Hi Score Girl

 

A treat for Older anime fans especially those who grew up in Arcade Gaming era like myself. I binged the anime and the manga in 2 days myself and it turns out to be rather enjoyable work that brings sense of nostalgia of childhood for people growing up in 90s. Through romcom comedy between a Kazuma clone and Genius Ojou sama, Hi Score Girl explores the scene of Japanese Arcade Gaming in early 90s era through several popular arcade games of its time, in particular Street Fighter 2.

 The Mangaka obviously cover the Arcade game that he played alot during his youth which is around 1989 to 1995 and i think he played Fighting game quite a lot. Unfortunately the manga doesn't cover late 90s Arcade which I grew up with which is a bummer since there were plenty of good Arcade games like Metal Slug, KOF98 or Shadow Over Mystara right before the twilight of the era. In any case i still enjoy the tidbits from the fighting game scene of the era despite i am more of a Beat em player myself.

 Hi Score Girl will be a rather mediocre experience if you don't grow up in Arcade Gaming era. But having gaming character like Guile or Zangief  as spiritual friend would be very fun and it is one of the main source of entertainment for the anime. As much as i would like to see a sequel, the series won't be the same since the passion of the mangaka lies in early 90s era only. Who knows other mangaka could produce similar works like Hi Score Girl that covered other era someday.

Metropolis

  Another Anime backlog finished and this one is Osamu Tezuka's sensei works adaptation in early 2000s. Never thought the legendary mangaka made one of the earliest Cyberpunk anime out there. Started with Boy meet Girl trope, Metropolis is an apocryphal story of a Megacity where Humanity and Robot lived together in uneasy coexistence which subsequently fall in a single night due to the Hubris of its ruler. Overall Metropolis has very impressive Visual which are reminiscent of Ghibli animations and very eye-pleasing even up to present's standard, considering Japan was still thriving in early 2000s and had the budget to pull it off. However Metropolis ultimately fell short in story department to leave a lasting impression of Osamu Tezuka's legacy for younger audience. Nevertheless it is still a good movie to watch with your family members.

 Despite its flaws, Metropolis able to convey a good and at time prophetic moral lesson that is still relevant up to this day, which are special trait from Tezuka Sensei's whose works are rich in spirituality. If you like Matrix series, Metropolis provides the missing piece to bridge the gap of the lore. Considering in the present we are living in a world where AI begin is getting more prevalence in modern society, one should take a precaution with this technology. As AI technology will eventually create too much social disparity between the Haves and Have nots despite the technology is benign at its nature. At some point due to the hubris of the Elite fews, they will create some kind of Super AI that will be beyond their control and destroy human society in Skynet manner from Terminator series. 

  Metropolis also convey the importance of maintaining one's humanity in order to prevent this kind of catastrophe from happening as the Boy Protagonist kindness toward the female heroine is the main reason that the worst destruction was averted. The movie also portrays that the revolution by the masses will be ill-fated most of the time and end up to be used by the elites for their own gain. 

 At the end of the day one should try to be more familiar with Dystopian Cyberpunk works like Matrix in order to fully appreciate Metropolis. Because the movie does not convey what it tries to tell in exact direct manner. But If you are just general anime viewer, you will still get something out of this movie.

Rozen Maiden

  One of the Early 2000s classic series that finally get to watch after some procrastination over two years. Rozen Maiden is perhaps one of those anime that come out of the Gothic Lolita fashion craze during its era and the anime is still very enjoyable watch. Back when I was in high school i did watch an OVA of the series that covers Shinku and Suigintou prologue story. But I am really glad that I get to watch Rozen Maiden main series even if it is almost 20 years since the first season airing.

