Knights of Sidonia ended

That was rather unexpected that the series ends this fast and the ending was rather anticlimactic but Knights of Sidonia did end the serialization with its 78th Chapter. While it was rather abrupt the ending is quite sweet and in some way Nagate did managed to meet Hoshijiro Shizuka in the end. I wonder if the serialization was intentionally cut short though the ending was an open one and could continue if Nihei wants it. Personally i find the main source driving the stories are the character interactions since Gauna is kinda like STMC and doesn't really have personality and probably Ochiai's treachery drive the story this far. I will give the anime a watch if they managed to cover up till the manga conclusion. I wonder if Nagate's last mecha will get a plamo too?

Recent Nendoroid Loots

  During my stay here in China i have been shopping online from Taobao alot. You can find lots of things there and it is easier for me to buy Japanese related stuffs  compared to browsing Evilbay. These are my recent Haul and i got them for decent price too. The first loot is the bomberman toys on the left which is the Super Bomber Armor which you can combine 3 different vehicles to form Giant Robot. I used to have this toy when i was a kid and got this for 50 RMB which is really good deal considering it was quite a vintage and quite impossible to find the japanese copy now. The rest of the loots are 2 Nendoroids which are Erica Fontaine and Nyaruko. While i don't really collect Nendos, they just happen to have the characters from the series i followed, as for Erica's i got her from supposedly official outlet of GoodSmile in China which is located in Shanghai. Won't review them anytime soon till i went back home and got the proper props. As for the Super Bomber Armor ,here is the look of the Combined robot form of the toys which will look more glorious once painted.

Non Scale Astranagant

Koto has been slow on SRW series over past few years and more focused on the newer model but didn't expect Astranagant would get a turn to get his model considering he is rather curvy to sculpt. If you noticed i used Astranagant and Dis as my Banner's blog since they are some of the most badass mecha in SRW verse(more like OP though). The release date and price is not confirmed yet but i would expect around 6000-8000 yen range.

Astranagant is the end game boss in SRW Alpha piloted by Ingram Plisken, double agent sent by Balmar to infiltrate Earth though Ingram who at some point mentored Ryusei for a while. In terms of Firepower Astranagant is one of the most powerful unit rivalling Granzon and its equivalent, and its successor Dis can erase an existence easily. Ingram himself is quite badass antihero since he serves no one and even tried to take down Euzeth himself. In OGverse He also serves the same role in Alpha though he piloted R-Gun Rivale instead of Astranagant since Euzeth suspected him for some reason. My SRW lore is really rusty now and i should get back to the series at some point. Once i had my painting tools again definitely i would get this guy but not at this moment. I wonder if Koto would do Dis as well since he is one of my wishlist for a long time already.

Variable Action KG-6 Sleipnir

I watched Aldnoah Zero which is mediocre i guess since it got good visual and terrible main casts with terrible storyline but it got diggable mecha nonetheless. Megahouse adds another of their Variable Action lineup with the Aldnoah Zero Posterboy, Earth Faction mainstay Cataphract; Sleipnir. The model has been released early this year with price around 8000 yen. This version of Sleipnir is originally used as training units due to lighter frames and lesser armor but later used by Inaho A.K.A Mary Sue of the year as his Cataphract fighting against Vers Cataphracts. At its core design Sleipnir is a real robot but due to the broken skill off the Pilot, it is able to put toe to toe with Vers Super Robot-ish Cataphracts. As the name implies which is based on Norse Myth where Sleipnir is the steed of Deity Chief Odin, the one in this series is like one too since in the middle of the series, Inaho get even more broken with artificial eye replacement. Personally i find Aldnoah Zero is pretty forgettable due to terrible writing but i guess it has to do with the current taste of the audience which are getting worse each year. Anyway sometime soon the Sleipnir will get its space pack which has been used extensively on the second part of the series and i wonder if Tharsis will get any Variable action too? Actually scratch that, Tharsis got one but it costs whopping 24000 yen

Disgaea 4 Vita first playthrough

Another quite long gap of posting here due to plenty of distractions and such with one of those distractions is playing my way through Disgaea 4. I have played the 1st till the this one but only actually finished 2nd and 4th and due to the grindfest nature of the game it obviously too get the most out of the content. As for the 4th Disgaea i intended to unlock all the job class at very least which i am halfway through. Personally i find Disgaea 4 is kinda weak, even though the Story characters are interesting, the stage and props are kinda weak.Valvatorez would have been really cool character if not for the overuse of his Sardine Jokes. Compared to Disgaea 3 the generic classes are really cut down here so some of my favorites are not available in this game but again the game mechanics is getting better despite i missed combining the special attacks. While Disgaea 4 didn't use its potential to its fullest i still like Valvatorez and Artina pairing which could have been one of the best couple in the series since Adell and Rozalin. I will get Disgaea 5 if it ever goes portable which i doubt anytime soon and here some more Pics of the ValxArtina pairings

Sakura Taisen 2 Playthrough part 2

Maria,Sumire and Reni's Ending completed!

