Never thought I’d actually have a use for this pic…

But yes, After a rather random encounter, I have been graciously been given Free hosting on the relatively new Kokido Kombine by it’s gracious webhost, 7.
So this is goodbye to wordpress.com.

The new blog should be pretty much functional now and I’ve kept the layout so far so it should look all familiar to the regular readers. No doubt, since I am now free from the restrictions of wordpress, I’ll be experimenting with the layout at a later date but for now, I will need to ask everyone who visits to go to the new URL and if you are linked to my blog and/or use the RSS feed, please update the address. It is now:

http://lookingglass.kokidokom.net

I will be posting on the new one from now on but the original will still be around and the posts and comments have been migrated already. I’ll be updating the RSS feeds which I know of shortly.
Not much else to say but “see you on the other side!”

GJK

This can be OK if the figure is a mass produced PVC figure and many others in the blogsphere have taken up the cause but what if it isn’t? what if it’s something very few people seem to have or isn’t shown often and it deserves a place in the sun?
Case in point…

This little number is Asuka Langly Soryu riding a race bike (which my friend believes is based off a ducati model, for any bike fans out there) and is a resin kit which was sculpted many moons ago by vispo.

Now, aside from the obvious links of the post title to the model, one could also link the band (AC*DC for those who don’t know) to the sculptor as recently, vispo has also been turning into a bit of a “one trick pony” (back in black, anyone?) but I digress.

I bought Asuka way back in July last year (check the archives if you don’t believe me!) and she was a departure from the norm as she was one of the Gathering selection from E2046, so basically, she was prepainted.
“Why would a painter of resin kits go out and buy a prepainted version from a site instead of doing it himself,” you ask? Several reasons.
One was because I was curious about the Gathering series as a whole. A fair few figure collectors have purchased one and all have raved about the quality of the work. Having said that, our views on PVC figures differ so I always wondered how good the gathering series really was, in the view of a figure painter.
Another reason was because I actually preordered the figure back when I was but a fledgling painter and wanted some sort of work to compare my own to. I think it was before I even finished my bunny Haruhi. It just took ages to actually get one, since Gathering releases are irregular, to say the least.
The final reason also tied to the fact that I was still nowhere near as confident about my painting skills then as I am now. I was damn well afraid fo the kit. Note to those thinking about doing one of their own, kits which effectively come in 2 distinctly separate entities, such as a vehicle and the rider, are the hardest figures to build as the parts often do not fit together well. I read nightmare stories about the Misato Katsuragi figure on a scooter…

So what I’m trying to say is that I didn’t fancy my chances doing this…

Vispo is known for 2 main things in their kits (3 if you count their usual insanely high price tags). one are the constant facial features. All the kits have characters which sport very pointy chins and noses, regardless of whether the original design had them or not. The other is the level of detail in the vehicles. Check the gallery on his site and check out any of the Asuka or Rei on bike kits. Even Yoko has an insane level of detail on her scooter. So you can see where my original fears come in.

Most of the front actually ended up being somewhat hollow. The engine itself was pretty much, just a block but E2046 did a fantastic job of giving the inner wheels a little worn in look. But the real kicker is in the back.

How’s that for detail? Everything from the clutch and ignition to the exhaust were actually separate parts to begin with! Most standard figures would have that all molded as 1 part.You can see the suspension spring as well.

And on the other side, you can see the drive chain!!! When I first received the kit, I was in awe of the workmanship of E2046, not so much the paintwork in itself, but the whole package of the build. Even now, I don’t think I could get the bike to this level. Certainly not very quickly. It would take me several months to build alone!!

Asuka herself is somewhat less impressive. I could tell straight away that the kit was not painted using acrylics but closer inspection of Asuka suggested that they used laqueur paints almost exclusively, as the finish is incredibly smooth and, while shiny, lacks the amount of sheen to suggest enamel paints were used (which would make sense, since laquer is all they stock on the site. I would assume the painters would get easy access). The paintjob on Asuka was solid and clean but not without a few niggles. Chief among them was the amount of paint which clumped in certain places, notably the hands. It adds further volume to the gloves which already look padded enough. Some details ended up blending together as well.

I think that I would have been able to do Asuka up myself to a similar level, but still, some areas impressed. The subtle change in colour of the hair is one. It goes beyond just simple shading as the change is noticable regardless of the lighting level. you can distintly see the yellow fade into orange. Loved that effect.

