Wednesday, March 27, 2024

30 Minutes Fantasy - Liber Knight

 Bandai's alternative Plamo kit 30 Minutes Mission lineup has come a long way indeed! Starting from its humble beginning in 2019 the original lineup have flourished quite well that now it has another new branching series apart from 30 Minutes Sisters dubbed 30 Minutes Fantasy! Just as the lineup name implies, this new series will focus on Fantasy series which will mean plenty assortment of Knights coming down the road. Making its inception since September 2023, 30 Minutes Fantasy is now ready to make its grand entrance this month with 2 Starter products dubbed Liber Knight & Rosan Knight along with some option parts for the Icing on the cake. This 30 MF Liber Knight will be sold for 2200 Yen with September 2024 release.

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Gunslinger Girl


 Revisiting this one of the many early 2000s manga series that I used to follow quite fanatically in my Highschool days and as expected it is still a very good read. Gunslinger Girl is one of those early 2000s Japanese manga that exudes a particular sense of optimism as it try convey the value of Japanese being a member of Global Community who are willing to actively contribute and very well aware of subject matters pertaining about the world affairs outside its own nation, in particular a Euro-centric one. Kami no Shizuku, Chrno Crusade and Aria series are some of the few prominent works that possess this particular trait and as for Gunslinger Girl's it will try to display this aspect through its take on Modern Italy.

 A modern fiction that takes on a secret government organization of Italy that turned Crippled young teenage girls into deadly combat cyborg fighting against Terrorist Organization, Gunslinger Girl is a Japanese modern take on Italian Tragedy, a popular subgenre that found prominence in Italian Opera where it has most of the main protagonist of the play dies off in the final act. While I am not particularly an avid fan of this genre, as a general manga reading fan I would say the intertwining tales of Classic Italian Vendetta and unrequited love of young maidens who lived as a killing tool certainly a good yet gripping read experience. As I grew older I also come to appreciate the story of North and South Italy conflict that results in Terrorism act which is used as the main them in Gunslinger Girl.

Early 2000s was a renaissance era for Japanese manga genre which was a fresh breath of air and a contributing reason why millenials like me had positive image toward Japan which unfortunately is not the same anymore. I would say the 2008 Financial Crisis is a major contributing factor that these sort of particularly exotic manga series ceased to exist as the whole industry begin to shift solely for profit instead of pursuit for fine arts. Perhaps at some point I will talk about another Manga series that had similar vibe with Gunslinger Girl.

Monday, March 25, 2024

Taiyou no Yuusha Fighbird The GATTAI Fighbird

 

 After Da Garn and Mightgaine, The Gattai now ready to move onto new Yuusha series and the lucky one to be selected is no other than the 2nd Yuusha Series, The Brave of Sun Fighbird! Starting with the main Protagonist Fighbird himself, The GATTAI Fighbird will be sold for 24500 Yen with February 2025 release schedule.

 Among 6 Yuushas First Form that wielded Sword, Fighbird is one of the Yuusha that relied heavily on his swordmanship even outside the Finisher despite it got some respectable amount of ranged weapon including some Laser Cannons and Missiles. Silly memes aside, Fighbird's biggest contribution in overall Yuusha series is from introducing Adult Lead protagonist which is continued on the penultimate Yuusha Gaogaigar. The GATTAI Fighbird might not be exactly the only modern rendition of Fighbird as Evolution Toys did make one few while ago, but it is definitely the best value overall especially when it comes to Playability and Sculpt despite some glaring flaw like limited articulation particularly the torso part. While Fighbird is not particularly memorable for lead Yuusha mech, I would say Great Fighbird is one of the better final form from Yuusha series as its designed are well balanced and not aesthetically ugly like Super Fire Dagwon or Great Mightgaine. I will look forward for the Gattai make one for Draias as well before they move onto J-Decker or Goldran.

Sunday, March 24, 2024

Ghost in the Shell Nendoroid Motoko Kusanagi SAC Ver

 Not sure if there are new GITS series lurking around but Goodsmile got a pleasant surprise for the fans as the best version of Major Motoko Kusanagi made her appearance in Nendoroid form. While there have been plenty of Nendoroid and Figma released for Major Motoko before, her Jacket+Leotard+Stocking getup combo is the best definitive version of her as it display the perfect balance of Strength and Beauty of Major Motoko. Nendoroid Motoko SAC version will be scheduled for September release with 6900 Yen Price Tag. 

To be honest just like many Nendoroid made by GSC before, this version of Nendoroid Major Motoko is rather overpriced when it comes to the amounts of accessories as she only come with her Gun and Visor. For the price point, GSC could have considered made the jacket part removable but the weakening Yen in the global currency market is one of the main reason for this to happen. Regardless I will be still willing to wait for Figma rendition of this version of Major Motoko and might even be willing to get a suitable Tachikoma to complement hair. I am quite sure with several versions of Major Motoko got released, Major's second in command Batou would likely follow up in near future. Speaking of Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex, I got to rewatch the series again last year and while I find 2nd Gig rather weak, SAC 1st season still hold very well until this day.

Friday, March 22, 2024

Mechatalk Final Gear: Taysia Graft - Aramis

 36th Final Gear Mechatalk is here and this one is another UR Waifu to be featured! This Final Gear mechatalk will feature one of the more popular waifu from the series which is no other than the Noble Fencer Taysia Graft! Being one of the earlier SSR Character to make appearance in the game, Taysia gets very Special treatment and in fact one of the few whose kit got revamped to be the equal peer with the Natural UR Pilots. Because at the time I picked Eloise over Taysia, It was not until Final Gear got into maintenance mode that I was able to allocate resources for Taysia and my persistence do Pay off I was able to get her reach the UR Upgrade that she deserve.

