Ergo Proxy

 Literally one of the best anime that i have watched in a while! I think it has been a long time since the last time since I watched an anime TV series that can pull off a proper complex storytelling with poise and Ergo Proxy turns out to be a mind boggling but very enjoyable ride! Most anime usually had their storyline put on the platter for the viewer, but Ergo Proxy is one of those that leaves its viewer to ponder over with its masterfully crafted distortion over reality

Macross Delta

 So it took me 4 years to give latest Macross TV series a chance and it turns out not to be as bad as i imagined. I steered away from Macross Delta for quite a long time since i had rather bad initial impression with  choice of aesthetics which i find to be questionable at first, especially with the singers. In short i find Macross Delta appear to be less manly than its predecessors which turns out to be partly true.

 Robot Planes, Songs and Love Triangle have always been the Holy Trinity of Macross series and Delta attempted to take a new spin on it which is partially successful. Macross Tv series is usually about Humanity fight against Alien race that are monstrous in nature, but in Delta the protagonists are facing against another Humanoid civilizations named Windermere Kingdom equipped with Valkyrie Fighters. In Macross Delta Windermere Kingdom rely on Protoculture Civilization technology to mass hypnotize people into mindless violent creature to quickly subjugate planets. Whether intentional or not Macross Delta probably quite similar to Gundam SEED in terms of story formula.

Sengoku Rance Uesugi Kenshin IF Route clear!

 Took me three months, but I finally managed to settle my old debt with Sengoku Rance by clearing Uesugi Kenshin's route at long last! In Sengoku Rance Kenshin is known to be very strong frontline unit but her passive skill is what makes her pretty much one the most overpowered unit in the game.  Being a peerless Female Samurai when it comes to Strength and Beauty, Kenshin is practically the postergirl of Sengoku Rance and at some point even on par with Saber from Fate series. Such masterfully crafted character no doubt deserved her own route and Alicesoft delivered really well for Kenshin's story 

RIOBOT 1/12 Tekkaman Blade

 The Space Knight Tekkaman makes a comeback once again with the help of Sentinel! I think it has been like 8 years the last time we see any Tekkaman Merchandise and Sentinel's take certainly look promising if not for its Price Tag. Riobot Sentinel will be scheduled for July Release with 15800 Yen Price Tag. That price tag easily double the price of Riobot Detonator Orgun which is around the same size with Tekkaman Blade which makes me wonder if Japanese Yen had devaluate to half of its value within 8 years. Had it been under 10000 Yen, I might have considered getting this version Tekkaman Blade but it looks like i will be waiting for Bandai or Max Factory to finish the job. I liked Tekkaman Blade because he is one of the most hotblooded protagonist out there and one of these days i should take some photoshots for my Armor Plus Tekkaman again.

Blade Runner

 One of the classic movie that has been highly looked up by Sci-fi fans and certainly lived up to its reputation. Blade Runner is the forerunner of Dystopian Cyberpunk and you can find many similarities or inspirations of any works in this genre with this movie. Directed by same person who made Aliens series, Blade Runner is a crime noir movie with futuristic setting where the main character is a washed out detective tasked to chase after renegade androids. The story of Blade Runner itself is not anything special but there is something else that made this movie gains its legendary status.

 I think what Blade Runner will be remembered for by most people would be its Visual Effect. For a movie made in early 80s a glimpse of the future that the movie tried to offer is truly something else. The futuristic setting that Blade Runner is way ahead of its time by a decade or two and Its influence to Sci-fi genre is no doubt insurmountable on par with Star Wars series. While Star Wars influence Sci-Fi genre in grand setting scale with spaceships battles, Blade Runner influence more on individual level. The most memorable part of the Blade Runner for me would be the main antagonist Roy Betty, an Android who was created solely as tool of murder who in the end saves his would be killer instead of executing him, becoming more human than a human in the process. If you like Sci-Fi genre especially Cyberpunk Genre, you will encounter Blade Runner soon or later. One of these days i should gave Phillip K Dick's Novel Do Android dream of Electric Sheep a read considering Blade Runner is based on this book.

RE:Creators

 Another anime series from the recent years that seems to have a good potential to make it big but somehow didn't make any buzz once its season passed. Co-written by Black Lagoon's author, RE:Creators showcases what happen if various characters from differing fiction genres came into life and go fight some battle royale. So basically you have characters from popular anime genre like Fantasy, Sci-fi, Mecha, Slice of Life and somewhere in between duke it out in Smash Brawl fashion but then RE:Creators tried to bring something more out of it.

