The game that I managed to complete recently is Romance of Three Kingdoms XI. As usual, I will use Gongsun Zan and built my foundation at the north-western corner of China, Bei Ping. One new exciting feature of this ROTK sequel is the one to one battle scene. Or should I say three versus three. ROTK XI officers battle scenes allows you to swap up to three officers during duel battle if they are connected by blood, marriage or oath. Another interesting part about this latest sequel is that the facial of individual general will change as they aged.
I am the lucky few at my workplace that is able to take leave on the eve of Lunar New Year but will need to resume work on the second day of CNY. Just a quick posting to wish my family, relatives, friends and blog viewers a HAPPY & PROSPEROUS CNY! As for me, I hope my injured left arm will recover speedily.
I have finally finishing watching Macross Frontier. Pretty slow or a Macross fan hah! I prefer watching anime on TV rather than on computer screen. But since the original Macross Frontier DVD were only released in code/region 2 format, I could only settle with friendly DVD from across Singapore that comes with English subs.
I had first bought the pirated version in plastic sleeve at CSC but none of my DVD player could play the DVD after the first six episodes and it was really a frustrating experience. Being desperate and impatience, I searched the internet and found this DVD boxset from a Malaysia seller on Ebay.
The casing of the DVD boxset is well decorated and it comes free OST CD. I'm not sure if it is a bootleg but at least the DVD has Malaysia censorship and authenticity seal. The back of DVD casing also has the distributor's name and address printed.
Macross Frontier is really enchanting and this is the best anime I have watched in recent years. It a norm that Macross anime would have numerous OST and Macross frontier really mesmerises me with beautiful songs by May'n & Megumi. Since the anime is a production of Macross 25th Anniversary project, it catered to fans with a lot of scenes that were similar or familiar to previous Macross animes.
I guess Alto was like playing the role of Hikaru trap in the love triangle between Sheryl Nome and Ranka Lee. Michael and Klan were alike Max & Millia. Don't you think the first time Alto rescuing Ranka is similar to Hikaru rescuing Minmay in VF-1D. A lot of elements like Macross Attack and Macross Cannon, and Minmay Attack were featured in Macross Frontier.
In the original Macross Super Dimensional Fortress, Max is the one going after Millia but in Macross Frontier, Klan is the one taking the approach. Ironically, this time round, Ranka sang the iconic 'Minmay DYRL songs' against the Macross fleet.
Apart from VF-25, Macross Frontier also recap mechs you see in previous Macross anime/games like defender destroid similar to Macross Zero, Queadluun-Rau from Macross DYRL and best of all, Konig Monster from Macross VFX.
Best valkyries battle scene from Macross Frontier...
Yamato 1/60 SV-51 ~ Nora Polyansky version in three modes
Step by step transformation
The black SV-51 is D.D.Ivanov version. The beige is normal version, more like Cannon Fodder type
Extra sheet ~ Macross Super Dimensional Fortress Characters
Stay tuned for next issue
Ad on Bandai DX Chogokin 1/60 scale VF-25F
Macross Chronicle issue 12 is mostly about Mylene Flare Jenius and her customized valkyrie. The toy featured in this issue is Yamato 1/60 SV-51 (Anti -UN valkyries you see in Macross Zero). SV-51 has a sleek design and it look awesome in fighter and valkyrie. The one thing that didn't appeal to me is the design in battroid mode. Especially the head that looks personally to me like 'Gobots'. Even though I don't have any 1/60 SV-51, It is nice to see new valkyries produced under Macross timeline.
Missed Storm Riders (Clash of Evils) on big screen, so bought the DVD instead. I like the drawing of this anime however the animation chronography can be improved. I believed the anime characters was drawn very closely to the comic and almost all skillful characters in the anime were very cool. The continuation of the live-action movie "The Storm Riders" (starring Ekin Cheng and Aaron Kwok), this animation picks up from the movie's hackneyed plot. New villains and characters are introduced from the original comics but the highlight should be the battle between Wind and Cloud.
Front view of box ~ Some colour fading at the bottom left.
Back view of box ~The top part is folded.
