King Kittan – Kotobukiya Plain Model Series

Putting it out there right now: Gurren Lagann was amazing, and anyone who thinks otherwise should go home and rethink their lives.

In this series, there was this guy called Kittan, and his mech was a little yellow star looking thing called King Kittan. For the most part of the series he honestly didn’t do much. Until one day, THIS happened:

Honestly guys, it doesn’t get much better than that. Onto the model, anywho. This model is part of the “Plain Model Series”, which is basically a series of models which are designed to be really easy to build and straight forward. This is both good, and bad.

The eyes come pre-painted. Unfortunately the mouth doesn't.

This model was dirt cheap (Less than $10US) and took all of 10 minutes to build. It’s a great representation of King Kittan, and getting the eyes pre-painted was great. That being said, going from the awesome Kotobukiya SRWOG models to this one was a pretty massive jump: The SRWOG ones are INCREDIBLY detailed, with every nook and cranny covered. This one… not so much.

It looks great, but unfortunately posability is pretty well non-existant, and a lot of anime details are skipped out on.

Now, onto my complaints. This is the ONLY figure of King Kittan you can get. Now, I’ve got no problem with making it a really simple kit and all that, but I think they’ve perhaps made it a little TOO simple. A lot of anime details such as the white teeth and various points of black on the model simply aren’t there: Painting is basically a necessity, which is a little strange when you consider it’s meant to be an entry-level model. Posability basically goes as far as moving its arms up and down.

It does look great just standing there though, which is a testament to King Kittan's universal appeal and endless awesomeness

Complaints aside, I do like this figure a lot. King Kittan is a really cool character, and this figure really does look the part. It’s a shame such an awesome character would be wasted on an entry-level kit, but oh well. Hopefully a more detailed Space King Kittan gets made at some point, because I’d really like a more detailed version of this model.

On a completely unrelated note, the ending of Tetsujin 28 was all kinds of awesome and at the same time incredibly emotional. Imagawa is a genius.

DYGENGUAR – Kotobukiya 2007 model

Happy New Year all! Best of 2009 is coming soon, but in the meantime I pretty well NEED to tell you about this monster.

Your first command is to play this while you read, for added awesome:

Anyway, so. Once upon a time there was this series of games called Super Robot Wars which  basically through a whole bunch of mecha from different series into one game and then let you commense the brains-bashing. Eventually they started adding ‘Originals’ into these games, which were basically mecha and characters made FOR the game specifically.

A good 10 years after his first SRW debut, someone finally decided it was time for Sanger Zombolt’s Dygenguar to be realized into plastic. And my goodness are the results nice.

It comes with that sword. No, really.

Quality wise this kit is top notch. It was one of the most fiddly kits I’ve ever made, but maaan are the end results worth it. It even did something I wish Bandai would pick up on: The face comes pre-painted and sticker’d. I reaaaaaally hate trying to get those tiny Bandai stickers EXACTLY right, it’s a huge pain.

My name is Sangar, Sanger Zombolt!

Posability is a bit so-so, basically because this kit is game-accurate, and I’m going to assume the design was initially not really suited for model kits (As many other mecha show designs tend to be.)

I am the sword that cleaves evil!

Dygenguar comes with a variety of hands for use with the smaller/larger sword. The larger sword is actually a lot easier to pose with than you’d think, mainly because the shaft is so massive you can sort of ’snag’ it into parts of the model.

If you don't think this is awesome, please get yourself checked out.

All in all a really, really awesome kit. If you’re a fan of the mecha, you will LOVE this. It’s unfortunately been discontinued, but there are still plenty floating around ebay. As mentioned, posability is a bit hard, but man does this thing look absolutely brilliant. I’ve got the Aussenseiter on order, which apparently comes with parts to make them shake hands (!!!), so that’ll be pretty awesome.

Oh and there’s also a 1/144 Zeong sitting next to me unstarted, so I suppose I’ll get to that as well.

Dai-Guard: Terrestrial Defense Corp 08 – A Strange Day

Honestly, this is a hard series to really cover. It might not come across in my writing, but it’s a really, really fun series. Don’t let the lack of sword firing necklaces or hammers that transform into motorbikes or whatever let you say otherwise!

Ibuki’s lack of sleep catches up to her, and she starts to lash out to those around her. Akagi and Ibuki start to lash out at each other whilst on standby for a Heterodyne alert which ends up being a false alarm. Meanwhile, Shirota asks Akagi to stand down from piloting Dai-Guard as he feels he can’t continue to endanger him.

Spiffy:

• Akagi tries to wake up Ibuki at the beginning of the episode by re-enacting a battle sequence, with rather hilarious results.
• Shirota asks Akagi to rewrite his battle report “Without using Onomatopoeia”
• Dai-Guard action figures surface!

Iffy:

• Ibuki complains about Akagi still buying robot toys when he’s 25. Abuki, you are NEVER too old to buy robot figures.
• No Heterodyne battle?