The other was the eyes. The painter really did an excellent job with the eyes and you can clearly see the different layers in the job, so it’s not a transfer or the like. Although I really would like to know how they managed to blend it so well, even artzone and cody Kwok don’t seem to do it as well. hmm…

A quick look at the helmet. Unsurprisingly, all the little details on the bike and helmet, like the nerv symbols and chibi Asuka with the evil smile were actually decals. You can also see the outline of each quite clearly when you look up close. However, there was one inexplicable painting decision. From what I can tell, Asuka is supposed to be wearing a full body racing suit, albeit unzipped. So why did the painter leavea massive hole in the crotch area to expose a tiny amount of thigh and her panties?

And the weird thing is, I never noticed until this photoshoot!! Free underboob shot included.

So, going back to the original question, Just how is the Gathering series? Pretty good. I can see why many buyers rave about their purchases but I do find that the price tag is a little hard to swallow. Of course, you are paying for the service but I keep getting a thought in the back of my mind asking if it’s worth the premium. E2046 try to spice up their selections by adding a little extra to the kit (in this case, it was a wooden base which was painted to look a bit like a racetrack. It was also heavier than the kit.) but such gimmics are unneccesary for the most part, although I guess they could use it as a means to try and help justify the cost. The severely limited availability is also quite a major liablility as well. the Gathering line has grown so big that, unless they are already in stock,  you can’t be sure when your desired figure will turn up!

Regardless, what you do end up buying is a solid and well painted figure. It’s up to the individual to decide if it’s worth it. I wouldn’t get one of the more basic kits tho. To me, it only comes alive with the really really complicated kits as I would rather have a go on my own on the simpler figures, not that I would mind tackling the harder ones later (or even sooner).

Doubt I’ll be getting another gathering figure for a while tho.

Best show: Rideback

Now, first of all, I should come out and say it, Rideback was not a particularly great show, esp in terms of story. Plus, the mecha were, as a friend so eloquently put, are just  suped up Segways!!!!
The story had similar problems to Bounen no Xam’d. It was a story which was heavily dependent on understanding not only the characters but the world they live in and the political landscape. This part was stripped out at first and gradually introduced but in the end, they weren’t able to explain enough in the 13 ep limit which left the show feeling rather hollow. It’s not as bad as Xam’d but things like how much power the GGP actually had over the local government, how they were so easily able to hide and suppress uprisings with ridiculouly excessive force and get away with it and what the main goals of the BMA were (do you honestly think such a well equipped force would be doing it solely for 1 guys thrist for revenge?)

Other things were also just thrown on the sidelines, like Kenji, Rins brother. I’ve read the 1st volume of the manga and I found that the manga tried to feed you too much info at once. With the anime, they feed you too little.
Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the show considerably. Only Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo was as entertaining (if not more so) but it’s only half way complete and there’s plenty of time for it to fumble…

Runners up: Sora Kake Girl, Chrome shelled Regios

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Biggest suprise: Minami-Ke Okaeri

I didn’t hate it!! OK, it’s still a long way off compared to the first season but it’s way better than Okawari so I’ll accept it.

Runners up: Asu No Yoichi

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Biggest Disappointment: Toradora/Xam’d Lost memories

Oh how the mighty have fallen, After an amazing first season, someone snuck into the toradora studio and completely removed all the elements of FUN in the show. And we were left with “drama” so thick, it was like trying to eat half melted ice cream with a straw!
Fair enough, some of the elements were hinted even in the first half, but I still feel that everything was handled too heavily and the characters came worse off. Taiga was considerably less entertaining while she was moping instead of going on a rampage, Ami was almost written out completely, only to make an appearence as the villain to get things going again and Minorin was just painful. Everything she did was painful (and not in the emotional way). It was still watchable, but it just wasn’t entertaining after a while.

X’amd simply didn’t inprove at all. The problems I wrote about before are still present and the ending, while OK considering what it had to work with, felt like the writers were trying too hard to force a happy ending for everyone. The show would have been much stronger if they dropped a few of the plots or simply gave more time to explain the world and the significance of things instead of feeding the viewer scraps and letting them fend for themselves.