Sakura Taisen 2 Ending CGs

• Maria Ending
• Sumire Ending
• Reni Ending

Omamori Himari

Rather generic Youkai manga but the harem element certainly done well here, or probably its only redeeming point. Again seeing the pic on /a/ makes me giving the manga a read. The story is about a boy who possess Demon Hunter Blood and upon reaching age 16 he met beautiful cat girl who claimed to be his protector and shit hits the fan from there one and the boy slowly gain his harems. As i said the story is as generic as it gets and i kinda find the story flow is rather horrible and i doubt the anime is any better. But this is one of those few manga that the MC gets to tap his Harems even though it only happen on last chapter and the MC is not too Beta as well. Favorite girl in the manga is the MC's Fiancee who seems cold but very adorable when she went Dere mode. Also here is the Harem scene pic that makes me read the manga, since it is abit risque so tread with your own discretion

Mushoku Tensei -Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu-

Marathoning the translated WN after reading the last Arifureta and while i got some complaints about the series it is still enjoyable read at the end. Out of the reincarnation based Fantasy i heard Mushoku Tensei is one of the popular one though just like most WNs it is not that outstanding but still passable. Like the similar pandering series, the series main protagonist is a fat loser otaku who died miserable death and end up reborn as a child named Rudeus in RPG esque world with surprisingly high talent of Magic. As Rudeus grows up he meets different strong people, explored the world, gathering harems and end up serving powerful being to fight against scheming deity. From the way the story being told, Rudeus story served as prologue of the Author's series which is not clear yet.

Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou

Watching how /a/ raged on this series i decided gave the translated Web Novel a shot and overall it is pretty much amalgamation of Tate Yuusha and RE:Monster. The premise is about a beta-guy end up transferred to RPG world along with his classmates and being the weakest he eventually got betrayed and left for dead. Raged being betrayed, the beta eventually turned to emo/edgy OP Alpha guy with harem of multiracial girls lusting for him. The series pretty much comes out from the latest trend of reincarnation of beta dude becoming most op guy ever and steamrolling the bad dudes which is just pretty much a platform of self-inserts for otaku dude. In terms of writing, it is on par with Tate Yuusha so it is rather mediocre and uninspired. The only redeeming point of the series is that Arifureta got one of the best Vampire Loli and the MC actually tapped her. At the moment the translated WN is halfway through the series and currently the Japanese version is supposedly on the last arc. Given that i bothered to give the series a read, i might just finished the whole series.

Here is the link for the WN translation:

Translated WN

Original WN

Ghost in the Shell Arise

A worthy continuation of the series indeed! Initially when the new design was released i thought the new OVA going to suck but as i watched the 4 OVAs GiTS Arise has proven itself. While appearance-wise it is different, Arise still retains the essence of the series which attracted its fans; what you found in previous series titles you will still find in Ghost in the Shell: Arise. The OVA still tells the story about the adventure of Major Motoko Kusanagi investigating crimes that usually always end up to conspiracies related to government and kicking some ass at the same time. The OVA serves more like the SAC prequel around the part where she assemble her elite team of Section 9 but at the end of the OVA there are some foreshadowing to things linked to SAC's story. In terms of looks, Motoko's new design is less sensual compared to SAC's Motoko and emphasized more on cool factor. While Atsuko Tanaka doesn't reprise Motoko's role this time, Maaya Sakamoto did very good job on portraying Motoko considering she's one of the better VA imo just not too popular for some reason. While it was a pity that Origa no longer able to contribute more GiTS soundtrack, the current one is quite good enough. So for those GitS fans who are hesitant to give the new series a watch, hesitate no more and give the OVA a watch.