Sonic the Hedhehog Movie

 Out of Sega's IP, I avoided Sonic the Hedhehog series like a plague because it is one of the hotbed for Furries fanbase. But when this particular series that has been dying for about a decade getting a movie treatment by Hollywood, certainly it does draw my interest. While the movie draw some controversy from the initial trailer with questionable Sonic's design, it can be said that this Movie did really well. For a Video Game adaptation, I won't expect anything deep but Sonic movie is a good watch for family showing the beauty of friendship for Kids. One of the main pitfall for a Cartoon/Live Action Hybrid is that the human characters tend to be either Over/Under-represented but Sonic the Movie managed to nail the right balance. Sega seems to know what they are doing and no doubt picked the right team for this Movie. For once, Sega wins over Nintendo this time because Sonic the Movie definitely better than Detective Pikachu.

With the success of Sonic the Movie, Sega gave this series another chance for Reboot and certainly i am up for a sequel  or game compilation even if i am not a fan of the series. If you look for a family friendly mindless fun movie, definitely give Sonic the Movie a try.

Sengoku Rance Loot

 Some stuffs that i have been gathering along since early this year as I revisited Sengoku Rance! Most of these figures are actually acquired from my SG trip on January and i got them for quite reasonable price with MISB condition as icing on the cake. I think Kotobukiya was at its peak around a decade ago where they are capable of churning quality Model Kits and PVC Figures for reasonable price which Sengoku Rance was part of it. These Sengoku Rance figurines was my in wishlist long back when i was introduced to the Rance series VN during my Uni years. However at the time i was unable to buy any of these figures as they were just out of distributions as i just had interest on the series. I am very grateful that i had a second chance to obtain these rare Sengoku Rance with reasonable price which is partly due to Carousell SG which are treasure trove for Collector Toys if you know where to look at.

 At first i only prioritize Sill Plain for the Sengoku Rance figure but when i saw the availability of other variants, i took no hesitation because they are very rare figures actually. I recalled Kotobukiya made 7 Figures from Sengoku Rance and i managed to get 4 of them. The ones that i skipped are Kouhime, Nanjou Ran and Suzume because they are not particularly must get for me. Out of the 4 Sengoku Rance figures that i got, surprisingly Kenshin Uesugi's is the best deal that i had which i got for 60 SGD, whereas Isoroku almost cost twice as much though i didn't mind. I planned to make the review for these figures once i finished Kenshin route which hopefully will be done soon as i just finished Kill the Monkey route last week. I think Sill will be the first one to be reviewed out of these Sengoku Rance figures because i do have quite an attachment with her character when i got into Ranceverse for the first time back then.

Dirty Pair

 For what initially i thought to be an ecchi fanservice series with its somewhat suggestive name, Dirty Pair turns out to be yet another hidden gem among Sci-Fi anime! The premise of this series lies around the misadventures of Female crimefighting agents Kei and Yuri forming a duo named Dirty Pair whose infamy spread across the galaxy. Dirty Pair Tv series took episodic formula where Kei and Yuri encounter a case each episode with a good share of wacky and serious moments.

For a Sci-fi series made by Sunrise in mid 80s, the writing quality is surprisingly good and had some attitude defining the charm of 80s Sci-fis, a stark contrast with Tomino's works in the same period who seems only waste potentials after another. To me what makes Dirty Pair stand apart is its depth of the futuristic setting which is quite ahead for its time and sometimes not fully surpassed by its successors.

Kei and Yuri are portrayed as a pair of problematic misfits who only cause troubles but completely competent Agent when the situation requires. Being one of the pioneer of its Genre, Dirty Pair sets up important trope for its genre. If you like Cowboy Bebop and prefer something lighter, Dirty Pair is a good choice. Considering i am sold with the Tv series, i will at least complete the Original OVA series.

Yami starting playing Arknights

 Recently there is a new Gacha game called Arknight that has been gathering a significant amount of hype among FGO Community for some reason. Getting slightly tired with FGO Gacha Hell, i joined the bandwagon and tried to give this game a spin. This newcomer Gacha Game released by the same Publisher of Azur Lane and Girls Frontline no doubt had it takes that makes it deserve its recent attention. 

