Zero Team

 With Capcom dominating the Arcade Scene in the 90s it is very easy to overlook other beat em up games which actually can be hidden gem. I have been looking for this particular game called Zero Team for a long time already ever since i got my hand on MAME only until recently that i managed to find it. Considering when i was a kid i only know this cool game from the main characters being red and blue Ninjas shooting up lightnings but my persistence paid it off!

Sakura Taisen 2 Orihime Route Clear!

 So it took me one and half year and Shin Sakura Taisen announcement series to get me back into finishing Sakura Taisen 2 from where i left off. This makes my fifth playthrough for Sakura Taisen 2 and the new Teikoku Kagekidan member from Italy, Soletta Orihime is the one i picked this time! Out of the Main Heroines under Ogami's care, Orihime is the least cooperative of all in the beginning but eventually open up to Ogami when he helped to resolve her issue. In terms of Personality i think Orihime is somewhere in between Sumire and Glycine though more slightly more mischiveous.  Being the new Heroine in Sakura Taisen 2 along with Reni, the Devs definitely put more effort put for Orihime to shine as bright as other Teikoku Kagekidan Member. To me, while Orihime's character song can't surpass Reni's, i think her ending is easily the best in Sakura Taisen 2. For the 6th Playthrough i think i will go for Kohran's route which i will try not to procrastinate so i can make proper article for this game.

Too Bad Orihime you will be getting fierce competition from Paris Kagekidan

Sakura Taisen Orihime Ending

You can look at my coverage of the Sakura Taisen series here

• Sakura Taisen 1
• Sakura Taisen 3

FW Gundam Converge #12 Review

 A long due review which i try my best to wrap it up. Last year i went into craze for Gundam Candy Toys which i grabbed most possible variants available however as the dust have settled, i am mostly sticking to Forte and Ensemble as i find them to be the better choice of the lot. In any case the 12th Volume of Gundam Converge is not that exceptional save for that it wraps up the Endless Waltz Gundams which are followed by Tallgeese III on the next Volume

Aquamarine 1/9 Shinguji Sakura

 Following up the announcement of Shin Sakura Taisen, the PVC figure made by Aquamarine is the first one to make it! The prototype has been around since last year and now are going to be released on July 2019 with 12800 Yen Price Tag. This particular version of Shinguji Sakura had a good pose since we don't have any battle uniform version for a while already though the Face sculpt could have been better. I won't be getting this one since the Kotobukiya version of Sakura is the definitive one for me but i will be waiting for the merchandise for other Heroines. Hopefully we will be seeing some more products for Sakura Taisen this summer.

You can look at my Review for Kotobukiya's ARTFX J Shinguji Sakura here

Valkyria Chronicle 2

 Took me 6 months worth of procrastinations but i get to finish yet another Backlog in my PSP library. I played Valkyria Chronicles 2 way long before i touched the first game and left it unfinished. Overall VC2 is quite fun game for PSP but it is nowhere close to the VC1 in terms quality. when it comes to gameplay, VC2 did try its best within the PSP capability despite it get repetitive at times with farming class up items being the worst offender. However the worst part of this game is easily the storyline. If Valkyria Chronicle 1 presents itself as melodramatic War Drama which nailed down the atmosphere perfectly, VC2 just throw the wrench and went silly route. Using High School setting combined with Over the top story formula definitely makes it hard to take this game's story seriously. This leads down to mediocre casts with the main protagonist Avan Hardins as a typical Hotblooded teen that defeats everything in his path with the power of friendship. Though VC2 storyline is not the worst one i have encountered, it is really a stark comparison with the Valkyria Chronicle 1 which is a masterpiece that ages really well.

 As for gameplay balance, if the Scout is the gamebreaker in VC1, The Armored Tech subclass Fencer and Mauler just steamrolls everything in VC2 and the Mauler class did better job than the dedicated tankbuster Lancers. With another of old score settled, i will take a break from Valkyria Chronicles series for now to complete my Sakura Taisen 2 which needed immediate priority and afterward i may consider going after Valkyria Chronicle 3 instead of completing VC2 Postgame.

Heroic Age

 One of the anime that i watched halfway when i was in highschool and another backlog cleared in my list! I remembered Heroic Age as a Space Godzilla anime with Hirai sameface slapped on it. The premise of the series is similar to Yamato where a group of people looking for the key to save for humanity except that instead of battleship, the group gains a support of a Space Godzilla to help the reach the goal. Overall Heroic Age is mediocre despite it had solid start and ending because the middle part feels dragging and a 13 Episode series would fit better for this series. In any case Heroic age is another good SRW material that brings more variety into the fray though Belcross could be rather overpowered if its ported directly. I am not too fond of Hirai sameface but i could look at Majestic Prince if i need some torments.