Nendoroid Nyaruko

After watching the anime series obviously i am peering into the series merchandise and since it earn enough popularity, surely a nendoroid pops up. I might be considering getting one since it is quite good portrayal of Nyaruko's character. The Nendoroid comes with minimal accessories but it does include Nyaruko's pet Shantak and the crowbar she used for Space CQC as well as some Ahoges. Nyaruko itself is quite hilarious character since she is moefication of Nyarlathotep who is hyperactive and lusting for a beta and at the same time she doesn't look like anything like the thousand faces deity itself.

Haiyore! Nyaruko Chan

     One thing that i learn from Japanese Anime is that nothing escaped Japanese from their moefication and even Lovecraftian Horror become the victim. Haikore! Nyaruko Chan or more like My Nyarlathotep can't be this cute is your typical wacky Slapstick Slice of Life with Beta Protagonist. The difference is that the series stars Nyarlathotep as the main heroine lusting for the Male MC with Cthugha as a Yuri girl and Hastur as cute trap boy. While i am not that well versed in Lovecraftian Lore i read abit Call of Cthulhu rulebooks and play Arkham Horror so at very least i know that their depiction in the anime is totally different than the one in the western media. I thought Demonbane was rather silly adaptation of Lovecraftian Horror but Nyaruko-chan is even sillier. Nevertheless the anime is still watchable with the selling point of parodies everywhere as Nyaruko kept referencing stuff from popular japanese culture especially /m/ and toku related stuff. So this is good anime to test your powerlevel. I finished both seasons already and will be glad to watch another continuation since it is quite hilarious series. For Lovecraftian fans out there just watch the anime with open mind and you will enjoy it too though i bet Lovecraft will be rolling in his grave if he saw this.

N-Gage QD Get!

Due to my Nostalgic feelings pents up lately i decided to get my second piece of N-Gage QD myself which is surprisingly easy to find in China considering electronics are overflowing here. Though obviously my current one is Chinese version and after more than a day tweaking finally i managed to get some games running including my favorite Pocket Kingdom. I had my first N-Gage 10 years ago and i still if my original cartridge still works after that long time. I still wish they were N-Gage Emulators since some of the games from N-Gage first Gen are really good and it would be a waste to be forgotten. Anyone knows any familiar games like Pocket Kingdom by the way?

Record of Lodoss War Anime

I have been familiar with Lodoss Senki from the Eiyuu Kishiden manga and watched the OVA halfway in the past. And i used my time on this weekend to marathon the series from the first OVA till the Tv Series but doesn't bother to watch the last 2 OVAs since the anime drawing style is just horrible. The OVA is definitely one of the best animated anime in that time which was a real feat as it was made back in 1990 and it even puts your average present animation to shame not to mention it is one of the best Fantasy JRPG anime out there. As for the TV series, while it is not as good as the OVA it follows the Novel story more faithfully and i am more fan of Spark's story since i guess it shows better portrayal of a boy's journey to find the meaning of a Knight or probably i am just biased since i get into the series through Eiyuu Kishiden. Compared to the manga the Eiyuu Kishiden Anime is slightly different since i recall Ashram didn't even show up the manga but the story ended roughly the same.

Lodoss Senki OVA is probably what makes elves popular in Japan due to Deedlit which definitely leaves a lasting impact and the OVA is quite good hurdle for other JRPG anime whether they are able to surpass the standard or not. I still hope there will be enough popularity for the series to get another anime perhaps reworking of Crystania or covering other parts of the series story like Maiden of Pharis which cover the story of the 6 Heroes. For those who haven't watched the series before, go watch the OVA at very least, it is one of the most beautifully drawn Fantasy anime out there. Which pairing you prefer? Pirotess x Ashram or Deedlit x Parn?

Clannad Anime

7 Years ago this anime is quite a big thing but never gave it a watch since i played the VN already but listening to LIA's song makes me interested to give the anime a watch. So far i watched the first season and since it is anime the format is rather different with branching stories the VN had. In the Anime the story of each character is made to be revolving around Tomoya and the main heroine Nagisa and Kotomi doesn't get her route with Tomoya. Fortunately Kyou and Tomoyo got their own dedicated one episode for their respective routes. Just like the VN Clannad offers heartwarming story of having family but considering the anime is split to two parts the heartwrenching ones are saved on the later one. Since i have completed reading the VN, i feel that i don't lose much if i missed the anime. Just like some VN adaptations i feel that the Clannad anime is meant to complement the VN and i do cracked on laughing from time to time as i watched the anime. While you can get most of the series story from watching the anime, at the end of the day you will need to read the VN in order to get full experience of the series. Since i heard After Story will be tearjerking i wonder i will be able to shed one if the VN barely able to faze me.