Otaking's R-Type Tribute

 I don't post people's fanmade videos in general but i think this one is an exception since it deserve much more views. Mr Otaking, a reputable tripfag on /m/ who made himself well known on Youtube for animating fanmade Star Wars TIE Fighters video. Recently made an R-TYPE tribute video. Like the previous TIE Fighter videos, the R-TYPE videos are just filled with plenty of awesomeness with way above average quality for a fanmade video. Seriously Mr Otaking worth to be respected for creating such awesome homage to the glory days of Mecha back in 80s.

 While i am terrible at Bullet Hell game, i always attracted to these genre because they tend to have delicious mecha design. R-type was one of the more well known shooting game back in the Arcade age in particular for its insane difficulty and rather grimdark setting. While i never played the actual shooting game, it was a horizontal shooting game similar to Gradius and popular enough to spawn plenty of Sequels. It is such a shame that the series developer; Irem gave up everything on its gaming library when it went bankrupt few years ago which basically stopped the re-distribution for their once popular games. I suppose one of these days i will finish my R-Type Tactics playthrough for the sake of respecting the series. Also if you want further informations about R-Type series, you can just look at HardcoreGaming101 Article.

Speed Power Gunbike

One of PSX mecha game that i recently added to my Japanese Vita library and it was such an unpolished gem. Gunbike was the first game released by Inti Creates which developed games like Megaman Zero and the recent Azure Striker Gunvolt. It was a racing mixed with action game but what makes it special is that it features Transformable Motorbike Power Armor which resemble something from Shinji Aramaki's Megazone and Mospeada's design. As a mecha fan i find the concept that Gunbike offers are really interesting concept despite the gameplay mechanics are unpolished. To this day i still wonder why there are no developers interested to develop something out of this much unexplored subgenre of mecha game

Vision of Escaflowne

 By this time i think i have seen many wasted potentials throughout Japanese animes and Mecha genres always had these series with awesome concept but falls apart when executed. Just like anything, the greater the hype an anime brought to the viewer, the greater disappointment the series will be when it didn't live up to expectations. Vision of Escaflowne would have been a Great Fantasy Mecha Anime as it had really promising start but somehow in the end fail to make use of its amazing production value. Escaflowne had Shouji Kawamori's design, Yoko Kanno's music score and it did its own thing which would have been a winning combination.  While i dislike Shoujo element of the series it wasn't the dealbreaker.  To me the moment Escaflowne went downhill is during halfway of the show as if something put a halt to the world-building effort which in the end we got a half-baked series. The biggest disappointment to me is that Escaflowne could have been a genuinely perfect marriage between Fantasy and Mecha and proved the genre can be something more than a Kid's toy commercial. I think the series would have fared better as OVA instead of running tv series as the latter tend to distort the original materials alot due to demands from many side. In any case Maaya's Sakamoto performance on the opening was really stellar considering it was her first leap to the industry.

New PS Vita Get!!

 After few years of hassle swapping memory cards for switching PSN account i decided it is time for me to get another Vita for my Japanese PSN. At first i was looking for Light Blue color for my new Vita but settled with Aqua Blue PS Vita Slim along with some other rhythm games. I used my Japanese PSN for mecha gaming purposes because regardless of the gaming generations, majority of mecha games never made it to the west especially the good ones.

 Personally I find Vita had potential to succeed just like PSP but Sony screwed up the platform for being too ambitious even though the machine got better potential than 3DS. In the west Vita never become a big thing because Sony didn't adapt the market situation and did some poor decision like putting useless gimmicks on the platform that jacks up the price which in the end resulted in 3DS reigning over the already shrinking portable market by Consoles and Steam. My biggest disappointment toward Sony is letting Monster Hunter to be 3DS exclusive which means something wrong with their PR toward developers and the mecha games released on Vita so far are really half baked compared to what PSP had. Nevertheless i still really like my Vita which Sony didn't have much faith on it.

1/100 MG Hyaku Shiki Kai

 Just when i am on my second playthrough of my SRW MX, Bandai announced the release of the MG Hyaku Shiki Kai. Personally i find the announcement is kinda random since the mecha doesn't particularly stand out or really that popular. The MG will be released on July this year as Bandai Web-Exclusive with the price tag of whopping 10000 Yen! With that money you can just top up a bit and get MG The O or Sazabi Ka instead which seems to be a better choice. From the apprearance it seems that MG-Hyaku Shiki Kai shares most of the Hyaku Shiki part save for Shoulder, Backpack that kinda remind me with Layzner and the elongated head design which stands out the most from Hyaku Shiki Kai design.