 Rozen Maidens are group of Sentient Gothic Lolita Dolls that possess magical power and wields them to fight in a battle royale called Alice Game in order to be the most important doll for their creator. The main series tells the story about Rozen Maiden named Shinku and her encounter with a middle school shut in boy. The series formula is pretty much a Mahou Shoujo slice of life which could work just fine if it wish to be more action packed. To be honest after watching all available Rozen Maiden anime series, I would say the creator team Peach Pit at the time didn't have clear direction for the world building despite manage to craft one of their best character designs thus the stage that these lovely Rozen Maidens did not allow them to shine as bright as they could.

 What Rozen Maiden particularly excel is at portraying an aspect of Timeless peerless beauty manifesting in the form of Rozen Maiden Dolls. The designs of the Rozen Maidens are superb enough that they are still pleasant and memorable to look at Shinku and Suigintou is easily the postergirl of Gothic Lolita genre considering they did the heavy lifting for their series. My personal favorite would be Suiseiseki which easily captivate the heart of Audience with her Desu antics but Shinku's innocent yet strong gaze in her promotional art really evokes quite a powerful emotion. To be honest Rozen Maiden could use more merchandise, GSC should consider releasing Nendoroid Dolls for this Series as these Gothic Lolita dolls make good use of the lineup's potential. With 1st Season done I will look forward to savor Rozen Maiden more slowly compared to Jigoku Shojo

The Eminence in Shadow

 

 Another interesting Isekai manga that I encountered in the same fashion with Mobuseka and binged it in a single reading yet again. Eminence in Shadow has your typical Isekai trope where the protagonist is ridiculously overpowered and the protagonist in this one wield Fashioned himself similar to Persona 5 Joker, and lead a Chuuni adventure with Waifu squads for a crusade against demonic cult.

 In a way, Eminence of Shadow is quite similar to Overlord where the protagonist is the leader of powerful organization who have underlings sworn absolute loyalty and often overawed the protagonists actions. And this series can be considered a "lite" version of the latter with the protagonist allies full of waifus and plenty of chuunibyou behavior to cater better for teenage audience.

 Overall Eminence in Shadow is an entertaining read but shared the same flaws of typical Isekai of Shallow Worldbuilding to be taken seriously. The series got some good waifus but the Author haven't make use of their full potential so far in the manga with rather lacking romcom moment with the protagonists. In any case this series is decent enough to attract attention of older adult audiences like me with its entertainment value.

January 2023 Loot

Not as much compared to last batch but this one is impressive in its own right. Obviously Joytoy reigns supreme for this loot batch as several big shot items managed make it this time which is my first 1/18 Joytoy Diecast Mecha and a 40k Dreadnought. Both of them are very good value for money as any Japanese Toy with their size and quality would easily cost double or triple. By this time my 40k Joytoy collection have been taking shape properly and i am looking forward to the rest of my Space Marine preorders coming up.

While Joytoy take the main spotlight this time, I also managed to expand my Macross and Arknights collection. I still look forward for more Macross collectibles to join my lineup which Tamashii Nation upcoming lineup look very promising.

Artery Gear Hyper Body AG-01 Lark Nio

Being released not long ago in Global Server, Artery Gear devs is very quick to expand their influence by releasing their merchandise with now the postergirl Nio made it as Hybrid Figma product! Whether it will succeed or not, Artery Gear dev are very dedicated to surpass its brother, Final Gear for sure. Released as hybrid Figma+Model Kit, Hyper Body Lark Nio will be released on November 2023 with 12900 Yen price tag.

 Previously Artery Gear had model kit released by Wave for the Spider/Crab mecha thing but this one is bigger deal as the Poster Girl decided to descend herself as Action Figure. The Hyper Body lineup really reminds me of Act Mode which is hybrid Model Kit/Figma too which looks kinda cool even though i am not a fan of mecha musume myself. 

In Artery Gear, Nio is the Postergirl who is a 3* Thunder Balanced unit, Not exactly powerful but she is equipped for all range type of battle, whether beating the boss unit with her Lark Seeker Sword or cutting swathes of Minions with her Jet Stream Cannon.