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Worst ending: The Tower of Druaga: the Sword of Uruk

The second season of Druaga never really hit the heights of the first but it was still reasonably enjoyable, until the final ep… The final ep had so many groan worthy, and they-just-not-just-do that moments it was unbelievable.
And Fatina got shafted! HARD!!! Damn them all. She, of all people, deserved a happy ending. She got jilted twice in 1 show!!!! Only Sochie Heim from Turn A gundam was that unlucky (but I hated her as a character so it’s ok)

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Worst Show I Endured: Kurogane no Linebarrel/KuroKami

yay, another award. Firstly, I should clear the title up, These 2 shows are the worst shows which I watched from beginning to end. The worst show last season by FAR was Munto. I didn’t even get to the second episode cos I thought it was that bad. And just to give you an idea on my threashold, I watched the WHOLE of Dragonaut!!! so yeah, munto was that damn bad. I have only dropped a handful of shows and it made that infamous list.

Secondly, I stuck the 2 together because they both had the same problem. When adapting a manga to an anime, the staff can go down 2 routes. 1) they can stick closely to the material and perhaps move events around to make them more coherent (and make a good climax for the end of the show. Asu no Yoichi took this approach) or 2) take just some base elements from the show and write something from scratch. The problem with option 2 is that, unless you really know what makes the title tick, you can easily make a royal mess of things. Both titles used option 2.

Lets start with Linebarrel. The start of the show did loosley follow the manga but lacked the progression seen in the source material and was done at high speed. Originally. Koichi started as a wimp and then gained the powers of a factor and then became an asshole. In the anime, he was made into a wimpy asshole and was stuck like that throughout. The result was an almost completely unlikeable character and one you don’t care about. I haven’t hated a character so much since Shinn Asuka from Gundam Seed Destiny!!! In fact, it was so bad that when the turning point came (you know the one if you’ve seen it) You really don’t care. Here’s the point where the main character gets his resolve, improves as a person and starts helping people and the viewer doesn’t care!!! How the hell can they screw that up? Don’t get me started on later events which cheapen the event further, or the Hirano Aya insert character who did *nothing* or… *sigh* I’ll just give up here.
As for Kurokami, same story. The most disturbing thing is the regression of the main characters age to a high school student. In the manga, Keita had just finished University and was about to get a job as a developer so Akanes infatuation and advances were kinda cute. Now it makes her look like a shotacon!!! Add more random character insertions, changes to several characters and devices (a contract was originally made by exchanging a limb between the 2 contractees, but I guess that would have been too gory for TV) and you end up with a show which is almost completely different in feel to it’s source material. I’m not a huge fan of the manga, but the anime is worse to me.

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The Rest

• Asu No Yoichi was unoriginal, uninspired and I enjoyed it quite a bit.
• Just what are all those Engrish bits in Chrome Shelled Regios about anyway?
• Akikan is a glorious mess which almost, but not quite, hit the “so bad, it’s good” barrier
• SHAFT and Maria Holic just didn’t work well
• Shikabane Hime as a whole, was totally forgettable
• Birdy the Mighty Decode S2 was lacking in the quality of the 1st season but definitely had more QUALITY
• Leopard is awesome but what the hell is going on in Sora wo kakeru shoujo?
• Vipers creed got really stupid later on.
• The great mystery that is “why do I continue to watch Maria sama ga Miteru” remains unsoved. Perhaps Season 5 will provide answers…
• Clannad Afterstory Gets more Kyou but we still need more Tomoyo!!
• Gundam 00 didn’t end up totally crap but it wasn’t exacly good either.

And here’s my watch list for this season. Once again, I’ve split them into “must watch,” “interested” and”why the hell am I watching this?”

Must watch

Valkyria Cronicles

OK, I’m just going to come out and say it, this show will suck. And it hurts for me to say it. I want it to be good, given that I love the game it’s based on so much but after watching the first couple of eps, several alarm bells are ringing in my head.
Shame cos they are getting a lot right, they got the original voice actors to reprise their roles, the unique shading from the game IS in there, but not as evident and they even play music from the game as part of the soundtrack (that last addition is awesome). but they seem to be stretching things out a little and the focus of the story has been shifted from welkin to Alicia. Yes, Alicia plays an important role in the story but it worked in the game because you were watching her, not following her. Sakura wars TV also shifted focus from Ohgami to Sakura, and the story suffered as a result. I hope things turn out well, but I’m not so sure from the current evidence…

Shin Mazinger Z

A mecha fan not watching a remake of the granddaddy of them all? yeah right!!