Monster Hunter Nendoroid 1284 Nargacuga Female Blademaster

 Straight out from the Winter Wonderfest early this month, another Monster Hunter characters landed on Nendoroid lineup! There were two Nendoroids for Monster Hunter series revealed during Winter Wonfes 2020 which are Zinogre and Nargacuga Blademasters and the latter is the one up for Preorder already! Just like MHW Rathalos Blademaster, Nargacuga will come in two versions, regular and DX with the latter add more effect parts and an extra weapon. Nendoroid 1284 will be released for 5000 & 6800 Yen for the Regular and DX version respectively with August release schedule. Nargacuga is the flagship monster from Monster Hunter Freedom Unite which was the turning point of MH Franchise into a Blockbuster AAA title. Made from a sneaky and stealthy wyvern, Nargacuga's Armor is quite memorable because it basically grants hassle-free Evasion set and i remembered to pull some cheese with the set back when i was a noob in MH series. I will get the regular version because the DX parts doesn't really appeal to me. I already have 4 MH Nendoroids by now and will keep getting more as long the character appeals me and certainly look forward to Zinogre's. I wish someday GSC will make another MH Nendoroid that have Lance as part of the weapon.

Odin Sphere Parfom Gwendolyn Review

The Valkyrie takes up the flight.

Konosuba Legend of the Crimson

After about 6 months from the initial release, The Konosuba Movie managed to be aired in my local cinema! I give the movie an automatic watch considering I am kind of Aqua's follower. Overall the movie gives you what you expected from a Konosuba series, though i suppose it is not as hilarious compared to TV series considering the scarce time for development. 

The legend of crimson movie covers the 5th volume of LN where Kazuma's team visit Megumin's hometown chock full of Chuunis and facing yet another Demon Lord's General. In the end Kazuma still shows his worst side in the movie and resorts to pathetic means to defeat the big boss yet again. As expected Megumin becomes the main focus of the movie but at very least Aqua had some nice moments though not as much crying. Overall you won't miss much skipping the movie as the Light Novel still stands as the definitive source material. But if you are fan of Megumin, you will be in for quite a treat!

Hi-Metal R L-Gaim Mk-I

 Just like other mecha anime, i am looking for a physical representation for L-Gaim after i finished watching the TV series. While L-Gaim is another mecha series that ends up to be a wasted potential at the hand of Tomino, i am quite sold by the concepts that Mamoru Nagano tried to sell. I guess after Bandai made series of Hi-Metal mechas for Sunrise 80s mecha series, L-Gaim is soon to follow after. With the prototype shown around end of 2019, Bandai had announced the product release for Hi-Metal L-Gaim. The product will be released for 18000 Yen scheduled for July 2020.

 Hi-Metal Lineup is the non Gundam equivalent for  Metal Robot Spirits, but this particular rendition of L-Gaim feels more like Metal Build because this one stands 22cm tall. While i don't think the diecast parts would be as much as Metal Build, i think it should satisfy the collectors at very least. L-Gaim as a mecha series was an interesting one because it had some attitude and tried to make something different among the peers of its time. L-Gaim at its time is the closest thing to mecha version of Star Wars, had it been made as an OVA in late 80s i think L-Gaim's potential would have been more fully realized. Over the time i think i end up preferred L-Gaim Mk I over Mk-II because it feels more balanced overall, considering the latter doesn't really feel as proper successor mecha. Even if L-Gaim Tv Series is a flop, the spiritual successor FSS put its design to good use as Engage SR-1 and Junchoon. I wonder which 80s Mecha series will follow next in the Hi-Metal Lineup

Starship Troopers Figma SP-124 Warrior Bug

 Being one of the most respected Sci-Fi series out there, Starship Troopers didn't really have many merchandise in recent times after the Verhoeven's Movie. The prototype has been around for a while, but we are finally getting an action figure for the iconic Warrior Bug in Figma Format! The Figma Warrior Bug will be released in October 2020 with 11000 yen price tag. I think the Warrior Bug Figma is around 1/24 scale and it will come with two pre-painted Mobile Infantry Marine figure with one being the short end of the stick of Warrior Bug's claw. Apparently this version of Warrior Bug is based from the Traitor of Mars Movie though the only noticable difference is the Marine Armor design compared to the movie. The Warrior Bug rendition in Figma Format no doubt looks really fierce and deadly as they are portrayed in the movie even if it is not 1/12 format which could have cost double at least. Out of the CGI series while Traitor of Mars is a terrible movie, Starship Troopers Invasion is still an enjoyable ride. Lastly I am still waiting for Mobile Infantry Marine Action Figure that comes with reasonable price.