I gave up on Artery Gear few months ago since the game at its current state doesn't have much to offer compared to its Senpai, Final Gear and the way the Devs rushed the collab banners on Global server are just annoying. If this item is a full fledged Figma, i would have considered getting one but given how the product turn out to be Hybrid model kit, it failed to catch my attention. Might have been different if it is a unit from Final Gear which Flashwing should done one.

Yuusha Tokkyu Mightgaine The GATTAI Might Gaine

 Shortly after shown in the Mechasmile Impact 2023 which is quite a treat for old school mecha fans, Goodsmile is quite fast in announcing the preorder for next Yuusha The GATTAI series, Mightgaine. After sitting around for almost 2 years as prototype, The Gattai Mightgaine is open for preorder with September 2023 release selling 25000 Yen price tag.

 

 The Gattai Mightgaine comes with rather modest accessories with Dorinken as the only weapon and i thought for its Price tags it might have included Mightgaine's train wheel as thrown weapon. But the selling point of this version of Mightgaine remains to be the complete gattai feature and Gaine himself appear to have quite good articulation.

 

As the middle child of Yuusha Series, Mightgaine is somewhat peculiar because it has the most generous amount of preferential treatment by Obari.  I can see how Sunrise production team at the time tried to make this series catered more to Teen audience but due to massive use of Train as the mecha theme and corporate meddling by Takara, it kinda failed halfway. While Yuusha series never stray far from incorporating Trains as part of mecha design in liberal amount, Mightgaine is the MVP in this category which is why i am never particularly attached with this series despite it has quite good presentation due to Obari's major involvement. 

 Since I had SRC Mightgaine already, i am not particularly eager to buy this version of Mightgaine but in case if I get myself a copy, I will just stick to Mightgaine and not getting the Mightkaiser or Might Gunner because Great Mightgaine is easily one of the worse Yuusha design out there. Personally I look forward more to the future Seven Changer release which comes with complete 7 Transformation forms.

Arknights Nendoroid Surtr

  It is just a matter of time and the Ice cream Goddess is here! After getting some generous amount of PVC Statue treatment, the premier Guard Operator Surtr finally descend into Arknights Nendoroid series. Nendoroid Surtr is scheduled for July 2023 release with 7000 Yen Price tag.

  Nendoroid Surtr comes with her Iconic Giant Hand familiar that wields the Laevatein with two variants, Acrylic one for her Elite 2 Pose and the solid one for other attack poses though it is only the hand. The Nendoroid also come with complimentary Ice Cream accessory so the Goddess can relax off when not using her S3.

Named after Mythical Norse Fire Giant, Surtr is one of the most Meta Guard Operator until this day due to her Laevatein skill which is basically delete button, meltin almost everything non aerial whether it is mob units, Bosses or anything in between. With her given popularity, Surtr could have made earlier appearance if Hypergryph wishes it but the current timing is suitable enough. I think for the next Nendoroid the prime candidates would be Blaze, Nian or Mudrock though i still want my Angelina and Magallan.

SRW OG Riobot Yaldabaoth

  Rather peculiar choice by Sentinel for their next SRW mecha toys but the Hokuto Shinken Super Robot, Yaldabaoth do make it as their next entry for Riobot lineup! As always Sentinel Riobot series cost a fortune and for Yaldabaoth it will be sold at 33000 Yen with October 2023 release.

 Yaldabaoth is a martial arts super robot which made its playable debut in SRW OG Gaiden for OG timeline and i think it originate from SRW Compact/Impact along with Alteisen. Yaldabaoth is basically a mecha incarnate for Kenshiro as it is capable of launching flurries of punches and kicks. In its apotheosized form it is a destruction incarnate which destroys its surrounding environment with its powerful attacks. IIRC the pilot was Folka Albark who belongs to a warlike race known as Shura and due to some encounter with Human, he decided to fight against his own kin in order to thwart his race invasion plan to earth. The guy is quite a badass whose appearance unfortunately rather brief in OG timeline and Gaiden was not exactly as memorable as OGs.