Basquash

From the same company that gave us Macross Frontier and with Kawamori at the helm (but that’s more of a minus point for me than a plus) so this show has a good foundation. It’s also a mecha show so it instantly gets priroity. I just have to get over the fact that the mecha play basketball and are basically small french cars with arms and legs…

Asura Cryin

Mecha Show. Nuff said.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

You know, I have the entire first season on DVD and the R2 limited edition version of the movie, but I have not yet watched the whole thing! Oh well, may as well pick this up since it goes it’s own way. I am enjoying the manga immensely tho…

Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom

It’s a beetrain show!!! With a pair of protagonists and guns!! Well, Being a person who really loved Noir, Madlax and enjoyed El Cazedor de la Bruja, I’ll be watching this one too!

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Interesting but Meh

K-ON

Contrary to the rest of the internet, a show by KyoAni doesn’t make it an instant hit for me. Having said that, the aimless school life anime is something I am somewhat fond of, the most recent example being Hyakko, and it seems charming enough so it’s in. Tho I am surprised that Yui is being ignored as much as she is. I would have thought that the dojiko factor would have worked in her favour but everybody sees just Mio. Not that it’s a bad thing…

Eden of the East

Very nearly a must watch for me but for now it’s sitting in this section because I have no idea what to expect from it.I didn’t watch honey and Clover (mainly cos Hagu scared the crap out of me) so I’m not familiar with the previous works but it looks interesting enough and I think it will go strong.

Saki

It’s a show about cute girls playing Mahjong. SOLD!!!
The fact that I know how to play kinda helps too.

Pandora Hearts

I watched the first episode on a whim and have absolutely no clue as to what the heck is happening. So I’m continuing with the show to find out. So long as there’s no excessive boy love moments, it should be fine.

Natsu No Arashi

A timetravelling girl who uses her power when she eats strawberries… Yup, it’s stupid. But since the original manga is penned by the guy who does school rumble, I’ll give it a chance (though School rumble Z sucks)

Shangri-La

No idea what to expect again, but I don’t hate anything I’ve heard about it so lets give it a chance.

Tayutama: kiss on my deity

A fanservice, boy meets girl show. A main staple for any anime viewer.

Tears to Tiara

From the creators of Utawarerumono (or something, basically the eroge) comes another eroge adaptation. People say that the first one was good, so I’ll check this one out to see what it’s all about.

Hayate the combat butler S2

Pic VERY much related to why I’m enduring a second season. 1st one wasn’t bad, it just dragged on…

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Why am I watching this?

Queens Blade

oh my god, this show is bad… It’s one of those shows which would give a viewer brain damage if they took it with any level of seriousness. It’s like a carcrash, which is why I’m sticking around for more…
Just how low will it go?

Hatsukoi Limited

It’s an adaptation of a manga from the creator of Ichigo 100%. That one line will be enough to make some people run to the hills!!! But I have a faint glimmer of hope that the non linear web of character interactions which makes up the plot will result in something even slightly better than the god awful adaptation of ichigo 100%. And even the Hatsukoi limited manga ending was better than the rubbish that populated the last few volumes of 100%.
In any case, it will either be a surprise hit or another carcrash waiting to happen. Who’s in a betting mood?

This list is pretty much set in stone. I don’t think I’ll be keeping an eye on anything else to sneak in so the list is pretty comprehensive. It’s pretty big already… Anyone agree/disagree with my list?
Think I should check out another show?

All images are copyright to their respective owners

Nendoroid Exelica!!!!
The other thing was a complete surprise. A while back (over a month ago) I ordered a macross item from Hobbylink japan as they were doing a special offer of giving away free decals so I took the plunge. Normally, it takes 1~2 weeks to arrive in the UK so when twice the amount of time elapsed, I had pretty much given up hope and assumed that the useless morons at royal mail lost it in transit. Turns out I was wrong (luckily) and the useless morons at royal mail were just sitting on it for ages while trying to work out the customs charge. But it’s here now, My VF25 Alto Custom with SHERYL DECALS!!!