A close-up of the spec tag
Jetfire and accessories on the inserts
Front view of G1 Jetfire ~ slight yellowing on chest plate
Back view of G1 Jetfire
Front view of G1 Jetfire donned in armour
Back view of G1 Jetfire donned in armour
Front view of G1 Jetfire donned in armour (Gerwalk mode)
Side view of G1 Jetfire donned in armour (Gerwalk mode)
Top view of G1 Jetfire donned in armour (Gerwalk mode)
Front view of G1 Jetfire donned in armour (fighter mode)
Top view of G1 Jetfire donned in armour (fighter mode)
Side view of G1 Jetfire donned in armour (fighter mode)
What are you looking at... staring incident... The right is my loose G1 Jetfire with more yellowing and missing right leg clip.
If you ask me which is my favourite transformers robot, my answer is definitely G1 Jetfire/Skyfire. A simple reason because it's made from Bandai mould equivalent to VF-1S fastpack.
G1 Jetfire toy is not difficult to find on Ebay, but sourcing for one with complete parts and still minty white will need a lot patience and cash. The primary colour being white is highly unsustainable after so many years. One that is entirely bone white would be very costly.
The other problem with G1 Jetfire would be its accessories. The leg clip is usually missing from the bulk. The armour parts often comes with stress marks especially on the arm armour or worst still, the arm armour can't clip on properly because of broken fasteners/hook.
It is also extremely difficult to obtain a G1 Jetfire box of C8.5 ~ 9. Most of time, the box comes with bad shelfwear and broken window. My G1 Jetfire box like others, also first came in super battle damaged condition. I had made some restoration by first flatening the box using a heavy object to press onto it. It has the effect of ironing it. Several days, after the first process, I had used alcohol swab to clean the surface to remove the dirt accumulated over the years. I had also used black marker to mask up the crack lines.
As for the broken window on the box, I had replaced it using new plastic sheet and double-sided tape. I got the plastic sheet/overlap from 'Artfriend' cos most bookshops only sell A4 size plastic transparency.
Currently, I have three G1 Jetfire toys. I have used the best among the rest to take pics. It is MIB with stickers applied. Comes with complete accessories (tight with minimum stress marks) with instruction manual and catalog. There are slight yellowing on the chest area and nose cone.
I have sent one loose G1 Jetfire with complete accessories for customization to Evil Jetfire and the last loose piece (with yellowing, loose arm armour & missing left leg clip) inside my display showcase.
Just watch the part 2 of Red Cliff the other day and had enjoyed the cinematic experience watcihng @ GV Vivo. The high US$80million budget of John Woo's Red Cliff sure contributed to the spectacular battle scenes and artifacts. The 2 1/2 hours movie duration makes the money spent very worthwhile but if you don't enjoy the movie, it probably bore you to sleep. Ha! Ha!
I like the dialogue as they are pretty humourous. The funniest part to me would be Zhangfei making the huge glutinous riceball. I fancy battle scenes and John Woo didn't disappoint me on that. It just that the fireball from the catapult seems too explosive in the movie, which shouldn't be the case during that era. A certain points of the battle, it suddenly reminds me of 'Windtalker'. Typical style of John Woo's war movies.
It is just a movie I don't argue between fact and fiction. Red Cliff is enjoyable but in my opinion, Ip Man is still my first choice among recent movies I watched. I have a strong feeling the there would sure be a collector's edition DVD release in the near future. The dvd will be in my wishlist.
I have skipped Romance of Three Kingdoms IX cos I didn't own it. The primary reason is because I don't like the game play as the format is too real time. Koei probably realised it and Romance of Three Kingdoms X is back the tradition ROTK game play. Not to mention that the graphic gets better every new release.
The game offers players the opportunity to take on the role of 650 characters and create up to 110 new officers. You'll govern the wartime and diplomatic aspects of your kingdom, creating rogue armies and negotiating treaties. Your kingdom is constantly under threat of being attacked by the enemy and even a minor skirmish can escalate into large scale military conflict. Players will experience over 200 dramatic events that are interpreted differently by every character as they shape the game world according to their own decisions and actions. (A review FROM IGN, hosted by Neoseeker)