I can't really imagine once released as 4800 Yen model kit by Kotobukiya now are made to be a 30k Yen action figure and expected many people to get it compared to SRX but Sentinel's decision to stick to release one is commendable. But i don't think it would be wise for Sentinel to bet on Yaldabaoth's partner, Valefor future release in Riobot lineup and expect some good cash in. Lastly even with the high price tag, I don't even think Sentinel could make a robust and posable mecha like Bandai had with their Robot Damashii series.

Fate/Grand Order 5th year

  Before 2022 wraps up, I am using my last post for FGO which will be mostly criticism about the state of this once great Gacha game. This post should have been written last month but my passion toward this series just dropped so low by the 5th year considering the state of the Fate/Grand Order is very abysmal. Fate/Grand Order was a big name back in its debut, but mainly due stupid corporate politics in Japanese gaming industry, the game has stagnated badly yet simply refuse to improve itself which results in severely falling behind against the fierce Chinese Gacha game competitors. This very situation  could have been easily averted if the Devs put some effort because FGO have one of the more dedicated fanbase but no serious attempt have been done which makes once devoted fans like myself lose faith and go somewhere else. I have even known one of the Great whalers in the Game who practically have NP5 for most of the SSR servants simply give his account to his friend and never turning back. For someone who have spent ten thousands or maybe hundreds just simply gave up with the game, there must be something wrong with Fate/Grand Order.

Of all Gacha games that i have played, FGO is still one of the least generous high profile Gacha Game out there. Combined with no Auto Grind, horrible Gacha rate and monotonous gameplay, i am not surprised if the playerbase of FGO kept shrinking because this game repels new players like no one else. There are simply no possible way for a player starting now to catch up with old player accounts due to the immense gap other than buying accounts. While Genshin has the same issue of bad Gacha Rate, the game is constantly improving itself with each iterations and the amount of contents to be enjoyed without paying is just jaw-dropping. While Genshin might face the current issue of FGO, with the amount of effort put by the dev team, this issue will probably appear in a year or two which could easily fixed starting with GSSR. The only thing that FGO still reigns supreme are the quality of the waifu selections which unfortunately does not truly resonate to the current demographics who are mostly college kids with the tendency of having more deviant taste of preference.

Arknights Myethos 1/7 Skadi Alter

 One of the most hyped PVC figure for Arknights fans like myself since the prototype reveal few months ago. The orca waifu Skadi got yet another amazing PVC figure for her Alter version and this one is by Myethos. Scheduled for November 2023 release, Myethos 1/7 Skadi Alter will come in 2 version, Regular and Deluxe with 899 Rmb and 1699 Rmb Price tag each. The deluxe version which is around 31000-34000 Yen will come with additional Sea Born Leviathan effect parts which is very humongous to be honest.

Skadi Alter is the 6* alternate version of Guard Operator Skadi which serves as an excellent buff supporter operator. This version of Skadi is the possible future for Skadi who succumb to her Seaborn blood who proceeds to join her race crusade to eradicate any living being in Terra save for Doktah whom her affection still remains despite already losing her own humanity. I think for the time being i will just get the regular version and save for Deluxe version for her Priestess outfit which is quite possibility with Skadi's popularity.

Isekai Ojisan

 Another Isekai manga that I binged recently which gained recent popularity due to anime adaptation and this one took slightly different approach yet again. As the name implies the main character of this manga is mid 30s man who have just returned from his Isekai adventure after 17 years in coma, and now he lives with his nephew and support himself with his magical abilities carried over from his adventure which obviously cause some shenanigans.

 The story of the series is mostly about the Uncle character retelling his adventure to his nephew and nephew's girlfriend. Despite having a Neet behavior and look, the Uncle guy surprisingly an accomplished adventurer and manage to make some waifus fall for him. For an Isekai series, the author surprisingly able to make some well designed waifu especially the tsundere elf and the Author managed to exploit the advantage of maintaining the romcom tensions between the Elf waifu and protagonist to keep the reader interested. Isekai Ojisan no doubt did well to catch the reader attention but time will tell if this series can be conclude itself as a good isekai title

Dead Cells Castlevania Crossover DLC announced!