Shin Sakura Taisen announced!

 Well this is what the Sakura Taisen fans are waiting for more then a decade already by now and Sega just announced the Reboot Project of this classic series. Dubbed as "Shin Sakura Taisen" the series reboot project will be released on Spring 2020 with PS4 as the choice platform. Shin Sakura Taisen features Bleach Author, Tite Kubo as the main characters designer taking over Kosuke Fujishima. 

 From the first glance, the male protagonist looks worthy enough to be Ichiro Ogami's Successor, but the Heroines are still not on the same level with the previous Teikoku and Paris Kagekidan considering Fujishima's work on the Heroines for both series are tall order to surpass. The first Tetralogy of Sakura Taisen was Phenomenal mainly because of the superb quality of the Heroines. As a series Sakura Taisen's storyline are never its strong point but the Heroines of Teikoku and Paris Kagekidan made up for all the weakness that the first Tetralogy had. As for the seiyuu cast, Sega picked the popular choice with Sakura Ayane starring as the main heroine. However i doubt the series will ever go back to the Popularity level that the series used to have, to the extent of Theatre stage like the previous Kagekidan since it require considerable investment both in financial and human resource.

 Nevertheless we could expect good gameplay at very least since Valkyria Chronicle team are in charge making them revisit the old series making full use of their experience and as long as the game are well rounded it will do just fine. I will definitely get a copy if it got released on Switch to honor Sakura Taisen series. Also i need to finish my Sakura Taisen 2 Playthrough soon so i could write proper article for the game as an offer for this great classic.

You can look at my coverage of the Sakura Taisen 1 and 3 over here

• Sakura Taisen 1
• Sakura Taisen 3

Ichiban Kuji 1/8 Megumin Figure

 Banpresto is quick with this one for sure! After the wonderfest last month the preorder for Megumin Figure under Ichiban Kuji lineup are available for Preorder already. Normally you can only obtain Ichiban Kuji figure by playing the Kuji lottery usually as grand prize but Banpresto do sell them overseas and my company happen to get the offer too. The figure will be released around July and the SRP for this item is 4600 Yen. I think the sculpt should be better than the Sega version which were around for a while ago in exchange of higher price tag. I will skip this one since i belong to Aqua faction which i would get her equivalent figure of this version if available. But i think the Ichiban Kuji series that this figure served as Grand prize probably centred around Megumin considering she is the main star in the upcoming Konosuba Movie.

Ufotable Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works

 Took me a roundabout way to watch this particular adaptation, something had to do with the bad aftertaste by Deen version but at least i am glad with another score settled. Ufotable did justice with Unlimited Blade Works and this is no doubt the proper adaptation the series deserved. This version basically fixed all issues that the Deen Movie had especially the pacing and expands the material from the original VN even further. So Ufotable UBW covers everything essential from the VN route for newcomer and there are still treats around for those who have read the VN. My favorite part from this series is the treatment that it give to Lancer Cu since most of the cooler battle belongs to him. As i grew older i do find Shirou's way of thinking to be unbearable sometime but i still look forward for his action in Heaven's Feel Movie. With UBW anime done, i think i will do some UBW related Toy review soon.

Magic Knight Rayearth

- Revised February 2026

After Galient and Aura Battler Dunbine, my fantasy-mecha journey ends with Magic Knight Rayearth , the culmination of the genre. Among all the fantasy mecha series I’ve watched, Rayearth holds a very high position, even though the TV series doesn’t fully tap its potential.

The first part of Rayearth is the strongest, but the show could have benefited from a breather to create a more coherent second half. Trying to stretch 49 episodes into one continuous arc isn’t ideal if you’re aiming for a robust storyline. Still, Rayearth is very well-rounded, featuring most of the elements that make fantasy mecha compelling. The Rune Gods are some of the coolest designs in the genre, and the series has a strong sense of visual identity.

Aura Battler Dunbine

 One of the most influential Fantasy Mecha out there no doubt and glad i finished this one. The father of Gundam, Yoshiyuki Tomino's works tend to be inconsistent with his work from 90s onward are mostly disappointment, But Dunbine no doubt is one of his better works. As a series, Dunbine is an important milestone in Fantasy Mecha and Isekai as it sets up some of the essential elements for those two genre. In terms of storyline, Dunbine is your standard mecha series in 80s but what Dunbine did exceptionally well at its time setting up its atmosphere.  Byston Well Landscape are quite piece of work with diverse range befitting a Fantasy themed series. Unfortunately, Dunbine suffers abit problem on Pacing especially during the second half of the series where the wars took place on earth. While i like the main protagonist from the series, i find the rest of the cast to be rather insufferable including the protagonist side. Lastly in terms of mecha design, the Insect Warrior mecha from Dunbine is very distinct but Yutaka Izubuchi yet again perfected the design with his contribution, Sirbine which is the grandfather of Cybuster. Overall to me Dunbine's most important contribution is its ideas which give birth to amazing series like Masoukishin. After watching the series now I am  looking for a copy of Robot Damashi Sirbine but i guess best bet is waiting for rerun by Tamashii Nation as the aftermarket is rather pricey at the moment.

