Category: Anime/Manga

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

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka 3: Filler scenes is filler

NACHOOOO!
Sometimes you wear stretchy pants in your room. It's for fun.

One of my early hopes for the season is turning out to be a little underwhelming. The pace seem to have slackened after that inspired first episode. Episode 3 has a few fine comedic moments and a little plot development. Unfortunately the rest of it feels like a too large chunk of fan service filler. Not something I’m opposed to but given the potential the series has exhibited so far it felt unnecessary and thus disappointing. I have to wonder what liberties the adaptation took with the light novels source (having never read the books, and not having a desire to).

Still, it was a decent enough episode (it’s not Beelzebub) and it is early days yet. A lot of time to turn things around and I certainly hope that it does.

Beelzebub 1 and 2: Baby, I am disappoint

Beelzebub
Yeah well…I feel like crying too

Beelzebub was perhaps the one show I regarded as a safe bet prior to the start of the season since the manga is one of the stronger WSJ titles (not that impressive of a feat, let’s be honest). This is a show that got just about everything wrong. Its biggest sin is clearly failure to stick to the source material. How difficult can that be? The story is already there dammit! Instead, we get inferior and incoherent changes to the story, some truly retarded filler scenes in front of the school food stall (the bread and the milk scenes…), and never mind in the first minutes we already have the electric shock joke and the pee joke.

There are other problems. Sub-par art (crying Baby B’el’s pacifier looks like a clown nose, why?), poor casting (Baby B’el sounds bad, a problem when he “speaks” all the time) and poor pacing. Hilda’s introduction to the family was probably the best scene but only because it was played completely straight. Problem though, Oga slept for three days before that and Hilda and Baby B’el were presumably already staying in his house for that period of time. Like I said, incoherent.

This attempt at adaptation is like aiming for the moon with the rocket in Jules Vernes’ novel, and already off by a mile before exiting the atmosphere. Disappointing and heartbreaking. Just go read the manga and forget about this mess.

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka 1 and 2: We have a contender!

our protagonist...
Every man wants to be a macho macho man

For potential best show this season. I almost gave it a miss due to the uninspiring character design, but I’m glad I gave it a go. It looks like it will be another Seto no Hanayome for me; I went in not expecting anything but it more than delivered.

So we have our protagonist Ayumu who is a bit of a pervert. He is also a zombie and a chainsaw-toting “magiclad girl” (Fucking magic, how does it work?).

To round up the cast we have a silent loli necromancer who communicates via handwritten notes and a tsundere loli “masou shoujo”, and in the second episode a busty vampire ninja makes her appearance (voiced Mio and resembles her superficially, but thankfully does not behave like her at all).  Going by promotional art there’s yet another girl. It does look like the old standard anime harem is getting assembled but the numerous brilliant subversions (see attached screen capture) saves the series and hilarity ensues.

Highly recommended and do watch out for that panty shot.

Duh Magnet says: Kore wa Zombie Desu ka is the kind of wacky nonsense this season was sorely lacking until now, and best of all, it’s nowhere as shameless as Sora no Otoshimono.)