Gundam Age afterthoughts

Watched the 49th episode of the series two days ago which marked the end of the series. Got to say i got mixed feeling about Age, As a gundam series i think Gundam Age is probably one of the weaker Gundam Tv series but definitely not to the point to be crowned as the worst Gundam series. I feel Age shoots itself on the foot from the beginning since it targets children as the main demographic while tries to appeal the existing Gundam fanbase at the same time. In my opinion the main problem with the story of Gundam Age is that the 3rd Gen arc is rather weak despite it got some good potential, partly caused by transition of the 2nd Gen to the 3 Gen isn't handled well which subsequently lead to slower buildup of the character despite it has plenty of time to cover itself. Another problem is the conclusion of the series is rather weak with the antagonist faction which are slightly hard to symphathize with.  Despite Age's story script is rather unpalatable, what i think the main weakness of Age as a Gundam series is that it doesn't really have memorable overall mecha design unlike other Gundam TV series which makes its feels less "Gundam" compared to its predecessors.

Despite its obvious shortcomings of the series, Animation quality and soundtrack are pretty solid. Age also probably conceived one of the better Gundam protagonist, Flit Asuno who i find to be quite well written character despite he had rather slow start. Like some people says, Gundam Age doesn't deserve Flit as a savior who probably fits better somewhere in UC era. Kio is probably unbearable sometimes but his greatest weakness for me is that he doesn't have strong enough conviction to justify his motive to match with his Grandfather. In Conclusion Gundam Age is does okay but probably will be one of the least memorable Gundam series. With the Gundam Age ended, Sunrise probably need to think over really well before they make the next Gundam series or otherwise there won't be much future anymore for Gundam.

Replaying Symphony of the Night

Few days ago i got some sudden urge to play Symphony of the Night. Previously i managed to finish the game 4 years ago which i played the one from Dracula X version in PSP. This makes the 2nd time i played this game and this time i tried to accomplish what i didn't managed to do in my previous run. In my first playthrough, i didn't do much weapon hunting and just went straight ahead to Count Dracula with Alucard Sword. However this time i try to do the opposite and managed to get some exotic weapons for Alucard like Heaven Sword, Mablung Sword, Mourne Blade or even the infamous Crissaegrim(i have 2 of them!). Got to say with these weapons, Dracula's castle is walk in the park for Alucard. My favorite one is the Heaven Sword, while Rune Sword is much better, when you get 2 of this weapon Alucard can pull some really cool moves which is similar like Gate of Babylon. In this playthrough i also managed to level up my Muramasa to have more than 100 Atk points which i used Dark Octopus to bleed from which is less time consuming compared to slicing those Medusa Heads.

SotN is best known for its influence of Castlevania series as it starts the whole Metroidvania stuff that bring the series to another level. For me i have to admit that this series is my personal favorite mainly because Alucard the most badass Castlevania protagonist(he would have mop the whole castle in Dawn of Sorrow by himself if he got his SoTN gears). Out of all Metroidvania that i have play, i can't say Symphony of the Night have the finest gameplay compared to later titles but i can guarantee SotN got the best fun factor. my only disappointment with SotN would be not enough strong enemy like Demon Lord since most of them died in few hits by the time i got the awesome weapons. This game or Aria of Sorrow is the best gateway for the series if you are interested with Metroidvania titles.

1/35 ASS-117 Valken A (Jake version)

I haven't been much interested in Plum until recently i touch Assault Suit series game which the manufacturer happen to produce some kits for the series. One of the kit is ASS-117 Valken from SNES Games called Assault Suit Valken or known as Cybernator in the west. I am particularly interested with Assault Suit series after i played Assault Suit Leynos 2 from Saturn(which is awesome!) and at the moment i am playing Assault Suit Valken. In my opinion this series is one of the best representation of Mecha genre in gaming platform particularly for Real Robot Aspect. Anyway about the kit, it is priced for 6500 Yen which is quite expensive compared with average Bandai or even Koto kits. The kit is 15cm in height and comes with Vulcan Pod and Shield as accessory. Valken is a grunt mech used by main protagonist named Jake in the game who sees through Space colony infiltration to preventing Orbital drop until surviving atmospheric entry. Valken can be considered pretty versatile mech for its size as it can be deployed on Space and Earth without significant problem. I really recommend mecha fans out there to try Assault Suit Valken preferrably the Japanese version which got some decent fans translation(since the american version is butchered) because it is one of the awesome mecha game out there. I am looking forward to Gunhound which will see some port release at the end of this year on PSP which seems to have similar gameplay with Assault Suit series.

