Choudenji Machine Voltes V

 When i am not procrastinating, i guess i can get things done really fast. Finished marathoning Voltes V and with this 2 of 3 Nagahama Trilogy finished and i will be waiting for Daimos. The series was quite popular in Southeast Asia around late 80s especially in Phillipines and i can see why. Overall Voltes V is Combattler V with Sword and plot-wise it fared slightly better but worse in terms of romance. Just like Combattler V, Voltes still use Monster of the week formula but this time the drama was improvised with more interesting Plot Twists. The main casts are pretty much identical with Combattler V with slight personality swap here and there with Kenichi being more serious compared to Hyoma. I think Voltes V originally intended to be around 50 Episodes but was cut to 40 instead due to sponsor issues. Nevertheless it do tie most of the loose ends but perhaps Heinel would surpassed Garuda by greater margin or the series had better ending if Voltes run on its intended length.

 While the series have aged greatly considering a late 70s anime, Voltes V did huge influence on japanese media. Without Voltes V arguably we will never see Banpresto's Mascot SRX considering the latter got some of its design based on Voltes. SRW games did give good homage to Voltes V and other Nagahama Trilogy titles in which Voltes and Combattler usually get tag team attacks and Alpha 3 is the best one up until now but J and L are quite good too.

Zoids Legacy

 Rewriting this article with updated screenshots from the game since i believe the series deserve some better treatment. This game was my gateway to Zoids series and I think i have finished this game like four times already both in emulator and back when i had GBA. While Zoids Legacy was riddled with plenty of bad translations it does not ruin much of the gaming experience.

 Some examples how terrible the translation work by Atari on this game, i think the worst one from what i recall is they translate 落ちろ! to simply "drop!" which just didn't make sense for the context

Choudenji Robo Combattler V

 I have been using Combattler V in my SRW games that feature this guy like Alpha Series or J. While i prefer Voltes V since Kenichi racked more kill counts than Hyoma, i thought about paying this series a respect by watching original tv series. As i expected for a 70-80s Mecha series which was made mainly for selling toys, Combattler V was mediocre as Storytelling media but certainly the Robot is memorable especially with the Crotch Missile. Combattler V uses Monster of the Week formula for its episodes where the Combattler V team fight a new monster each time and won through hair's breath. I think the series tried to make something different early in the series but proceed to the generic route for robot series in this time. While the story is pretty generic, the series got a cool rival named Garuda for Protagonist at the first half of the series at very least and i didn't expect Hyouma lost its arm really early in the story. What puzzle me the most with these 70s-80s Robot Show that most of them feature stupid annoying kids for some reason as the sidekicks for the protagonist.

 In my opinion Combattler V did have significant influence on Super Sentai. While the series doesn't focus on infantry combats, the Combattler V robot sure fit the regular trope of Super Sentai's megazord where 5 machines combined to form a Giant Robot. Considering Toei is behind this series and do Tokusatsu as well, i think my wild guess that Combattler V sets up some of trends for Super Sentai is not too far off. With one of the Nagahama Trilogy finished, i will give the rest a watch though it would be a while for Daimos since i can't find the complete series. I doubt the series will get a reboot considering the present market condition but if it ever got one it will look the videos below which Garuda is quite a bishie.

Super Robot Wars Alpha 2 Arado's playthrough Complete!

 Looks like it took me 3 weeks to complete my SRW@2 second playthrough which is not that bad considering my procrastination habit on SRW. Back then before i begin my first run on Alpha 2, i promised myself to do Arado Balanga's playthrough at very least since Wildwurger was one of my favorite SRW Original. Compared to Ibis playthrough Arado's was much more a breeze obviously with NewGame+bonus which i got 6 Million cash and proceed to curbstomp everything with my Upgraded units. Compared to my First playthrough however, Arado's playthrough is slightly boring early on since he is stuck with mediocre Huckebein MkIII in the first half of the game and frankly speaking Arado is rather mediocre Pilot with crap original Seishin pool. But still he is one of my favorite guy with his Happy-go-lucky attitude.

