1/100 MG Mega Bazooka Launcher

 I just become aware of the MG Mega Bazooka Launcher when i visited Singapore last December which it was sold for 60 SGD in one of the Hobbyshop at Funan Digital Mall. When Bandai announced MG Hyaku Shiki 2.0 Last year, i did expect something extra will be tagging along with it though i never expected Mega Bazooka Launcher come so soon after the 2.0 release. For now the MG version of Mega Bazooka Launcher is Online order only for 3000 Yen. I would have bought the kit in SG last year if i had means of painting the kit considering i got a painted Hyaku Shiki myself. Speaking of Hyaku Shiki 2.0 If i ever got one probably i will paint it in Char Custom Color as it was shown in Gundam Vs Zeta Gundam.

Maybe i will talk about GvsZG one of these days

Reassembled some of my Kits

 It took me two days for me to sort these kits from the box as i packed everything in one box back when i moved out from Sydney which causes the nightmare. More or Less i am still glad that majority of my kits are still mostly intact despite the rough journey even though i won't be able to treat them as toys anymore because these kits get brittle as they ages. To me these kits represents the culmination of my skills in Modelling when i was getting into the hobby for 3-5 years. While i messed up some and wasted plenty of good kits, at very least i won't repeat the same stupidity that i did in the past when i get back to the hobby again which will be soon enough. All of these kits have been reviewed before and if you can name all of them without seeing my reviews, your /m/ power level should be pretty good.

Mechatalk: My Top 5 SRW Kit Wishlist

It has been AGES since i wrote the last Mechatalk Article. In this post i will discuss my Top 5 SRW Originals that i wished Kotobukiya or someone else to make the Plamo or Toy out of it. Even though the post is Plamo related since i will discuss the reasons why these mechs deserve one which involve the Fluff of the Series i guess it qualified as a Mechatalk Post. By the way Archlich made really glorious mecha illustrations even if it is not Five Stars Stories.

SRW OG: The Moon Dwellers

 Have been expecting J Originals popping out to OG Saga soon or later since i played SRW J years ago and just now the upcoming SRW OG title just did that. As the 25th Anniversary of SRW series Banpresto announced new SRW OG game for PS3 and PS4 called The Moon Dwellers which you would expect plenty of J Originals in Action. Not much has been revealed so far but Granteed shows as the representative of SRW J accompanied by SRW GC Original as the new entries for the OG timeline and D Originals made it back as well. For now we haven't seen Calvina and Festenia yet but probably they will show up later. In my opinion i think The Moon Dwellers will probably serve as some sort of OG2 Gaiden as i doubt OG timeline will be concluded with The Moon Dwellers. While i won't be able to play the Game i will be looking forward to Raftclans reappearance and wonder if Cobray will pop up at all in this game?

You can look at my previous coverage of SRW J here or my FAF Bellzelute review here 

CFB Enraged Rajang Review

 A quick review for the Figurine of the most ferocious Monster from Monster Hunter Series, Rajang. Bought this from Taobao for 280 RMB which is around 5600 Yen and i think it was a good deal. Apart from the price the reason why i decided to get the figure even though my favorite monster is Teostra is that i held great respect for the monster that gave quite a hard time back in my early hunting days. Rajang in MH series is well known as a Super Saiyan glass cannon, capable of dealing serious damage easily killing noobs despite having low hp. Aside being a murder machine the main issues that most hunters will face against Rajang is breaking both horns which are needed for its armor set. Since it is one of the more agile monster in the game and it dies easily, breaking the horns would be a hard task if your team are not coordinated and generally you will have better luck on Solo if you are good enough. I used to have problems with this guy in MHFU but as i played 4U Rajang become more manageable and i farmed his Grank Armor by myself with Empress Set and Daora Lance though most people use GS to snipe the horns.

The CFB version of the Rajang Figure comes in SSJ Mode on alert stance ready to pounce or fling monster bone on its left hand at unsuspecting hunters with both hands hardened. Personally i think the figure is quite impressive capturing the sheer ferocity of one of the most feared monster in the series though my gripe with my figure is that the hue of the back yellow hair is not that consistent. Definitely the figure is worth to get if you like the series and i am still crossing my hand on the Zinogre which looks impressive too. Without much further delay here are the pics.

SRDS Cybuster

 From the Kotobukiya's SRDS Lineup i would have expected Cybuster would get one soon or later and it turns out it will be getting one on April this year. The kit comes with the price tag of 6000 yen which is rather steep for SD kit even though the sculpt looks so good and will surpass the Deformover version on good modeler. There will be also Limited Edition which is website exclusive that comes with Vanity Ripper and Base action with slightly higher price tag of 7800 Yen.

Based on Dunbine's design, Cybuster is one of the earliest SRW original and it plays a big part in helping the series reaching its current position. Probably Cybuster is the SRW unit with the most colorful background as well, it is the main star of joint project between SRW and Winkysoft which eventually got into awkward position as both company got into dispute resulting in Cybuster getting a bastard cousin named Rayblade and anime series loosely related which i heard was terrible. When i took my first step on SRW series i didn't have much impression on Cybuster but eventually went to respect the mecha as i played Masoukishin series. As for the next SRDS lineup i think the SRX team would have a good chance.