 From what i see i guess one of the reason Bandai decided to release Hyaku Shiki Kai to make use more of the Hyaku Shiki 2.0 molds to compensate for the R&D cost. Also the reason why SRW MX relevant to Hyaku Shiki Kai is because from what i know it was the only non Gundam video game that feature this guy and on top of that the one who pilots it is none other than Quattro Bajeena! To be exact it was the Full Armor version of Hyaku Shiki Kai which is decent unit in the game if overshadowed by other Hard hitters. Anyway i don't think the MG Hyaku Shiki Kai worth 10k Yen as it doesn't have much points to justify the price. But i am still crossing my hand if the Kit will ever get the Full Armor version which comes with upgraded Mega Bazooka Launcher if possible.

Capcom Figure Builder Standard Models

 Recently i have been gathering some Monster Hunter mini Figurines after i got my hand on the CFB Rajang. These are known as the Standard Models from the CFB series whereas my Rajang figurine belong to Creator's Model series. I guess the popularity of Monster Hunter Online in China warrants plenty of these figurines to be sold on Taobao around 30 to 50 RMB on average but some Vendors sell them for 20 RMB a pop as mystery gifts which are even cheaper compared to the Japanese retail price. Surprisingly the quality of these figurines are quite high for Gashapon-tier figures and perfectly captures the ferocity of the monsters. So far i had 16 of them which consist mostly Brute Wyverns and i notice that the quality of the monsters figurine from 3 Ultimate onward tend to be better than the older ones. Also I am still crossing my hand on CFB version of Zinogre and Rathalos.

Just look at the full post to see all of the individual monster figurines

Genesis Climber Mospeada

 Watched this for Mecha and got some Power Armor action instead. Mospeada is a series inspired by the first Space Dimension Macross and it would have been a thing if it was released after Zeta Gundam instead. Trying to follow up Macross success with VF-1, Mospeada features transforming jet-plane mecha called Legioss which are pretty cool but the main highlight of the series are Motorcycle that can transform to Power Armor for the armor called Mospeada. The mechanical design for this series was one of the major works of Shinji Aramaki who also did the designs for last Starship Trooper CGI movie and seriously i have much respect for this guy! Apart from the rather shady Adaptation as part of Robotech, Mospeada would have been a great series if it were executed properly.

Taiyou no Yuusha Fighbird

 4th Yuusha title that i finished watching and this makes it halfway to go for me to complete the series! Taiyou no Yuusha Fighbird is the second earliest title out of the series timeline but still an enjoyable ride. Overall the Fighbird feels rather generic compared to other Yuusha series as it still haven't broken away from Kids Super Robot Show mold of the 80s and create the distinct Braves identity that will began to take shape by the 3rd series, Da Garn. Fighbird's Yuusha design are still rather plain and not too flashy compared to the later titles and for some reason still resemble Machine Robo or Transformers design. Also just like Da Garn, the supporting Yuusha Robots in Fighbird still doesn't have much distinct personality save for a few opportunity nearing the end of the show. Nevertheless Fighbird definitely tried to set up the distinct trend for Yuusha series which will pay up its effort

Another Century Episode 3

 Rewriting the article since i think the article was a pile of mess when i wrote this back in 2010 and feels that the game needs better treatment that it deserved. In any case i always held Another Century Episode 3 with high regard as it was the game that opened my eyes to mecha series other than Gundam before i get serious with SRW. As of now i have played my 3rd Playthrough on the game and unlocked most of the units already. I will be highlighting the best things that come out from this game in this article.

Gear Fighter Dendoh PSX Game

 Dendoh is one of the series that i always really want to watch since it got some cool gimmicks and on top of that this was a mecha show directed by Fukuda before SEED debacle. Before there was SRW MX, there was this PSX Game for Gear Fighter Dendoh. It was really fun beat'em up game and i used to play this a lot when i was a 6th Grader. I think for Game that was intended for Cross-Promotion, it was rather well made if short and give really nice coverage on Dendoh before SRW R and MX included the series in their roster.

KidsLogic Shurato Action Figure Get!

 I think i have been seeing some new Shurato toys few years ago but not too observant about it. After some random lurking on Taobao, from some impulse buy decision i got myself Shura-Oh Shurato and Yasha-Oh Gai for 600 RMB or roughly 50 USD each. These Shurato Action Figures apparently made by KidsLogic, a Hongkong based Toy Company which surprised me for many reasons. On the first glance these Shurato Action Figure are on par with Bandai's Armor Plus with some metal parts for the armor though it could have more face sculpts in the package. These Shurato Action Figures can be bought from Kids Logic Website for 84 USD but  Taobao usually sold them slightly cheaper around 340 RMB. To me the Shurato anime was a disappointment with so much potential wasted but that doesn't prevent me to like the aesthetics of the series. I really wonder if Kidslogic are going to make more of Action Figures for Shurato since i would welcome other Hachibushu to my collection especially Ten-Oh Hyuga.