Yes, I know that they are doing a second promotion now with ranka decals, but I would never dirty my VF25 model with Ranka Decals. Sheryl, the Galaxy Songstress all the way!!!!

A quick preview before they fade away. Nendo Exelica will probably get her own review in the near future alongside the game, not that I really need to do an extensive review of the game since it’s pretty much the same as all the other ones I own (dreamcast and Xbox Live Arcade version) with only a few extra things of note.

Nendoroid Exelica replicating the pose done by her “big sister” from Alter. Dammit, why do they constantly shaft Crueltear???

I have to admit that I really liked the box and cover art for the game tho. I also got a free balloon for preordering with a halfsized chibi crueltear on one side and Exelica on the other. (Crueltear *sniff* (>_<))

and finally a closeup of the Sherly Decals

The only problem I can see is that they appear to be water decals, which means that they will be an absolute ARSE to put onto the model. It’s also recommended that you don’t transform the figure in case you damage the decals, so it looks like my kit may be eternally locked in fighter or gerwalk mode. Oh well, sacrifices must be made…

On a final note, I just got confirmation from HLJ that they are preparing to ship my Perfect grade Red frame, along with the custom parts and twin swords!!! Well, I did preorder before they even announced the parts so I would hope that I get them. The latest issue of dengeki hobby also gave away free decals for the PG kit to give away markings for the Blue, gold and green frame. I’m a little tempted to make a gold frame figure but gettting the shade of gold right is going to be a nightmare, just ask my WIP KoG.

After a flurry of games reviews, it’s time to get back to what this blog was initially set up for, the Model kits!! And it’s not like I’ve been lazy while playing hours of Streetfighter 4 and Resi 5. Some of you may remember my little purchase of Mirei san, from back in January.

And you may also remember that I was considering modifying the poor thing to give it some legs. Well, I’ve made a bit of a start…

I hacked Mirei off her base some time ago, but in the process, I pretty much destroyed the base as the majority of the blue layer was scraped off by the hacksaw used (many thanks to the Robinsons, old family friends, for their assistance). The legs themselves, however, came through quite nicely. It’s just a “point-of-no-return” so to speak.

There were a couple of issues which I discovered after the hackjob though…

Firstly, The legs were being held in place by some metal rods in each leg. This was actually expected but it made what I had in mind, more difficult. The other thing was completely unforseen. The polystone resin used to make the figure is incredibly tough and resistant to damage. This made drilling the holes you see in the pics incredibly difficult. In the end, I had to drill small holes with a 0.2mm Drill part to use as leverage for the larger 3mm drill, which is the one used to make the holes.

What are the holes for? Well, If I’m going to be making some legs, I thought that a basic skeleton to sculpt with might have been an idea. Especially since I won’t be using a hard material like resin for the parts.

Getting the length was really tricky, esp since the pose is asymetrical and I’m not exactly a master of anatomy. I used a combination of my Shirley Fenette and Yoko kits to give me a rough idea on how long the legs will be and the rods are cut slightly shorter than that as I intend to give her high heels to rest on so a big hulking rod through her leg would be a no-no.

And here’s a better pic to show the rough proportions I thought up. At this stage it’s almost impossible for me to tell if they are about right or not. We’ll find out when I start applying the sculpey clay I’m going to be using to the “frame” and try to give the blobs some form.
This is my first attempt at sculpting so I’m pretty sure it’s not going to go smoothly, but, as I said, I’m past the point of no return, so even if it ends up a horrible mess, I have no choice but to move forward.

The eventual winner was LightningSabre and I have to say that it was a deserved win for he went to places I would not DARE!!!! Not that I couldn’t. If I unloaded all my mangas, which are currently stored away in very large boxes, I might even be able to exceed that mighty room, but then I wouldn’t be able to move… No, I think everything is fine the way it is!
My entry was just an updated version of the pics I uploaded to celebrate my blogs 1st birthday.

Due to the rather sudden entry (and the fact I used the competition as an excuse to clean up my room) not everything which was seen in the original post is still on display. Notably, my DX aquarion has gone walkies, as have many of my still packaged figures such as my Bome TenTen figures. but this is what is currently on display now.
Danny pretty much nailed it when he described my room as a having a workshop feel because that’s pretty much what this area is. Plonk my wireless keyboard elsewhere, put my spraybox on the desk (and adjust for ventilation) and my workshop where I build all my gunpla and resin kits is complete! It also triples as the area where I take my pics for my blog (using the large box with white interior you see above the TV)
This is, as they say, where the “magic” happens!