 In Alpha 2 Arado get his Wildwurger around stage 30 and then Seolla joins with Wildfalken after few stages. Compared to Hyperlion it lacks ALL or MAP attacks which make Arado hard to rack up Kill Counts. In exchange Wildwurger is better Boss Killer compared to Hyperlion though probably not as strong as Daizengar. Once fully upgraded, Wildwurger and Wildfalken are probably some of the best support units in the game as both Arado and Seolla got Support Attack Lv4. Put them nearby Tough enemies and let other Unit take a dip on the unit first while either of the Twin Birds support them and you will find those unit will die in no time since they are quite capable of providing 30k worth of damage from support in a single turn once fully upgraded. On top of that Arado's route is the only route where you gets upgrade carried over for Viletta and Ratsel's Huckebein if you upgraded Arado's early on which means Two Solid Support Units

Early March Loot

 Lol what a way to celebrate my return to Beijing for the last time with Impulse spending on Taobao. For this time i bought myself Kotona Nendoroid, YS7 Adol Figurine and Volks A3 Type 00 A&R Takemikazuchi. Overall i got the price of the items on par with Mandarake's price tag which are still compared to buying from Mandarake when Shipping is taken on consideration since i only pay like 3$ for the shipping when i buy from China. I bought both Volks A3 for 220 RMB each which is around 3700 Yen which is really good deal for the Blue Takemikazuchi as it is the 2nd most expensive Type 00 after Yui's. Originally i didn't intend to get the White Takemikazuchi considering it was abit higher than the average price but bought on impulse anyway since i guess Ikaruga would be lonely without someone to boss around. Also i have been looking around for Adol Figurine but the only decent one i get is the UFO catcher grade figurine which got nice sculpt overall save for the face. It is hard life for collector when your favorite character is male since the Japanese figure market didn't make much of those most of the time. In any case it will be a while before i reviewed these items considering it will be like 4 months before i returned to hometown.

Monster Hunter Generations

  Kinda see this is going to happen as 4U was a great success for Capcom in the west, slated for mid of this year we are getting MHX renamed as Monster Hunter Generations to be released in the west. Personally i won't be getting this one as 4 Ultimate is my last MH Games on 3DS, as long as the series stuck on 3DS.

I have nothing against Nintendo but i personally think won't get to its fullest potential if it is stuck on 3DS for many reasons. I was really hyped for 4 Ultimate back then but was really disappointed with the game which contributes to the reason why i think 3DS doesn't suit for MH. Firstly 4U was such a rushed out product that you will find lack of Quest variety in Grank Guild, then 4th Gen was the worst when it comes to level design. As for the community i was really sad with the 3DS Community for this game which majority are either Munchkins or Noobs and i think next MH should have some measures to make railroading harder. Lastly the Apex mechanics are terrible as it deviates from its original purposes making the monsters annoying instead of challenging.While i won't be getting the game i will support the series by buying the merchandises.

Oda Nobunaga (Ikegami Ryoichi)

 I have read severals manga that depicts the life of Oda Nobunaga and out of all the one that catches me the most is the version drawn by Ikegami Ryoichi. This version is purely biography like Mitsuteru's version but when compared to other Oda Nobunaga's manga, the Ikegami Ryoichi's version appear to be really dramatic and got the most handsome version of Nobunaga. The art quality is quite outstanding too for a manga drawn from late 80s. It is quite possible that Koei got their inspiration for their version of Nobunaga for their long standing Nobunaga's Ambition and Samurai Warriors from Ryoichi's version.

 One of Japan's most famous historical period was the 16th Century Warring States period and Oda Nobunaga is probably the most celebrated character out of that period. To explain why Nobunaga is so famous in Japan won't be sufficient in a single post but he is famous enough to appear alot in Japanese media especially manga and video games and the reason why we have Nobunaga no Yabou instead of Tokugawa no Yabou. To some people Nobunaga perhaps is no more than a devil incarnate since he slaughtered lots of people during his campaign including tens of thousands of civilians. However in the passage of history he left behind a great legacy as one of the three Unifier of Japan and arguably the one who did most of the legwork. While he may never trust fully his subordinates, Nobunaga is the paragon of a Pragmatic ruler who would made Machiavelli smitten like a little girl if two of them ever met each other.  I hope one day some scanlators would be interested to pick up this manga for translation since this is one of those manga that would be a waste if kept in Japan only.

1/100 MG RX-78 NT-1 Alex Review

Can't you see that you are sweet, Oh let me love you so~

ZA 1/100 Mugen Liger

 Ever since i have watched Zoids Genesis i wonder if there will be some renewal in the series product by Tomy. It appears that Kotobukiya have released Murasame Liger a while ago in lineup called Zoids Aggressive which is a new Action Figure Lineup released by Kotobukiya. Unlike HMM lineup which are Plastic Models, it seems that ZA is a finished product, ready to play action figure and i guess the Zoids Genesis going to be the litmus paper for this new lineup. The ZA Mugen Liger is going to be released around middle of this year with the price tag of 6800 Yen. At first i was hyped to think Mugen Liger finally got a plastic kit since i think Mugen was the coolest looking out of Murasame Varients but it turns out to be Action Figure. While the product would be good nonetheless, i still prefer a Plamo since you can be proud with your own result of Labor so will be still waiting for a HMM instead. Mugen Liger was the final form of Murasame combining the strength of Murasame and speed of Hayate. Ruuji piloted this form nearing the end of the series facing the Genesis version of Deathsaurer. Personally i think Genesis got what it takes to be more than a toy commercial but i guess toy sales matters more. If these Murasame Liger Variants Action figure sold well i think we will see more premade Zoids action figure in the future.

