamato 2199

No doubt this the best anime that Japan has airing from the past 2 or 3 years and i can see how the original series affect the anime industry back in the past. Marathoned the series after catching up to the latest episode of Valvrave which i will share my thoughts about it as well once the final episode come out. Anyway i will say Space battleship Yamato 2199 is a good reboot as a person who never watched the original series considering the series have solid story and characters who drive it. Along with the epic series opening it is good enough to make me interested to make the original series get into my watchlist.

The story of the series is basically about when Humanity face the brink of destruction as the Earth as they fought losing battle against Sentient Alien race called Garmillan and have the surface of the Earth become uninhabitable. During these darkest hour, mankind managed to create a powerful battleship called Yamato which is tasked to travel to distant planet Iskandar where the ruler of the planet promised a technology to restore the Earth back to its former self. However the journey will not be easy as the crews of Yamato will face alot of trials and attack by the Garmillan in order to reach Iskandar.

While Yamato itself is Scifi rather than mecha series, i can see how it have profound effects to series like Gundam due to theme of "One Ship become the hope of Humanity" which inspired ships like White Base, Macross or Nadesico and definitely Zentradi are definitely based from Garmillans(wonder if they will get Deculture if Yamato has Basara/Minmai on board). Okita Juzo, the captain of Yamato is one of most badass ship captain i have seen, because he shows how a man can overcome any odds with his willpower and probably he got auto iron-wall seishin every turn. My only complain with the series is that it lacks fleet to fleet battle which makes it less epic than LOGH and Hadou Cannon could be less broken and finally Desler should have been portrayed to be less reckless because he should be a Sympathetic villain. Otherwise Space Battleship Yamato is a very good anime and my personal favorite episode is the 9th one.

Max Factory 1/72 Dougram

Well it is abit late for a pre-release thread but there are things i want to talk about this Dougram kit. It has been more than a decade that Dougram got any kit treatment and thanks to Max Factory a new version of the kit is available for the nostalgic fan of the series. The kit will be released on this December with price around 3300 yen. The kit will be 1/72 scale which will be around the same height as HG kit and the proportion is really faithful to original Okawara proportion. Dougram is a prototype Combat Armor developed by anti earth government rebels in Deloyer to spearhead their revolution from oppressive rule of Earth. Dougram proved to be a very powerful Combat Armor as it outperforms most Combat Armor like Soltics and the cannon on its back capable to one shot any Combat Armor. Dougram itself is piloted by Crinn Cashim who is a son of prominent politician of Earth as he decided to fight for Deloyer's cause after seeing the atrocity that Earth done to Deloyer.

This i's what Dougram would roughly look like if the series air in the present and no doubt Randgrith from SRW is a homage to Dougram. As i discussed before, the main appeal of Dougram is not the mecha itself but the political intrigue which is something that you won't see on average mecha anime in 80s and i can guarantee it is comparable to LOGH. The conflict of the Deloyer also kind of remind me what Sirius uprising from LOGH will look like in mecha flavor considering they share same theme. Lastly while i doubt Max Factory will release all combat armor, i think Soltic would be a possible release and a mass produced dougram would be cool to see as well.

Warhammer 40k: Ultramarines movie

- Revised February 2026

I’ve never played the Warhammer 40k tabletop game, but I’ve been fascinated by its massive and over-the-top lore. The series has been running for over 20 years and, naturally, being one of the biggest tabletop franchises, it eventually received a movie adaptation a few years ago.

The first CGI movie focuses on the poster children of the Space Marines: the Ultramarines also known jokingly as the “Ultrasmurfs.” They’re not my personal favorite, but they’re probably the most well-known Space Marine Chapter to the general public.