Month: March 2011

“That hair flick must have taken a lot of practice…”

WALK INTO CAMERALEGEND

I’m firmly convinced Chiwa Saito is Shinbo’s pet project, because hard as it is to top her role in Bakemonogatari, they’re trying their darn hardest here in Madoka as well. Episode 10 of Madoka will probably go into the annals of anime as one of the most ambitious efforts at infodumping ever in its history. For all of Madoka’s excess in visuals it’s really the beautiful stark simplicity of its storytelling that really captures the imagination. Now all that’s left to cement its place among the greats is the final act.

P.S:Nice fight there. Who said the series only did surreal? Not that it isn’t weird in its way…..

Macross Frontier YF-29 Durandal

The DX Chogokin toys from the second Macross Frontier movie were announced some time ago but I totally missed it. Proper photos have just been released though.

YF-29 Durandal Battroid
YF-29 Durandal Fighter
YF-29 Durandal Gerwalk

I got to say the machine is a little underwhelming. While it certainly isn’t ugly, it just looks like the VF-25 and the YF-19 from Macross Plus mashed together, only flashier than both in a bad way. A little too busy, perhaps. I quote:

In the production of Macross Frontier, the VF-171 was chosen as the main fighter of the New U.N. Spacy because it was felt that the previous main fighter, the VF-19 Excalibur, looked too much like a “hero” fighter…

This one looks more of a “hero” fighter to me.

The roots of the design is especially obvious in gerwalk mode. Compare:

YF-19 Gerwalk
VF-25F gerwalk

Of course, it could be I’m just bitter at how poorly the Macross Frontier series ended.

Also:

  • 1/100 YF-29 Ranka Lee Version
  • 1/100 YF-29 Sheryl Nome Version

Yuck.

Picture sources: Gundam Model Kits and Figures, Mech9.com, Macross Mecha Manual

When did Korean girls transform from fuddy-duddy to smoking hot?

I don’t have the answer.

But I distinctly remembered that the Koreans girls were once seen as the poor cousins of Japanese girls.  Japanese girls were the cute/sexy/hot ones while the Koreans girls were… well, motherly.  In a Kim Jong Il manner.

Is it the Korean dramas that sport ridiculously looking gay dudes who sent girls swooning over some stupid sit-up scene? A nefarious soft power projection by the South Korea gov? The vast improvement in skillsets of the Korean plastic surgeons? All of the above?

Anyway, who cares? A couple of years down the road, I’ll be too old to be looking at teenage girls prancing on the stage without feeling like a dirty old bastard. Might as well enjoy the ride it last.

Random Korean girl group