Despite not a whole heap happening, still not a bad episode. This one deals a lot more with the interactions between the team members. A bit of a bummer that it doesn’t have a Heterodyne battle at all, if I was watching this on a weekly basis I’d be feeling pretty ripped off right now.

This shot is so incredibly Ryusei Date it's not funny

If at a later date we actually DO see a Black Dai-Guard, I'm going to laugh.

I'm convinced 90% of this episode's budget went into this shot.

Sage and Spoony: Space Thunder Kids Review

Ok, so previously I haven’t linked to anyone else’s content, but this is just far too good NOT to link to:

http://www.spoonyexperiment.com/2009/12/13/sage-and-spoony-space-thunder-kids-review/

Basically a review of one-of-the-many awful Korean mecha knockoffs. Enjoy!

One iffy on that one: For some reason they continually call Mazinger Z “Mazinger Seven”. I’m not even sure where it’s been called that before, but ok?

Dai-Guard 07 – Fire and Ice

We now return to our regularly broadcasted program. I’ve finished watching Batman: Tas now so here we go!

A Heterodyne is sitting in the middle of the city, and the Dai-Guard team are standing by to in case it actually decides to do something. In the meantime, the team is basically just chillaxing around the area nearby. It’s shown that the army did attempt to attack, however the Heterodyne simply regenerated and continued to stand there doing nothing. In the meantime, everyone stands around and complains about their job.

Spiffy:

• Akagi saves some woman’s dog because nobody else will do it. Hooray!
• Domeki, the random previously unnamed character from previous episodes assists the team in destroying the Heterodyne.
• Mr Shirota pilots Dai-Guard in Ikagi’s place due to Ikagi taking an injury.

Iffy:

• The Dai-Drill (Or whatever it’s called) once again proves its uselessness.

Not much to say about this ep, it’s not terribly but it’s not all that great either. Pretty interesting to see Shitora attempting to pilot Dai-Guard, either way. You can still  appreciate the sheer ridiculousness of it all, like a giant robot pilot taking the time to go rescue a puppy and almost kill himself in the process.

Can you imagine any major characters from any other series doing this?

Why did we make this thing again?

The attacks aren't voice activated, but I find that it helps.

Revoltech 025 – Destron Leader Megatron

Yes I know it’s been a while since I’ve updated, I’ve been busy. But here’s a real treat for you to make this all better:

So I’ve finally got my hands on a Revoltech figure. In this case, it’s Megatron. Posability on this thing is somewhere between “Awesome” and “Unbelievable”, and unlike other transforming Megatron figures on the market, this one actually does resemble the Megatron we know and love from the 80s series. It comes with a few different hands and an alternate head. Oh, and “Destron” is the Japanese name for “Decepticon”.

Spiffy:

• EPIC posability
• Resembles Megatron more than any other transforming figure
• Good level of detail
• Revoltech joints are AWESOME. Like, seriously. Once you get the figure in a pose, it’s STAYING like that.
• With the open hands I can get it to look like he’s using the power of the Heart of Cybertron from a certain Transformers episode.

Iffy:

• The whole ‘non Transforming Transformer’ thing will always sound stupid on paper.
• Where do none of these figures come with stands?
• Nothing else.

This figure is, to put it bluntly, COMPLETELY FREAKING SWEET. There’s just so many awesome poses you can get it into. Every now and then I’ll glance over at it and think “You know, that looks awesome.”. Going by how horrible all the other Megatron figures look, I’d honestly recommend this thing to anyone who’s into the character. In fact, I was so impressed by this figure I went as far as to order the rest of the figures: Starscream, Prime (Which cost like double what this figure cost) and Hot Rod. Expect reviews of those, when I get them.

Fall! FALL!

This was almost too easy!

I'll rip out your optics!

Dai-Guard 06 – Memories Taught Me

Would you believe me if I said there hasn’t been a single Dai-Guard figure made, ever? This is somewhat disappointing.

In the aftermath of the previous episode, the military is still trying to gain ownership of Dai-Guard. Meanwhile, Ibuki visits an old park she used to visit a a child and reminisces about when she was younger with her Father, and the events of the first Heterodyne attack.

Spiffy:

• This ep is actually pretty light on the comedy and a lot more serious, which actually works pretty well.
• The first of what will hopefully be more “Origin stories”

Iffy:

• Dai-Guard itself doesn’t do anything particularly amazing in this ep, furthur cementing his place as one of the lamest super robots of all time. Which is probably the point when you think about it.

Not much to say about this one. It deals with Ibuki’s past and her encounter with the first Heterodyne as well as hinting that his father was doing research into them. Some hints at a 3rd party involved as well, though it’s not clear what her motives are or whose side she’s ultimately on. Sally forth, Dai-Guard!

This is totally not an atom bomb. Never.

Hotbloodedness is mandatory in a giant robot, unless you're boring.