Taito Rider of Black Astolfo Prize Vol 2 Figure Review

 A short review for one of the Fate Prize figure made by Taito. Fate is no doubt a very big series in Japan that warrants some manufacturers like Banpresto, Taito and Sega made affordable Prize figure for the series. Out of the Three company, Taito's price range happen to fall on cheaper spectrum but overall quality wise it is quite passable. One of the Prize figure that i own from Taito is the trap servant from Fate/Apocrypha, Astolfo. Being one of Charlemagne's Twelve Paladins, Astolfo depiction in Fate as a crossdressing Pink haired knight doesn't sit quite well with me. Regardless i suppose there are demand for such niche in Fate series.

Figma 432 Saber Alter 2.0

 With the Heavens Feel movie release, this is one of the awaited moment for Saber Alter fans. The Ice Queen version of the eternal main heroine is getting the 2.0 version that she deserved! Figma Saber Alter 2.0 will be released November this year with price tag of 7800 Yen. For the lesser amount of accessories compared to Saber 2.0, Salter cost more than her vanilla counterpart which probably have something to do with the production cost nowadays. In original FSN, Salter served as the antagonist in Heaven's Feel route who is even more ruthless compared to her original counterpart. However in FGO, Salter had more personality and her dere moment makes her more waifuable for Gudao. I will get this Figma for sure because she will complete my Saber Artoria set and makes a good pairing with my Jalter as well. I think the figma version of Salter's 3rd Ascension are still within a realm of possibility too. While i skipped the figma for Salter Shinjuku, i would like to get some of her expression faceplate.

March 2019 Gunpla sample build

 There is a particularly big Toys Event this week and it is an opportunity for me to get dibs on some upcoming Gunpla Samples for display. There were plenty of choices including EX-S but i picked four of these kits which are Hi Res Wing Gundam EW, SDCS Sisquide, MG Ace 2 Magnum and HGUC Gustav Karl. Out of the 4 Kits that i build, MG Ace 2 Magnum is still flimsy since Bandai hasn't finished the fine adjustment yet but it will be no doubt a great Master Grade.

 At first i thought Gustav Karl going to be bigger than MG but it haven't reached that point yet even though no doubt it is still big for 1/144 standard.SDCS Sisquide turns out to be quite good looking and with its BFG it rather reminds me with Huckebein. I suppose Bandai's goal with SDCS took rather different spin after the initial release as the popularity are not as good as they expected but at very least we will get to see more exotic design for this lineup which is not necessarily a bad thing.

 The best out of the bunch is no doubt the Hi Res Wing EW Gundam which i did a blind run without manual book that turns out just fine. Hi Resolution 1/100 lineup is no doubt a luxury MG for those who don't have time to paint their kits. The Inner frame contain some diecast parts and Bandai make the assembly as convenient as possibly. Nevertheless the Wing Gundam EW still got weight distribution problem with the heavy backpack but i believe Bandai will make this lineup even more perfect. I am still looking forward for the opportunity to build MG Alex 2.0 which is quite possible before the Gunpla Expo this year.

MG 1/100 RE-GZ Custom

 The year for Char's Counterattack anniversary has gone already, but another Mobile Suit from CCA MSV joining late to the Party. Out of all MS, RE-GZ Custom joins to P-Bandai Master Grade as expected. The Model Kit will be released on May 2019 with 5500 Yen Price tag which is 1500 Yen pricier than the original MG Re-GZ. RE-GZ Custom is the step up of Re-GZ with the BWS backpack fully integrated to the Mobile Suit which makes it fully transformable like Zeta Gundam. The MS is decent Elite Mobile suit all around but still pale in comparison with Nu Gundam due to lack of Newtype tech for it. The only thing that irks me with the RE-GZ Custom is the AK-47 beam rifle which is a worse choice even compared to FAMAS and the original RE-GZ Beam Rifle still fits better for it. I will easily skip this one one, but i don't mind getting one in the form of Candy Toys. Perhaps it is not anytime soon but we will likely see MG RE-GZ 2.0 someday