Arknights 1/7 Skadi Elite 2 Version

  It feels rather random that Kotobukiya able to make a figure out of Arknights series but they did and their first pick is no other than the Orca Waifu operator, Skadi! The 1/7 Scale figure is a straight faithful interpretation of Skadi's Elite 2 Illustration from the game. Kotobukiya 1/7 Skadi is scheduled for October release with 17000 Yen price tag which is just about the price for a medium range Scale figure nowadays. 

 In Arknights, Skadi is a Bounty Hunter from Aegir with mysterious past who debuted in Arknights first event quest. Recently the Chinese version had revealed more of her past and introduce her alternative 6* Supporter class which had a nuance of Cosmic horror. Interestingly Skadi's artworks in Arknights is made by an Indonesian illustrator named Alchemaniac, a testament that Japanese does not monopolize the 2D style animation anymore. 

 There is a good chance for me to get this figure since Skadi is my main reason of playing Arknights despite her underwhelming performance as Guard operator compared to other 6* Guard OP and i still keep her as the secretary to this day. With her level of popularity, i believe Skadi Summer and Alter version have a good shot of getting a Prize figure or Nendoroid and i think fans will even welcome more of Skadi's alternative class.

Ano Hana

 One of the few popular anime series in early 2010s by general anime community that really live up to its reputation. Usually Coming of age series are associated with joyful stuffs in general, but Ano Hana went with tearjerker and a really good one too. If you are able to finish this anime without shedding some tear, then kudos to you! considering Ano Hana is comparable with Clannad when it comes to this department.

 The premise of Ano Hana is about a group of teenagers who used to be inseparable close friends but drifted apart after a tragedy befell upon one member of the group which costed her life. The main character, being struck hardest with the tragedy made himself into a shut-in and apparently the only one who is able to see the ghost of his dead friend. Throughout the anime, the main character attempted to reunite now estranged group of his old friends to help their ghost friend to move onto afterlife and gain some sense of closure for themselves in order to move on.

Compared to Clannad, personally i feel that Ano Hana hits harder because Clannad still bother to give some good alternate happy ending while the parting message of Menma for the main protagonist is simply a critical hit with no brakes. With the quality of its writing, Ano Hana resonates toward the adult viewers quite well considering it is very good at evoking the sense of nostalgia of the simple and younger days of childhood. With this strong point, Ano Hana easily put itself onto the ageless anime category and the story will still remain relevant in 10 years to come. I think i will visit True Tears at some point since this series is mentioned along with Ano Hana when it comes to tearjerking anime.

Uma Musume Pretty Derby

 Making myself dig even deeper toward the Gacha Hell as i gave Uma Musume Pretty a try, it seems that i should consider quitting as Shikikan. The Second Season of Uma Musume is really good that it manage to make me bother to give the game a try which is still in Japanese until this time. Uma Musume Pretty Derby turns out to live up to its hype as the game dominates the Japanese gaming market by the storm after Cygames released the game early this year. To put it simply Uma Musume is a Hybrid Simulation Bishoujo game which mixes Moefied Horserace, Idols and training simulator which works out quite well somehow and not to mention the production value is Top Tier for a Gacha game. 

 In this post i will try to give some general guide to make the game easier to comprehend with the language barrier, but the game is easy enough to comprehend if you have basic knowledge of Japanese.

Giant Gorg

  A Rare Gem of 80s mecha series and a showcase what Sunrise could do with the genre if they don't make it for Toys Commercial. Giant Gorg is an adventure series which featured Mysterious Mecha named Gorg as the plot device. Instead of typical mecha series that action where the protagonist mecha fights monsters of the week, Giant Gorg falls more on the adventure side. The story of the series take place in a remote island in pacifict where a boy name Yuu tried to uncover the mystery of the island with giant mecha Gorg served as his guide, while fending off private armies of Giant Evil Corporation whose leader had interest on the Relics of advanced civilization relics that lies buried within the island. 

 Giant Gorg is one of the few series that use real-life setting in a mecha which is hard to pull off  considering you only get to see one sided affair between Giant Robot and Modern Military vehicles and it sticks at that level. Nevertheless Giant Gorg did well on the storyline which is quite an achievement for early 80s and the Mecha itself Gorg, exudes a presence of strength to be reckoned despite relying on its own fists most of the time . But obviously Giant Gorg was rather way ahead of its time for 5 years or more considering the consumer market was not ready for this kind of mecha series in early 80s which resulted the series faded in obscurity. In any case if you really want different kind of mecha experience, Giant Gorg worth a try.

Uma Musume Pretty Derby Second Season

  I had expected Uma Musume second season would capitalize the momentum made by the first season and made improvements from it, but for once this is one of the few that exceeds expectation. For the second season, Toukai Teio and Mejiro Mcqueen took the lead as the starring heroine role and create even more touching story of friendship and rivalry. With the success of First Season,  Cygames probably had more liberty for the story formula of second season and certainly make something good out of it to match the initial release of the game that had been delayed for quite a long time.

Unmei ni Ijiwaru (Fate is a jerk) - Tokai Teio

 With Teio who is a highly gifted Horsegirl as the Main Heroine, you would expect her story to reach the top would be a breeze but it was the opposite. With the high expectation to live up to and a Promise to fulfill with her rival Mejiro Mcqueen, Teio faced setbacks for the majority part of the 2nd Season. Compared to Silence Suzuka in season 1, Teio's struggle struck harder as faced consecutive hardships that crush her both physically and mentally to the brink that makes her almost retire. And things are not even easier for Mcqueen as she faced possibly even worse hardship. However both persevere in the end and Teio showed a miracle from her perseverance.

 Personally i am not that fond of Racehorse for anime theme as the activity are associated with shadier conduct of Elites to impoverish the lower class. While Uma Musume Pretty Derby probably overglossing certain aspect of the Entertainment, the second season could make a very touching story that resonates to many people to persevere through hard times like the current pandemic. In any case Uma Musume Pretty Derby second season is good enough to goad me trying the Gacha game which still only comes in Japanese version. As long as they keep the writer team of Uma Musume 2nd season, I think the third season should be well received and I think it is likely Daiwa Scarlet and Vodka getting the spotlight by that time. 

Uma Musume Pretty Derby Season 1

 

 Japanese animation had a knack of turning literally anything into cute girls. If they can turn Cosmic Horrors into cute anime girls, then racehorse is an easy task. Early this year Cygames gacha game, Uma Musume Pretty Derby stole the the spotlight featuring Horsegirls named after famous Race Horses as collectable waifus. Curious with the series, i gave the anime a try which was actually released back in 2018. Overall Pretty Derby is your typical Sports flavored cute kemonomimi girls doing cute things anime but the production value is high nonetheless and the take on Racehorses turned into cute girls works out surprisingly well. Uma Musume storyline follows the standard formula of the typical Japanese Sports Battle Manga where the gifted main protagonist which is Special Week for this one aims to be at the top of the sport, complete with overseas rival to be beaten, reflecting the collective unfulfilled wish.

 While i find Uma Musume fusing Idol business with Horserace to be rather weird combo, i do actually enjoy the race part since the passion is well conveyed. The first season probably took a safe route as the creator focus abit too much on main heroine, Special Week and her relationship with her best friend Silence Suzuka. As Special Week feels too vanilla due to her main heroine role, Personally i root for Mejiro Mcqueen, Grass Wonder and Teio which the last one really reminds me of Grani from Arknights. As of now i am moving on the second season which apparently feature Mcqueen and Teio in the spotlight and i think i could expect better with more liberty given from the 1st season success. If will definitely give a try if Uma Musume Gacha Game ever got official translation.