Super Robot Wars Alpha 2 thoughts

Shooting Star cut through the night!

Non Scale EF-2000 Typhoon Wilfried Eichberger Custom

 If i ever get an EF-2000 Typhoon kit to build i will probably pick this version. A while after the first EF-2000 Typhoon got released Koto released this version of Typhoon  in black color scheme which included the Fort-Class Killer sword as well. In the Muvluv series this Customized Typhoon belongs to one of the best German's Ace Eishi with the nickname Black Konigswolf, Wilfried Eichberger who serve as the Captain of Cerberus team. Wilfried appeared briefly in the Muvluv Alt Chronicles 2 Adoration chapter where he greets the Seijuurou for joint training program with the Cerberus Squad. In the muvluv series Wilfried is kinda like ATX team equivalent of Kyosuke considering he gives similar distant and imposing aura while partnered with Love interest who's good at Ranged combat. The kit's price was rather stiff as well but one of these days i will probably find the cheap one. As for the White Konigswolf version there was a web exclusive for the kit but i think it is easy enough to just get the regular Typhoon and paint it with its custom color scheme.

Non Scale Type-94 Shiranui Isumi Valkyries

It has been like 4 Years after the first release of Non Scale Shiranui and it appears that Kotobukiya intended to release the definitive version later this year. Released around June this year with the price tag of 6800 Yen The kit comes with complete accessories to emulate all 4 different roles in Isumi Valkyries Squad. Personally i find the kits price tag is rather high considering the 2000 Yen difference is to include the Missile Pod and 2 Sniper Rifles only which you could have got from other Muvluv Kits. If You have bought other Muvluv Kits before probably you won't find the kit to be appealing but it does make a good choice for the first Muvluv Kit. In any case i will be crossing my finger if i ever need another new Shiranui.

Shiranui UN Finished!

Welp it was almost 4 years since the last time i worked on the kit and i just finished working on the kit with the Painting supply i recently get. Back then the kit was 90% finished and all i do this time is handpainting some details and topcoating the kit. As it is my first kit i ever handpaint on, the result is rather sloppy but it will definitely get better eventually as i get hang of it. Will be posting review once i got my DSLR considering my mobile phone camera won't cut for it.

Winter Wonderfest 2016 highlights

As always Wonderfes showcases the amazing merchandise for Japanese Anime and Game industry and for this time i got my attention on the Figurines. For this time there is no particular mecha that piqued my interest though Kotobukiya and other companies do bring some decent stuff. As for the figurine the figma section is still saturated with Fate stuffs but there are several things that makes me hyped. After a long time since the GSC rendition finally we got a new Sakura figurine from Sakura Taisen which looks really gorgeous, The prototype figure of Sakura is posed with carrying mantle based on Sakura Taisen 4 Opening. On the Kaiyodo section we got some prototypes of some more Monster Hunter Action Figure but what catches me the most is that it appeared that Kaiser X is shown among the prototypes. I used Full Kaiser X quite alot in 4 Ultimate considering Teostra was my favorite monster and i am glad it is getting an action figure quite soon and i hope it comes with the Teo Lance. And lastly i am quite surprised Ushio and Tora gets a nendoroid. While the series is no doubt good Shonen series, GSC tends to make Nendos for Moe stuffs and usually they neglect series that doesn't have cute girls. In any case i hope we will have prototype for Persona 3 MC soon enough.

Variable Action Koubu Ogami Custom get!

 I have been waiting to get this toy for a while already ever since i played Sakura Taisen on my PSP. Personally the reason why i bothered to go through lengths in order to get the toy is because i think Ogami is quite awesome guy and the Variable Action lineup happens to be the best representation of his mech so far for physical merchandise. While the Hanagumi maidens are the main selling point of the series, i find Ogami is very manly for a harem protagonist compared to the betas nowadays and he is one of the best example for his archetype done right instead of straightaway delusional self-inserts.   Hopefully i will review the toy  before i am going back to China which should be doable and after seeing the Variable Action i am rather curious with the Wave's lineup for Sakura Taisen Koubus which they happen to manufacture around decade ago. I also just realize that the Megahouse's Koubu was the rendition of Sakura Taisen remake on PS2 where each Koubus got personalised design which is kinda hit or miss but at least for Ogami it was a hit.

Some Bonus pic