Helck

 Happy New Year 2016! and another amusing Fantasy manga i found out there. If i am going to explain Helck in one sentence it would be One-Punch man in fantasy setting, the story is not exactly the same but the selling point of the manga is kinda similar. The Story is about a Human Hero called Helck who joined a tournament in Demon World to become the new Demon King after the last Demon King was killed by a hero. While the crowd loves Helck with his prowess in the tournament, the Tournament's overseer who happen to be one of the big wig in the Demon world is not amused with a Human joining a tournament to elect the new Demon King and Hijinks ensues as the Overseer try to disqualify Helck. While Helck seems to be the paralel of Saitama from OPM he kinda remind me of Emperor of Mankind from 40k series with his build and appearance which is wonder to be coincidence at all. Also the story mainly told from the perspective of the Overseer who is kinda Tsundere towards Helck and we could see her Dere times one of this day. Anyway if you like One-Punch Man or like Fantasy in general you might give the Manga a read and thanks to a miracle worker the chapters are translated quite fast recently.

Merry Christmas Miracle's Bell edition

 Merry Christmas for 2015! Hope you have a pleasant day with your family this day and may next year will be even better year for everyone! For this year's Christmas i would like to share a song to fellow readers, a song from Sakura Taisen series that suits the mood for this special day; Kiseki no Kane or known as Miracle's Bell in English.

 The song first appear in Sakura Taisen 2 during the Christmas event in the game where Ogami can take one of the Kagekidan member for a Christmas date. Personally i think this is one of the more memorable song from Sakura Taisen series and perhaps this song starts that certain Christmas fad in anime. While I doubt Kiseki no Kane originally has such intention i just find the Japanese take on Christmas after the song onward is rather disrespectful toward the Spirit of Christmas. Christmas is supposed the day where you spend some quality time with your family and not your loved one not the day where couples spend night together on Christmas indulging in Carnal Pleasure like it was shown in anime like Amagami or School Days. I guess these kind of trends are inevitable with the nature of capitalism but the problem is if things like Christmas constantly get this kind of treatment, its original meaningful value will eventually fade away. I am not Christian but i do find this day is meant for spiritual cultivation and not for over-indulging in worldly pleasures which i hope people going to keep reflect on.

Dorei to no Seikatsu - Teaching Feeling

 Usually i don't discuss about Nukige for this blog in general but here it goes. Saw this game when lurking 4chan as usual and checked it got rather some kind of cult following in Japan becoming best-selling game on DLsite in short time. Dorei to no Seikatsu or Life with a Slave is a short text-based interactive game where your protagonist is a Doctor who just got a girl slave called Sylvie with burn scars all over her body as a token of gratitude from his patient. It is up to you whether you let Sylvie continue her wretched slave life or let her regain her humanity.

 The game is your typical simplistic text based Ecchi Simulator but it does got some interesting gimmicks if unpolished. The first instance i saw Sylvie, she instantly remind me of Hanako from Katawa Shoujo and her design is just perfect for hugable waifu material. i suppose the Crippled+Slave girl did make a winning combination in Japan whether it makes more adorable characters in some way or to fulfill weird fetishes for some people. If the artist is smart enough, he should use this momentary fame to rake more cash by making some sort expansion or ultimate version of the game in the form of more contents especially the interactions and the flavor text. I won't say this game is a Diamond in the rough or something but it does have a chance to become something more than a Nukige. I wonder if this will influence Japan's moe trend though i doubt it will be.Even if it is White Knight syndrome, it does feel nice doing good deeds in a game to help emotionally scarred character such as Sylvie by patting her head everyday and make her fall for you.

Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha

 Saw this on /a/ and marathoned the manga straightaway. Quite decently written romance manga i recently read which is quite rare even for Shoujo genre nowadays. Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha is the story about the friendship of a girl and a fox deity and after some random events, The deity lends the girl a fraction of her divine power. The divine power lent by the Fox Goddess allows the girl to transform to anyone which she used to try get herself closer with a boy she had a crush with. I find the main heroine which is the girl to be unbearable but it is as expected for a mid school teen doing stupid stuffs in shoujo manga for the sake of drama.

However the actual story of the manga is the love story between the Fox Goddess and the girl's Older brother. I just find the older brother and deity's love relationship too adorable and never had one so satisfying since Genbu Kaiden. I thought it would have been better if there were more obstacles for their romance since "The greater the obstacle, the greater the love will be" due to the nature of god and mortal relationship but considering the manga's setting took in modern one i guess it can't be helped. My gripe with the manga is how sometimes they handle the god-human relationship since i thought they respectful treatment. But in the end, overall the manga did the pacing really well and concludes thing satisfyingly though i don't mind a spin-off for the aftermath if the mangaka decides to make one. Doubt that i will give the anime a watch either since it was rather incomplete

SD Gundam G Generation Genesis

 After 3 years of long wait finally we get a new G-Generation gundam game! more importantly for the newer generation platform too which have been long anticipated! Nothing much have been revealed so far since the Youtube trailer is basically nothing but so far from what i know the game will be released around middle of next year and the rosters will be likely Universal Century era only covering up to Gundam Unicorn. So just like G Generation Spirits in PS2 i guess the game will serve as a change of pace since the last 3 G-Gen games which covered AU timeline.