Larger closeup shots are available after the jump. I’ll refrain from putting any detailed entries in as I intend to show my works/purchases of the past year for the blogs 2nd birthday (which is only 2 months away!) Check out the post on Dannychoo for the other entries.

The mecha shelf towering over my modest Special character Pinky:st collection and a mere fraction of my manga and anime DVD collection.

The infamous (mostly) resin complete works cabinet which also houses my 2 Ignis the white figures as well as my personalised sketch of starscream by one of the transformers comic artists and my cover of MGS4 signed by Hideo Kojima and Yumi Kikuchi!

The Gamestation!!! I would have liked to have had a larger TV (currently 32″) but I wouldn’t have anywhere to put something larger, except the wall, which is a big no-no as I’m renting my accomodation. Also, check out the To-Love-Ru mini figs guarding my TV!!! I would gladly swap Mikan for Lala, but I’m just glad I got Yui and Golden Darkness.
And on a completely separate note, danm sony and their 2.70 firmware update!! It didn’t add any functionality for me but broke my PS2 pad adaptor, so the 6 button Chun li pad you see in the pic above (the big blue one) can’t be used for Streetfighter 4 anymore!! boo!!!!

Now, what can I use my 2000 yen to subsidise? I’m thinking something volks-esque. Yahoo! japan auctions would be too much of a hassle. Any thoughts?

The show was a remake of the old 70s super robot show (which I loved) but kept nothing except for the design of Gaiking and Daikyu Maryu.

Personally I really hated the show as I found the majority of the new cast, especially the lead character Daiya, to be insufferably annoying. I also didn\’t welcome the changes they made to Gaiking itself and the show was pretty much made on a shoestring budget so a lot of it hit a level of QUALITY most recently seen in Birdy the mighty Decode S2 ep 7!!

But there were some good points. As the show progressed, I did like the introduction of 2 other mecha which were supposedly on par with Gaiking and serve as enemy rivals (and eventual allies) called Vulking and Raiking. I also liked the combination of all 3 (well, the chest of gaiking, the arms of Raiking and the legs of Vulking) to form Gaiking the Great, a very cool mecha which was one of the few really good things to come out of the show.
Studio Halfeye have already released Gaiking and Vulking complete with perfect transformations but I was always left wondering if the inevitable Raiking release would also allow buyers to create gaiking the great?

Well, with the imminent release of Raiking, we have an answer, and the answer is YES!!!

This is brilliant news for fans of gaiking the great… Or it would be if not for a little issue called cost.

You see, you need to purchase all 3 figures in order to form Gaiking the great and, since this is studio halfeye we\’re talking about, they don\’t come cheap. While not Dangaioh priced, each figure will cost around £350 EACH!!!! So to get Gaiking the Great, you\’re looking at around £1100!!!!!

Looks like this fantastic little number will be out of reach for most buyers, including myself. But then, Dangaioh has always been my primary target, and I WILL have it!!!!
In the meantime, this months hobby Japan has a nice little article regarding the release of Raiking and Gaiking the great which we can drool over and there\’s the studio halfeye site as well. Now, I wonder if anyone has youtubed the transformation sequence for the figures…
In the meantime, Heres a video of the first time Gaiking the Great appears in the show. I believe it was episode 31. The animation quality is pretty decent as well, you\’ll be glad to hear.

This one is the 1/100 scale model kit of the original Alt, not the upgraded riese (which is pretty much unmakable anyway) from Kotobukiya. At present, I believe there are only 3 1/100 kits in the SRW line. Alt, R-1 and Wildwurger.

While building the kit, it quickly becomes apparent that Kotobukiya still have a way to go before matching the kings of this type of model kit, bandai.
The jump to 1/100 scale did solve a few issues which I had hangups on with the 1/144 kits I have built but for the most part, the strengths of the 1/144 kits show up in the 1/100 Alt, but also a lot of the problems…

First and foremost, many of the parts have very tight fits, which cause some problems when inserting parts but also cause many joints to be very stiff. My prepainting of the parts while they were still on the sprue may have contributed a little, but a thin layer of paint isn’t going to cause much of a distraction when it comes down to it. The shoulder joints also have a tendency to sag, like in the above pic.