Muvluv Schwarzesmarken

Perhaps my opinion toward Muvluv was rather low after Alt Chronicle 3, but after watching Schwarzesmarken i guess i slightly regain my faith toward the series. By no means the anime version of Schwarzesmarken is the definitive version of the series but at least it fulfills its purpose successfully. Though at very least i think you should read Muvluv Alternative beforehand in order to appreciate what Schwarzesmarken Anime could offer.

MIG-21 Balalaika is quite awesome

 Schwarzesmarken is a spin-off story of Muvluv series revolving around the Elite East German 666 TSF Squadron who specialize in suicidal missions. The series Roughly taking place 10 Years after the first BETA landing where the world are fighting losing battles against BETA while still manage to bicker with each other due to cold war mentality. If Alternative is a story of man fight to save humanity, then Schwarzesmarken is the story of a man fight to preserve his sliver of hope toward humanity.

Initially i was rather skeptical toward Schwarzesmarken due to fanservices but overall i think the series plots are decent enough to breathe a fresh air into Muvluv series. After multiple Blunders from other spin-offs, at least Schwarzesmarken managed to get the setting Grimdark enough which was one of the major selling point of the series. Compared to Alternative most of the "grimdark"ness of Schwarzesmarken come from the political intrigues while it still got decent amount of deaths.

Fluff-wise Schwarzesmarken Anime does contribute alot to Muvluv-verse. The anime shows more detailed view on how TSF Squadrons deal with BETA in the transitional period between 1st and 2nd Generation TSF as well as the sheer horror of these Alien creatures bring to the frontline. It certainly sucks if you fight as footsoldier in the frontline against hordes of those Tank Classes trying to have piece of you. At the same time the series also provide good insight how the cold war tensions between the Nations cost them dearly by the time of Alternative.

F-14 Jolly Roger Squad with the Phoenix missiles

On the end note, Schwarzesmarken succeed to show a different sides for Muvluv series while maintaining the appeal of the series. Despite the Anime appeared to be minimalistic, it managed to get me interested to look into the original Light Novel or VN which to me the anime succeeds at its goal. I will definitely look forward for the localization of Schwarzesmarken VN which hopefully is not just pure re-telling of the story especially more insight on how the protagonist of this series end up in the circumstances of his in TE. Also i still hope one day we get some Muvluv action game since it is a sin for such delicious mecha designs do not have such treatment. Perhaps for now i will just re-read Muvluv Alternative.

Mechatalk: Super Robot Wars and Char Aznable

  Char Aznable is no doubt one of the most influential character in Gundam universe as many of his  clones kept spawning throughout the history of Gundam series. Starting as rival Ace Pilot with hidden agenda in Universal Century 0079 then a mentor for protagonist in Zeta and finally in CCA as the main antagonist leading his people to fight for not necessarily bad if ambiguous purposes. Showing up in 3 different series with different Persona do make Char to be the most fleshed out character of all Gundam series and thats why he shows up alot in medias involving Gundam especially Video Games. Char's Counterattack was used alot in Video Games like Gundam Vs or Another Century Episode. However so far the only Video Game that tries to explore Char Aznable's character further and successfully did was SRW series in particular the Alpha timeline. In this article i will try my best to point out how this crossover series pull this feat out as a homage to one of the most legendary character from Universal Century and Gundam series as a whole.

The Great Battle VI

 In the early days of Banpresto before they are really famous for their SRW series, they made crossover series which involve Gundam, Kamen Rider and Ultraman in Super-Deformed game series called "The Great Battle" which most of them seen released on Super Nintendo platform. When i was a kid i used to play the 6th installment of the game on Playstation alot and it was my gateway game to Gundam series. I am quite surprised how childhood can make something biased so much since i used to think this game was the best one ever. Nevertheless Great Battle VI is still kinda decent Sidescroller.

Yoroiden Samurai Trooper

 Around late 80s to early 90s Saint Seiya was really popular and obviously there were clones popping out to capitalize the trend. From what i know there are two of these clones that got international exposure and worth mentioning at least, one of them is Tenku Senki Shurato and the other is Yoroiden Samurai Trooper. Since i watched Shurato a while ago already i thought i may give Yoroiden a run as well considering i used to watch some of the episodes when i was a kid just like Shurato.