I really don't mind the game will focus on UC timeline since it allows the game focus on MSV series that previously didn't get much attention. However i will tolerate the game only if they don't put the same campaign map all over again which they loved to do for 0079 and Zeta. I also prefer if they don't put too much spotlight on Gundam Unicorn because personally i find the series to be unbearable with its autistic characters. But seeing the trend of Bandai in the recent years, there's a good chance they will do these things and if it turns out to be true while they slack on content, probably i will stick with G-Generation Overworld or the upcoming Extreme VS. I also hope one of these days Bandai could make a new version of Gihren's Greed eventually since the series deserve one too.

Madan no Ou to Vanadis

 Another LN series worth mentioning! Madan no Ou to Vanadis or Magic Bullet King and Battle Princess is another Fantasy series that i have been looking at recently. Up until the current LN translation, i find the series got some potential even though mediocre for now but still definitely much better than the recent fads of Wish Fulfillment or Uber Reincarnations which plagued Japanese fantasy genre with disgusting self pandering works. The Premise of Madan no Ou is a Feudal story telling the fate of a Noble Son intertwined with Seven Girls wielding Great power called Vanadis after a fateful encounter with one of them. Skilled with Archery, the Noble Son wielding mysterious family heirloom bow took a Fire Emblem-esque conquest impressing the Vanadis one by one with his strength and wits and basically gathering a harem for himself.

The reason i believe the series got potential has to do with the lore, depending on how the Author handle the Fluff and unveiling the secrets, Madan no Ou can be a mediocre fantasy manga or a great one. The manga adaptation of the series are quite good so far managing to balance the storytelling and fanservice which i hope will keep go on. The protagonist is not that beta which is rather common for this genre and that's good. But for some reason the main character really remind me with the one of those typical lords from Fire Emblem series since he got quite similar characteristics with them save for wielding Bow as his main. My favorite chapter from the series so far is the amnesia arc since seeing an Ice Queen melts does make a good sight which i hope will get decent treatment with the manga. So if you like harem fantasy title you can give Madan no Ou a read and the LN translation are available over BakaTsuki.

1/8 Al-Azif (Max Factory)

 I have been re-reading Demonbane like last month to remind myself the series awesomeness as a mecha series and at the same time a terrible Lovecraft adaptation. Thus i have been searching Al-Azif figurines to add into my collection and out of several renditions i find Max Factory's to be the best one. The figure was released on 2006 which aged already for today's figurine standard however Max Factory's rendition captures Al-Azif's proportion the best in her gothic lolita form which is why i am putting my attention on this one. Al-Azif or Necronomicon is the main heroine of the Demonbane series, she claims herself to be the strongest Grimoire who looks for a master to fight against Black Lodge until she find Daijuuji Kurou to be her last master and lover. Al-Azif is one of the most memorable Nitroplus heroine for me due to her strong personality and she just makes an awesome duo with Kurou. I still really hope Demonbane will show up to another SRW game since they deserve much more spotlight as an awesome super robot series.

Another Century Episode 2

 Another Century Episode series is always one of my favorite Mecha Simulator games, while not as hardcore as AC series, this is the only game that provide solid crossover mecha action experience. I used to play this game as a teen back in high school but never managed to finish the game unlike ACE 3. Out of 5 entries to the series, most of the fans who had gone through most of the games will agree that the only solid games of the series were 2 and 3. While the first one was riddled with issues as From tried to figure out what works and what doesn't, on ACE 2 they begin to find the working formula to the series. I will try my best trying to give the necessary coverage of the game in this post.

Saint Blaster Get!

Finally i got one of my long sought B-Daman Toys which i used to have years ago but lost them due to stupidity as a kid. At first tempted to get the set for 350 RMB, but in the end got the whole set for 200 RMB on Taobao which is quite reasonable and the kit's condition are not to shabby either. I could have got the Blue and Yellow Bomber's unit easily but it was the White one that's really hard to find and if it is not a complete set, there's not much meaning collecting them. The reason i bothered to collect this vintage stuff is because the kit represented well some of my favorite gimmicks in mecha; Gattai and Openable Cockpit. Since i got the Saint the Blaster, i just need to get the Black Dragon to complete my Saint Dragon set which is no easy task since the cheapest one i saw in Taobao was around 600 but eventually i think i should be able to find one for reasonable price.

Meanwhile i also manage to get the Mystical 4 Symbols version of B-Daman toys similar to Saint Dragon set for 100 RMB but the kit's condition is worse but still workable. Though from my impression it really looks like a villain's mecha and it got Gattai gimmick too! If you are interested to look for B-Daman toys in Taobao try search 弹珠警察 on the website.