Arknights Figma 525 Chen

 

 Another significant milestone for Arknights! While the series is not the first Chinese Mobile Game series that got figma treatment which i think Girls Frontline gets the credit, it is still a commendable achievement by the industry. The Operator who gets the first dibs on the figma treatment is no other than the popular Dragon Waifu, Chen! Figma Chen will be scheduled for December release with 8000 Yen price tag.

Figma Chen came in minimalistic accessories which only include her Twin Blades and 3 Face plates. Unfortunately she doesn't have blushing face expression considering it is never featured on the official storyline. The Nendoroid version still comes with more accessories but i suppose the Figma Articulation should be decent enough. I suppose there is a good chance for other Arknights operators to follow up despite majority of the Top Operators had rather difficult designs to be implemented as Action Figures. From the existing operators that got Nendoroid treatment already, Exusiai, W and even Texas came to mind for good candidates to follow after Chen due to their simpler clothing design.

SRW OG HG Non-Scale Alteisen

 Bandai is utilizing the SRW IP for their Model Kits Product and this time Alteisen joined the party following after Cybuster. Scheduled for December Release, Bandai's version of Alteisen Model kit will be sold for 4000 Yen Price tag which is about 800 Yen cheaper compared to Kotobukiya's last version of the Old Iron.

 Debuted in SRW Compact/Impact, Alteisen piloted by ATX Team Leader Kyosuke Nanbu, remains to be one of the major presence in SRWOG to the latest iteration. In SRWOG series, Alteisen originally dubbed as Gespenst MkIII, is a Personal Trooper that boast tremendous firepower but had glaring flaw at the same time with its control issues which Kyosuke only able to pilot effectively due to his daredevil personality. In terms of design, Alteisen had a certain charm with its Bulkiness which came in right amount. To this day i still haven't exactly figured out the mecha used for Alteisen mecha design but chances Scopedog inspired the Alteisen Design considering Chirico Cuvie contributed alot for Kyosuke's Archetype. At this point, i think Daizengar or R-1 had better shot to be the next SRW OG Mecha to be made compared to Weissritter and others. Also Huckebein definitely will never come to light.

Ushio and Tora the animation

 

 Ushio and Tora is one of my favorite youkai themed Shonen manga to this day as it is one of the few series that managed to capture the essence of Shonen Genre through the adventure of a youth named Ushio who is tagged along with a Youkai called Tora. Few years ago, Studio Mappa which is in charge of recent popular anime adaptations such as Jujutsu Kaisen and Shingeki no Kyojin made 39 episodes adaptation for Ushio and Tora which i finally gave a watch recently.

 As expected, the anime adaptation of Ushio and Tora didn't really live up to the original counterpart, primarily due to skimping too much of the story material from the manga in order to make the series to fit within 39 Episodes.  This is inevitable since Japanese anime industry in the present state didn't have that luxury to make lengthy anime series anymore unless the animated series brings in big money. So in essence the anime version of Ushio and Tora only cover the Hakumen no Mono arc and ditch all of the side stories which are actually interesting and contributing significantly for the buildup of the final showdown. In any case despite its glaring flaw, the Anime version of Ushio and Tora still did its part decently on the story it cover and Ushio and Tora still remains the best Human Yokai duo team to this day. I feel Onmyoji Arena could have put a good use for this series as collab material.

Macross 7 1/7 Nekki Basara

 

Older Macross series in general tend to be neglected apart from the DYRL series. But out of the blue, Megahouse just decided to announce PVC Figure for Macross 7 featuring Nekki Basara and Mylene from Fire Bomber Band!  Nekki Basara figure comes in 1/7 scale and will be scheduled for December 2021 release with 15800 Yen Price Tag. 

  Macross Plus might be the best overall title from the series but Macross 7 will still remain to be my personal favorite. The series might have rocky start with the repetitive first half, but it redeem itself from 30th  Episode onward and concluded with a satisfying end. Being the lead vocalist of Fire Bomber, Nekki Basara himself is the legendary figure in a Macross series being the Main Protagonist who sets himself apart among his peers with his larger than life attitude and very capable VF pilot despite not being part of military outfit. Basara might be one dimensional on certain aspects, but he had achieved many amazing feats through his singing which are probably even not doable by most Macross Protagonist which is why he is able to carry Macross 7 mostly by himself. With the current popularity status of Macross 7, i doubt Ray and Veffidas will join Basara and Mylene in 1/7 Scale figure to complete the Fire Bomber Crew, but i love to see more merchandise for this series.