Joytoy 1/18 1st Legion Steel

 Joytoy is mostly well known for their 1/24 Mecha Toys that shares close aesthetics with Titanfall series, but from time to time they do make Military or Sci-Fi action figure both in 1/24 and 1/18 Scale as well. Recently there is a notable addition for their 1/18 action figure series dubbed 1st Legion Steel. The 1st Legion Steel featured Joytoy Original design of Power Armor action figure in 4 Variants. This lineup incorporated the cool elements from several Power Armor designs from series like Fallout, 40k or Dead Space. 

The 4 variants of Joytoy 1/18 1st Legion series are sold for 35 USD each which seems reasonable enough compared to Kotobukiya Hexagear that still require assembly. Out of the 4 Variants, The Green and Gray Power Armor variant interests me the most due to more unique selections for the Armaments. In any case i will keep a tab on the continuation of this series by Joytoy.

SSSS Gridman

  Another mecha anime from past few years that i gave a try with higher expectation due to the hype during its debut. SSSS Gridman was a reboot anime adapted from Tsuburaya older series, a company well known for their Ultraman series. During its inception, Gridman was probably created to serve as bridge for Tokusatsu and Mecha featuring Gridman, an Ultraman like character who can power up with giant vehicles to form some sort of hybrid mecha.

 But in the end SSSS Gridman proves to be a disappointment for a mecha fans like me. The series essentially focus too much on style over substance in order to target Teens as the main audience. The storyline of SSSS Gridman gets as barebone as its gets where a group of teenagers team up with Gridman in order to confront Kaijus that attacked their cities while attempting to locate the mastermind of the Kaiju attacks. In defense, 12 episodes can't really facilitate anything complex but i have to say the effort on the story is disappointing because even Yuusha series which are more than 2 decades could come up with something better. The mecha design in Gridman is also a failure for me as they are just feel something cobbled up together instead of being properly designed which make it a big miss. Perhaps Gridman would fared batter if they go with more organic route instead of the blocky mess.

 One thing you won't deny from Gridman is they have very nice eye candy as distraction, Rikka and Takane easily some of the most popular waifus in the period of late 2018/early 2019 being an oversexualized female teenager doing fanservices. SSSS Gridman is probably one of the anime series that you would enjoy more when you turned your brains off and don't think anything too much out of the series. I think Dynazenon would maintain the fanservice level quite well though i doubt the overall value will be any better compared to SSSS Gridman.

Back Arrow

 The latest Mecha anime made by Sunrise early this year that caught my attention since Bandai released some merchandise for this series despite the uncertainty whether the series will turn into hit. Overall Back Arrow had interesting concepts and characters but mediocre execution combined with meh mecha design makes it a mediocre mecha series which are forgettable by next season.

 The story of Back Arrow starts with a amnesiac young man fell from the sky who comes with mysterious power unseen before in the world. Accompanied with companions, the young man traveled around the two major nations that makes up the majority of the world to uncover his past which is tied to the fate of the world which are surrounded by walls of unknown origin on its ends.

 Back Arrow tells the story of the world that serves as the source of nourishment and pruned off if certain parameter exceed the limit which share some similarities with Ranceverse. The issue with Back Arrow using this trope is that the existence of character that exist as reset button is not justifiable enough in the series since it lack the bleakness for these Destroyer type to start exist. Mecha design is probably the weakest part of Back Arrow for me which i find the designs suit more as power armor for a series like Tiger&Bunny.

 Despite its glaring weaknesses, i do find some of the casts to be enjoyable which are rarity for Sunrise mecha series from last decade. The Emperor and Strategist guy certainly takes the crown of honor with the former is a good expy of Master Asia and the latter drives the storyline most of the part. Back Arrow might not be the best Mecha series that Sunrise could offer but i guess it is still more tolerable compared to Valvrave.