Thursday, March 21, 2024

The Apothecary Diaries

  Manga series with Ancient Chinese setting are rather uncommon and even more so for the really good one. There is this particular series called Apothecary Diaries that has been gaining popularities on my social media feed thus I give this series a try. Based from a popular Light Novel series with same name, Kusuriya no Hitorigoto or The Apothecary Diaries is a slice of life manga featuring young girl named Maomao who possess rare talent of medicine and eccentric personality that found herself end up working in the Inner Court of Chinese Imperial Palace under the wing of equally eccentric yet Handsome Eunuch.With her medicine knowledge and uncanny Problem Solving ability from her background growing up in Red Light District. Maomao will explore the court Intrigues while at the same time constantly gaining patronage of powerful individuals throughout her adventure in the Imperial Chinese Court.

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Warhammer 40k Joytoy 1/18 Warmaster Horus Lupercal

 By far this is probably the biggest bombshell released by Joytoy for their 40k Horus Heresy Lineup. The main actor of Horus Heresy, The Warmaster Horus Lupercal in his Chaos version finally make his grand entrance with so much fanfare joining Joytoy 40k 1/18 Action figure! Scheduled for July 2024, 1/18 Warmaster Horus will be sold for 180 USD SRP with Sons of Horus version of Abaddon joining in along with his progenitor as well. Complete with his Talon of Horus and Worldbreaker, Joytoy Horus is certainly a presence to be reckoned with as he leads his Sons of Horus to overthrow his father Emperor.

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

March 2024 Loot

 Another massive looking hauls this time despite it does not necessarily surpass the Early year one in terms of Value and deceptively. Just like my hauls from over past one year my loots this time are still predominantly Chinese made stuff with a handful of heavy duty Japanese series. Obviously the main star of this batch is no doubt the Metamorforce Fire Dagwon which is one of my personal favorite Yuusha but slightly disappointed that It will be rather small compared to THE GATTAI version despite having almost double price point. The next focal point from this haul would be bunch of Sluban Robot Lego Kit which are mostly from Super Mecha Champion series which I got into recently and the end products are very impressive for its price point. 

Then by this point Joytoy 40k will be almost appear in my monthly haul of 40k Hauls and this time got some more named characters joining the rank. It doesn't took long for Rogal Dorn to join Lion and probably around next month his Imperial Fists children will follow up. I also got some Genshin collectibles despite not amused with their treatments for player and I might try get Keqing Acrylic stand in near future just to complete the Sword Maiden trio set. Lastly I never consider myself a Saint Seiya fan but got myself a limited edition of Pegasus Seiya from the Tamashii Ultraman Event early this month. While I am very grateful with my current financial situation who could afford my hobby with my disposable income, lacking free time as a working adult is a pain at times indeed.

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Dune - Part Two

 Last week I finally had some time to watch the highly anticipated 2nd part of Dune Movie in IMAX format which definitely give the best overall experience for this movie adaptation of the legendary Sci-Fi series. I have been looking forward to this sequel part as finally we got to see how the Scion of Atreides gather the necessary power to exact the rightful vengeance upon the House of Harkonnen and the Emperor who are responsible of bringing the downfall of House Atreides.

Overall Dune- Part Two is a very wonderful experience in terms of Audiovisual befitting for an epic Sci-Fi. However when it comes to the storytelling part, It rather lacks consistency for some reason. I would say Dune Novel is not exactly the easiest source material to work with in Movie Format, but there are parts that could have been done well in Dune part two given the amount of budget yet still fell short for some reason.

 In terms of visual, Dune part two had some really good moments like the Harkonnen Gladiator scene and Fremen vs Sardaukar opening scene but fails to capitalize on the momentum. Batista the former WWE Top Card for instance could have used more scene to portray his ferocity as Rabban Harkonnen instead of being a constant jobber throughout the second movie. For some reason I still prefer the actor that played the role of Paul Atreides from the 80s version instead of the current one, perhaps because the latter kinda lack the Gravitas of natural born leader noble prince who had the balance of courage and wisdom despite having the better youthful look. But the biggest letdown for me from Dune - Part Two would be the lack of final showdown between Fremen and Sardaukar in the final battle despite the first movie alrd had some kickass scenes.

I suppose it will take yet another adaptation for Dune series that have the perfect portrayal of one of the most influential western Sci-Fi series. Despite the immense production value, the current version of Dune Movie just lack that special factor to be longlasting like the original Star Wars series. While I am not fully amused with the second part of Dune Movie, I will still give the Part Three movie a watch because the IMAX viewing experience is still something else and hopefully it will fix the glaring issue that Dune - Part Two had.

Friday, March 15, 2024

Mechatalk Final Gear: Cynthia - Judgement Star


  Final Gear's fate maybe sealed but I am still delivering Final Gear Mechatalk without fail every weekend which now reached up to the 35th entry! Won't be having UR this time but this one will explore more about Hexel Faction's Families syndicate which are the major power of the burgeoning new nation answerable to the Matriarch Witches of Hexel themselves. So the 35th Final Gear mechatalk will feature the prominent member of Condemner Family, the Head of Judgement Star gang, Cynthia.