Some sneak peek of the original game

1/100 MG Marasai Review

Hmm i am sure getting pretty inactive recently but i suppose it will last for some while. Anyway this is the latest repaint work of mine which is MG Marasai in Karaba Color Scheme which i used for group build in GAF 2 months ago. i suppose it will be a while before i am getting back to work on my kits again as well as active on this blog but rest is assured. Probably you will notice some similarities of my Marasai color scheme with Dijeh which is my intention though i still need to get a Beam Naginata to make Marasai look like one XD.

 

 Apologies in advance if the review is shorter than usual since i don't really have much to say about Marasai. One interesting note about Marasai is that it is one of the MS in UC Era that is inspired with Samurai design. For some reason the head shape of Marasai kinda remind me of Alteisen due to the horn which resemble Alteisen's heat horn. Some advice for those who is planning to get this kit, the articulation of Marasai MG is rather limited mainly due to the thickness of the armor because inner frame does fine. Ballute system looks the best on Marasai and you can get one for reasonable price from newer MG Hyaku Shiki rather than buying it from Bandai Webshop. As a closure i will be adding some more pics once i get the Beam Naginata.

Zanma Taisei Deus Machina Demonbane

Another VN that i managed to clear from my Backlog and at the same time adds to my list of Nitroplus title that i have finished(that makes the 4th one!). I have watched the anime before and now just like other VN that got Anime adaptation, i see how the former medium of the story proves itself to be superior. By far Demonbane probably is the longest Nitroplus VN that i have played as it takes roughly about 30 hours to finish all the route in Demonbane.

Bokko

Another good Chinese history manga that i read recently which you can't judge by its cover! I stumble upon this manga when i was lurking at /a/ manga recommendation thread and it turns out Bokko is quite interesting read. Unlike most Chinese History manga which usually based on San Guo/3 Kingdoms Era, Bokko takes place in Ancient China era roughly before the rise of Qin Dynastywhen China was still divided into 7 states. The manga tells about the adventure of a man called Kakuri of Bokk clan which are renowned for their superior defense strategy in Siege. Throughout the story Kakuri offers cities help to defend against attackers while slowly uncovering conspiracies revolving around his clan which would change the future of China. What makes the manga particularly special is its richness of tactics and strategies which you will probably like if you are a fan of Sun Tzu's Art of War. Bokko shows some pretty sophisticated siege tactics which i didn't expect from China in that era. While the manga feels abit dragged on later half of the manga, i would recommend to read until the first siege ends since it is probably the best part that Bokko offers. Anyway if you read Sangokushi you will be also interested with Bokko

Katawa Shoujo

One of the Visual Novel i played recently and yesterday i finally managed to complete all routes for Katawa Shoujo.  At first i have rather low expectation with Katawa Shoujo as i thought the production value of the game is rather low as it is a freeware VN. However this game able to prove otherwise and show that the Devs put really good effort for it. While Katawa Shoujo is still not comparable with best Selling Eroge, i can say KS story is better than some of the VNs that i have played before. In all aspects Katawa Shoujo meets all standard that any decent VN have but i would say KS does really good job with the story and music.  You won't find any particular deep stuff from Katawa Shoujo but it offers really heartwarming story which it did a splendid job with it. While it is probably subjective, i really liked the music of the game which i am indifferent with it at first though slowly but sure i feel some attachment with the music especially the main menu theme.

Out of all 5 heroines of Katawa Shoujo, i would say all of them are equally good as they have distinct and interesting personality. I think it is just a matter of personal choice to determine which Heroines in KS are better than other. I don't really have any particular favorite but i think Rin is the most interesting heroine in KS(though her route's conclusion is kinda lacking) as her character can be described like a wind, "free and unattached with anything" and her personal disability doesn't prevent her to be one. Probably the main protagonist has the hardest time to make Rin open up her heart compared to others. Nevertheless i would recommend to play all of heroine routes in Katawa Shoujo as they complement to each other in some way. Lilly's or Hanako's route is probably the easiest one to get into which makes them the best choice for the first route. I started with Lilly's route then Shizune then Emi(Moe overdose) then Rin and finally Hanako though there are no particular order you need to play the VN. If you never played a Visual Novel before Katawa Shoujo is one of the better gateway to get into VN. Lastly I always find that if Katawa Shoujo gets some more refinement to match the ones like standard commercial VN, i think it probably managed to be one of the High Tier VN.

Frame Arms YSX-24 Baselard

Remember the new design of Frame Arms introduced early this year? finally Kotobukiya just announced the release of the model with official name "Baselard" which its name derived from a certain type of dagger. The kit will be released at the end of this year with the price around 3500 yen. From what it looks Baselard is a light armored type mech which gives heroic-looking impression. While the mecha frame is similar to Exbrau/Valhawk, in terms of armaments it appears Takayuki Yanase intend to mirror Baselard with Cherudim Gundam to some extent as its weapon are stored at the back waist like Cherudim Shield Bits. Probably one of the best looking Frame Arms so far and there is a chance we may see some variants of the mecha for future lineup released by Kotobukiya

Volks A3 F-15 Active Eagle Review

Shiranui Nigata's contender in Project Prominence.