The kit also has fairly limited poseability, although this is in part due to the nature of the mecha design as opposed to a production design issue. The pic above shows the limitations of the joint flexibility for the arms and legs. Not that much different from the 1/144 kits, which I lamented but at least the parts show why there is a limitation.

Despite those limitations, you can get a fair few dynamic poses, even if they do look a *little* awkward.

The above pose made me a little tempted to buy a same scale R-1 do recreate the scene in SRW:OG where Kyosuke and Ryuusei did a mock battle and destroyed an arm each.

As for the good points of the kit, due to it’s larger scale, The model looks much better if build straight out-of-box. The stake and golden parts of the Revolver Stake still look hideously plastic but the rest are molded very well (but you also have a lot of small parts to worry about).
The makers also provided a little wiring and an LED to light up the eyes of alteisen. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to test it due to a lack of the correct size batteries, but after having worked on several PG gundam kits and ensured they all worked (even the notorious Zeta gundam PG), I’m confident that Alts’ eyes will light if I have the batteries required. I must admit I was a little surprised when I saw the lighting parts. Bandai only place such things on their PG kits as the increased scale makes it easier to work with. Nevertheless, it’s a welcome addition.
Finally, the details on the kit are superb. It has all the parts and details you would expect from alteisen. This additional detail was always something Kotobukiya kits were much better at than bandai kits and it shows up again in this scale.

As for other features, the chambers of the Revolve stake can be pushed out but the lack of flexibility in the shoulders prevent a clean “reloading” pose from being done.

The shoulder claymores also open and use a simple mechanism for opening.After manually opening the white bay doors, the fins on the back can be raised and the white fin can be pushed forward to open the inner doors and expose the claymores.

This is the default “closed” position…

and here’s the “open” position. You can also see a bit of the inner doors in the pic.

And here’s the back of Alteisen, for completions sake.

Final Thoughts: Alteisen is a great kit to look at but it’s build process it just too damn annoying to warrent a must buy reaction. It’s lack of poseability also makes it feel more like a size up version of 1/144 kits so you’re probably just as well off buying the smaller 1/144 kit. It may require a bit more work and paint, but they’re essentially the same thing. This isn’t really a jump up like it is with HG gunpla to MG.

Unless you really want a 1/100 size, then stick with the smaller kits. Wildwurger would be worth the extra cash on it’s 1/100 as it containts the Armour purge mechanic for the twin bird strike, something which requires a separate kit for the 1/144 (but lacks a same scale Wildfalken to complete it).
Still, it’s better than the 1/144 attempt at Alteisen Reise. The scale is just all wrong and is too close to the original. This is meant to be a unit which requires an anti gravity unit (normally used to give flight to ground based units) just to stand up!!! The revolver bunker is supposed to be almost as big as the body itself.

I’ve only seen one Reise model in the correct scale and it was a fixed pose resin kit. I don’t think a true snap together kit of Reise with the correct scale will ever come to be, and if it did, it would probably have a hard time just standing up.

But this post isn’t to talk about Madworld and the idiocy of the wii users, it’s about Resident evil 5!!!

Now, I’ve been a pretty big fan of the resident evil series, having owned (and completed several times over) every version of the main franchise. From the original PS1 game, to Code veronica on the dreamcast to resi 4 for the Gamecube (as well as PS2 and Wii) I’ve enjoyed each on to varying degrees but I like to think I have a reasonably good idea on what to expect from a resi game.

And that’s where things get a little weird since, even though the game plays very much like resident evil 4, the underlying mechanics show quite a shift in the overall experience.
For those who don’t already know, Resi 5 puts you in the shoes of Chris Redfield, one of the original characters way back in the first game on PS1. And tagging along is a new character, Sheva Alomar, who will be with you at all times, either being controlled by an AI or another player, so this game is built from the ground up as a co-op experience.
The game is also really heavy on the shooting and killing of the majini (basically Ganados from Resi 4, but with a different ethnic minority. I say this all the time, but I really have to laugh when I remember all those accusations of racism against resi 5 just because the enemies are black, yet nobody said a thing back when resi 4 was released and you were shooting hispanics!) with considerably less of the old traditional puzzles seen in the older resident evil games. There was still the old “pick up from point A and place in hole in point B” stuff, but no manipulation of objects to uncover secret compartments and new paths. Well, there was one but it didn’t feel the same and looked like it was stolen wholesale from Tomb Raider!!! But there was still quite a bit to like about the game…

Loved

The co-op: It works really well with a partner you get along with. I’ve played it mostly with my brother and, although we’ve had a couple of connection issues, we don’t experience any lag once we’re in game! Just make sure you have a headset!!!