Eat improvised weapon, Heterodyne scum!

Dai-Guard 05 – Can’t Run Facing the Setting Sun

Protip: Watching lots of episodes of something and then going back to do a post on them doesn’t work.

So, the army are trying to take a hold of Dai-Guard, however are unable to as the threat they are facing has been classified as a natural disaster, not to mention that army doesn’t have any pilots who are able to pilot it. Alas, the Dai-Guard team are advised to fight less recklessly as the property damage is starting to rack up. Alas, another Heterodyne appears, and this new approach is put to the test.

Spiffy:

• Ikagi is more or less told straight out “Stop piloting your giant robot with so much hot blood!”
• The team are more or less competing with the army for who gets the hit on the Heterodyne. Oh politics.
• The ep ends with Ikagi moping about how he couldn’t have won the battle by himself. Shinji Ikari, eat your heart out.

Iffy:

• The Heterodyne designs are… kind of plain. Though if they’re meant to be Evangelion parodies then it makes sense.

This bit of text here is kind of hard to fill as each episode more or less has a similar structure. Here we’re presented with a clash of hotblooded and well planned approaches to the same situation. It’s a shame there’s no new tech shown off, Dai-Guard is using the same mines from the previous episode.

NOOOO OPTIMUS!

Attack of the plain shapes!

Damn this teamwork thing! I want to be the hero!

Dai-Guard 04 – The Heroine’s Melancholy

Yes yes, enough getting excited over model kits and back to the good stuff.

In this episode, we learn the nature of the Heterodynes: They are creatures formed by the movement of tectonic plates. So basically, the Heterodynes are nothing more then natural disasters (At least, for now). Rumours fly that Dai-Guard will be assigned to its own division and assigned different pilots, but in the meantime the Dai-Guard team is tasked on capturing a Heterodyne in order to learn more about their nature.

Spiffy:

• The big reveal that the Heterodyne are caused by earchquakes has got to be the biggest hilarious anticlimax ever.
• Likewise, the fact that the company with the single weapon that’s able to fight an unstoppable foe has to get funding to keep going is both ridiculous and pretty clever.
• Not to mention the pilots questioning whether they’re getting overtime for having to fight a Heterodyne in the middle of the night.
• The fact that Dai-Guard costs so much to repair just makes it even more cringe worthy every time it gets hit around the head badly.

Iffy:

• I’m thinking that unless you’re big into things like Dilbert comics a lot of the office humour is going to fall flat.

Dai-Guard REALLY is one part mecha show and one part office comedy. If you’re coming from something like Gurren-Lagann then you’re probably not going to find much here. Dai-Guard itself is pretty much rock bottom tier in terms of robots, with little more than conventional weaponry that doesn’t even work effectively half the time. Watching Dai-Guard get bashed around makes for some pretty great cringe-humour though.

This week's monster of the week: A sphere!

You can almost see the repair costs meter in the corner skyrocketing

Now imagine this happening to Simon in the final episode of Gurren Lagann.

Mazinger Z (2009 Shin Mazinger Bandai model)

So here I was going into a random Hobby shop to see what they sold, mainly out of curiosity more than actually expecting to buy anything. 15 minutes later I walked out with something I’d honestly never expected to see with my own eyes: A Mazinger Z figure based on the recent Shin Mazinger anime.

For what it’s worth, this model is more or less what you’d expect. It’s Mazinger Z, complete with God Scrander and Big Bang Punch Action.

Spiffy:

• Seriously, it’s Mazinger Z!
• The individual parts all hold up on their own. Mazinger Z scranderless looks great, Mazinger Z with the Scrander looks great and the Scrander on its own looks great
• It’s honestly amazing what sticking giant wings on an old 70s mecha has done to update its design. Seriously, the God Scrander looks amazing.
• Great posability all round. The joints are all a lot more solid than the Bandai Gundam Wing models I used to own years ago Then again this one was like 3 times the price of those.
• Detachable Pilder. More a gimmick than anything, but still neat.
• Dude, I own a Mazinger Z now. This is awesome.

Iffy:

• The Big Bang Punch transformation is a bit fiddly. It’s not too hard to get to, I just keep finding Mazinger’s arms coming off when trying to get it there.
• The 3rd finger on the God Scrander doesn’t really use a proper joint to stay attached and as such it tends to fall off a lot.
• Questionable price: But I guess that’s pretty normal in the modelling world.

There we go. I now own a Mazinger Z. The model itself is pretty solid all round, it’s just a shame the transformation is so fiddly to get to. All in all though if you’re a Mazinger fan and loved Shin Mazinger and don’t have a small fortune stashed away somewhere for Soul of Chogokin figures, then by all means go for it.

But seriously, when is someone going to release a Zeus figure?

Not pictured: Hundreds of rocket punches like in the anime

In the name of Shining Zeus! Smash everything to atoms!

MAZIIIIIIIIN GOOOOOO!