 I don't know if i need this but this is a very pleasant surprise indeed! Dead Cells, a successful indie metroidvania game had their Devs recently announced Castlevania DLC slated for Q1 2023. I never expected Konami is this generous, but this is certainly a blessing for Igavania fans like myself because Bloodstained are just not sufficient enough to scratch that classic metroidvania itch.

 A brief introduction for Dead Cells, this game is one of the Metroidvania game that incorporated Roguelike genre successfully where gains from each playthrough will always benefit your initial position. I have played the GOTY version sometime ago and managed to complete one playthrough and the contents of this game can keep you entertained for hundreds of hours.

As for the Castlevania crossover, I will be really looking forward to the DLC which apparently will be sold for 10 USD. The DLC content will include new Biomes, Weapons and Character skin including the iconic Alucard and Richter Belmont. As long as this Dead Cell Castlevania DLC able to satisfy the Gothic Horror Adventure need of the Igavania fans, the future of Dead Cells Devs will be even brighter. To be honest as much as I hate Konami for the blunders by their Execs over a decade, it seems there are someone competent has been taking in charge for past few years as Konami have been making some good strategical moves for their past Popular IPs like Castlevania and Suikoden.

Early December 2022 Loot

 Even if i have left my previous job from Toy Distributor company for few months already, my toys collecting hobby are relatively unchanged and got myself another solid batch this time. For this loot collection, it come from several different sources and not strictly Preorder items only and as usual the loots are predominantly Mecha stuffs or else from gacha game that i played. 

For this batch i bought retail stock of Earnestcore after the RB13V Valhallan catches my attention and might as well secure the recent models before they are out of market considering these types of products tend to be very difficult to find once the initial batch are out for quite sometime. From my trip to AFASG22, I got myself some collectible merchandise which are acquired from Hakken Flashsale and Genshin booth. Will definitely join the flashsale with Hakken again should they consider doing it again in next AFA. Lastly out of this loot the items that i hyped the most would be Armor Plus Kourin Seiji and Ensemble Dendrobium, the former because it completes my Yoroiden collection while Ensemble Dendrobium is the biggest addition to my Ensemble collection, hopefully it will worth its hefty pricetag.

A year with Final Gear

  Not many Gacha Games that i played survived for a year but yet non AAA Gacha managed to make it into its first year which is Final Gear. To be honest Final Gear have many glaring flaws and one of the most time consuming Gacha Game that i currently play. However despite the rocky journey over this past one year i still managed to keep playing this game due to my passion for mecha and at least this game managed to stay true at this aspect for now. For my progress throughout past one year, i managed to crawl into Top 30 players for all 3 Rank boards since I keep doing my daily grind everyday and the premium monthly pass do help to catch up the one month gap with Players who played since the server opened up. I would say Final Gear is the Gacha Game that i spent the most for this year though it will get lesser later on as i have purchased all of the available battlepass. To be honest Final Gear devs could use better paid scheme if they wish to earn more money.

 These are my roster for the 4-team Mecha units. By this point, i can breeze through all of the available PVE contents but will still get defeated in PVP contents due to sheer power imbalance for UR units and my UR choice which Noctris  is still far from finished. Personally i would love to see Final Gear Dev to create more PVE contents that could utilize lower rarity units because this game had great potential on the Army building genre but this probably  present a challenge for a company size like Flashwing which appeared to be lacking of funding and fresh talent. To be frank the reason why i put up with Final Gear glaring flaws is due to its sheer potential for Mecha niche which even Artery Gear created by the Devs that left Flashwing didn't even reached that high. In order to survive as a long term game, Final Gear will need to step up its gameplay mechanics and do make collab content from time to time which Sakura Taisen 3 collab would be nice.