The plot: This was never a strong point in Resident Evil but I think it deserves some Kudos for linking so many loose ends from the previous games and work them into a plot which doesn’t get too convoluted, unlike another game I can mention *cough*MGS4*cough*

Replay Value: I’m just finishing up my second run on Veteran now, and will probably go through professional after that. The upgrade system (along with infinite ammo) does pretty much break the game but instead of making the experience more shallow, it just provides a different one. Arcade style run and gun as opposed to the more conservative play with limited ammo.

Hated

It’s not very Resi: As I’ve said above, the game doesn’t play like a traditional resident evil game. Even Resi 4, with it’s massive shift in game mechanics kept a lot of what was so memorable in the first games and incorperated it into a fresh look. You could take all the puzzle and collecting parts of Resi 5 and it wouldn’t impact the game in the slightest. I would say the changes would be enough to spin the game into a completely new IP, like what they did with Devil May Cry. The resi tag seems more like just a brand to help the game sell in this case.

Where’s the fear?: One thing this game sorely lacks is the general fear factor usually seen in resident evil games. a few moments which make you jump or make you think “I am so screwed”. Even the boss characters aren’t particularly intimidating! There is a sense of tension in some places, esp when you are running low on ammo in your first run but the game is pretty leniant with the ammo in normal difficulty and by the higher ones, you’ll be less worried about your ammo cound and more with just staying alive since 1 hit can cripple you. infinite ammo eliminates that completely.

Sheva: My GOD, she’s stupid! Just play the game with a friend at ALL TIMES!!! It’ll save you a lot of grief…

Overall, Resi 5 is a weird one to classify. As a Resident evil game, I would say that it’s pretty damn poor, esp after what we saw in Resident evil 4. It simply lacks almost all the hallmarks of the franchise and isn’t even scary in the slightest!!
On the other hand, it is a very fun game, esp with a partner. I play this a lot with my brother and it’s still fun even after our 2nd playthrough. Co-op mercenaries will extend the replay value even further as will the DLC, if it end up being worth the additional cost Capcom are putting on it.

Basically, if you go in expecting a resident evil game, you will probably be disappointed. But go in expecting to play a co-op shooting game, then you’re in for a great time!! Oh, and I totally nailed the “who was the cloaked person in the trailer.” Heck I figured it out way back when they released the advert for the game showing Chris next to a grave. It had to be one of the biggest non-secrets for some time.

Also, for those wondering about alteisen, it’s finished. I’m just putting on the extra details like panel lines and such. Just a shame that it looks like Royal mail have managed to LOSE MY VF25 AND SHERYL DECALS!!! F%&$ING MORONS. I swear, if they weren’t the only mail service, they would have been put out of business long ago…

In days past I used to be able to rattle a mecha kit out in the space of one evening. Looks like those days are over. I’ve had quite a lot going on recently and my free time has diminished to the point where, in 2 whole weeks, I’m only able to do this much!!!

I’m in the final stretch now, but it is a little galling to see how long it has taken me to get this far, esp since I still have the detailing to do after this!!

I’ll keep this post short as I think it would be best to leave my final thoughts until after it’s completed, but I will say this much, Kotobukiya still have problems with the design stage and Bandai are still Kings of Plamo.

It’s just lots of little things, like how the fit of some parts are too loose or far too tight. The legs especially, gave me lots of varying problems and are also very stiff around the parts which are meant to bend. In fact, one part holding the feet actually broke off. I had to do an impromptu repair job with a metal rod and poly cement glue.
Next week, I think I’ll write up my thoughts on resident evil 5 (I finished it on co-op late last night) but by then I hope to finish Alteisen and get back to work on Mirei-san (yes, she’s progressing, albeit very slowly).