Gihren's Greed Char's Counterattack playthrough

After i finished Gihren's Campaign, i am farming plenty of Intervention points for secret units until i got enough to unlock Gundam Unicorn. During the points farming, i managed to complete Amuro's and Char's CCA campaign which means i have played all available main campaigns in Shin Gihren. Overall the campaign is pretty interesting and i see some paralels of CCA Event. in Amuro's campaign it turns out that Londo Bell have to face Neo Zeon for another Decisive battle in Sweet Water Colony even after they managed to stop Axis descent to earth. Whereas for Char have to drop Luna 2 to Earth to land decisive blow to EFSF as Axis drop is not sufficient to force earthlings migrating to space.

The campaign's difficulty is not that bad considering the length of the campaign is practically half of Gihren's or Revil's size.  In CCA Campaign, both Amuro and Char lacked of Ace pilots in disposal which some good units like Hi Nu are wasted if you don't spend some points for extra pilots. Newtypes in this campaign are even more broken compared to OYW time as no Jegans or Geara Doga will able to touch Amuro or Char once they pilot their Final unit. Moreover any MS with Funnel capability are pretty much make any grunt mincemeat as they are capable of post-movement MAP weapon which can ruin your day easily which i prefer to see them nerfed. The CCA campaign also feature some UC Gundam units though i think there will be more in the next installment which i would love to see more units for CCA Campaign (though last time i recalled EFSF doesn't got much units for CCA MSV). Lastly i finally managed to unlock Unicorn Gundam as playable unit which is pretty good though it can't last really long in NT-D mode.

Yokohama Shopping Trip

I tend to avoid Slice of Life genre as much as possible as i am not that fond of Moe Pandering which are the usual content of the Genre. But recently i read Yokohama Shopping Trip or Yokohama Kaidashi Kiko and i pretty enjoyed the read. The story of this series revolves around a Female Robot called Alpha running a Coffee shop in rural area and her interaction with her customers and friends. This manga basically a definition of Slice of Life Genre and really Lighthearted. The drawing style of the Manga is pretty unique but what makes YKK interesting read is that it explores the theme of Humanity's Twillight in tranquil way as Nature gradually takes over Human's Civilization. I would say YKK is the ideal model for Slice of Life and whether you are a fan of the genre or not, you won't regret giving the manga a read.

Now playing MS Saga

If you ask me which Gundam games is the most unique, i would say MS Saga. Out of all Gundam Games that Bandai have released on PS2, This game is really makes itself different compared to others both good and bad. MS Saga is a classic turn based RPG with Gundam Theme where you pilot MS from multiple Gundam series fighting against generic bad guys. I have played this Games few years ago which i was halfway through the game but somehow i left the game unfinished. Last week i started playing MS Saga again and i still find the story and character design are terrible as always. However the gameplay is still pretty good and one of the few Gundam games that you can mix and match MS parts creating your own style of MS. This game also offer pretty hardcore difficulty since the enemies are really strong and makes you have to grind at some point. Currently i just got Hyaku Shiki and probably will get the Zeta Gundam really soon. I already got Marasai and this is what i can get closest to my Karaba version of Marasai.

So anyone have played this game before?

Wonderfest 2012 Kotobukiya Muv-luv series

From the recent Wonderfest this week, Kotobukiya announced several new lineups for their Muv-luv kits. First EF-2000 is finally confirmed to be released for next year along with Su-37 Terminator. Finally the Russian TSF get a Plamo treatment which adds more variety of Kotobukiya's lineup and if things go well probably more Russian TSF will be coming up(Berkut anyone?). Though i don't i will be getting the SU-37 since painting the kit would be a pain due to camo scheme. But i think will probably get the Typhoon since i get some good plans for it. Seeing the trends of the recent Muv-luv kit released by Koto, probably we will see more TSF featured in Total Eclipse released as a kit (perhaps ACTV or F-22 will be coming up?).

Also the 1/144 Muvluv lineup that Koto introduced is getting F-15E Strike Eagle which is unexpected, probably Kotobukiya decided to pull this move as it is less risky compared to releasing the kit in 1/100 scale due to lower cost. Takemikazuchi also get another variant as well, this time it is Type 00-A as a Japan Exclusive mail order stuff released same price as other Takemikazuchi and scheduled on november this year. The kit featured some extra parts that replicate the scene in Kashgar Hive where Ayamine in her heavily damaged Type 00-A ripped off a Grappler class head as a sign of not giving up the fight against BETA despite her TSF condition. Hopefully there will be more TSF kits released by Koto and i am still waiting for my YF-23.