mpchi

Didn't know there is a difference on European version eiterh. Glad to know, and even more glad that I never go with that version.

Holy Smoke! Just watched the episode on Youtube (subbed), and I am convinced! This is indeed a very good start for this show, and its no joke that Kawamori is trying to make it OVA quality for this TV show. I just wonder how him & his crew are gonna keep this up with a TV show with quality this high to last 26 episodes. The alien bug does need a bit of getting used to(very organic). Love the ending theme too. This might indeed be a very worthy TV series successor of the original, that a lot of Macross fans like myself have been waiting for. Those VF-17 look so sweet, even though they served more as cannon fodder than anything.

Wow. Just unlocked the Blue Knight Berserga in the game (not even sure what I did). Looks like the PS2 game has more stuff than just the TV show and the OVAs. At least a few extra mechs to play with, if not any additional story missions.

They love to do CG version opening of the show though. This is not the first time a CG Votoms opening is done. But sadly, this much older PS1 version looks better than the new one in a lot of aspect (even though its lower-tech). The Japanese just love to do CG openings for a lot of anime-related game titles. Seen other games that has that too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSOm8fE-fOQ And if the anime OVAs have such a hard time coming over to have a U.S. release, I really doubted this PS2 game will make it.

There is really no reason you won't love the Rabidlydog, if you love the Turbo Custom. It comes with less stuff obviously, but its a lot cheaper (still don't know why HLJ has it on sale 30% OFF from day one, up til now...), and has gimmick TC doesn't have. I love mine a lot. The only issue I can see is the claw being a bit heavy (diecast). It doesn't affect the joints (very tight and ratchety), but might throw off the balance of the figure a bit in some pose. I did the mod of adding more weight (dimes secured by kneaded eraser) inside to feet to give it a lot more weight on the bottom, so the claw is not an issue for me anymore. But for people with no mod on the feet, you might get bothered by it slightly. My backpack need some help to attach securely, but not sure if its just too tight or too loose now, after finding out what happen to my RSC backpack. Thought it doesn't lock and too easy to come off, turn out its too tight that I never push it hard enough to lock it. All it needs is a little grease to help the hook slide in to lock that thing. So not sure if the Rabidlydog's backpack has that same issue. But I already sticked some foamie on the hook, so no need to take it all off to find out anymore. Oh, and the Chirico microman head looks like crap. So a couple minor things, but overall an awesome DMZ addition, especially at 30% OFF.

While we still have to see how good the finish is on the final product, its the articulation (and the number of drills) that surprises me a bit. While not at the end-all artculation level, it sure has a bit more than the average gokin has to offer. Really looking forward to see how well this one turns out.

I know, dude. That Chirico looks like walking a catwalk rather than a bad arse soldier there...sigh. Not to mention the proprtion is all wrong. Chirico is an anime character for crying out loud. Not a realistic looking midget. The game really starts to grow on me though. Smooth control, while feels good manuvering the Dogs. Too bad not a lot of guys picked it up seems like. And the forum over GameFAQs.com is pretty dead too.

Towards the end of March.

Now THIS looks like a promising diecast! And thats a lot of drills LOL. Though I wish it comes with some giant size drill as well. And the 'glasses' still look solid instead of transparent in the early prototype. Wonder what the final toy will come with.

Sweetness.

Thanks for the info. It does explain why the show feels out of place at times. Can't believe Fuzzy is actually used as a name for a supposedly attractive girl in the movie. (Yeah, it actually spells FUZZY in the show, not just in subtitle. Its written on Nadia's bookcover in the end "Mystery of Fuzzy". Maybe we'll have Furry, Bumpy, or Soggy next.

What do you mean villain?! We LOVE Richard, the Vice President! He just look so...eh...angry LOL. While not realistic with a lot of morphing magic, the weapon system is pretty sweet with all the different guns popping out of those big backpack and rotates around the ring as you select them. And love the idea of the President trashing all major cities like Washington DC, New York, San Francisco...etc. as a level. And to my surprise, those are Xbox graphics. Not Xbox360.

Just bumped into this video, and had no idea such an awesome game existed. It brings Patriotism, mecha action, cheesiness, and bad voice acting to new heights I've never seen before! I LOL pretty hard watching this thing, while I have to say this is a pretty darn cool game, even though its an old Xbox title from 2004. But I can see why it never has a U.S. release LOL. Enjoy! LOL

Just played my PS2 Votoms game a bit more. Think I start to like it more as I got more familiar with the control. Main control involves something like below other than the basic run and shoot: Turning ON/OFF the Roller Dash - to allow you to walk or dash much faster around. ESCAPE Manuver - allow you to do like a split second dash or spine to dodge attacks. You are invincible at that split second. Optional 1st Person Camera for slightly more precise aiming - you can zoom once in this camera, while you can still move the mech around, like first person shooter. Applies to both the mech and Chirico, but chirico has no zoom. Auto lock on - let you lock on mechs one at a time. You mech will keep circling the locked on enemy. You can always turn it back off whenever you feel like you want to get back your normal directional control, if you no longer want to engage this particular enemy or if you feel like running away. Mission Disc - This is a big one. You get to find various mission discs (a lot of them) through out the game. To activate a mission disc, you have to have your MD gauge charged up fully (takes about 10-15 secs). Once fully charged, you can pop out the MD menu (hold L1 button), which allows you to do some special moves, based on which button/option you choose. Some reloads your ammo on your main gun immediately (kind of useless as the gun reloads itself automatically after 5-10 secs.), some give you basic punches and kicks, some give you super finishing moves that gives a lot of damage. However, most of these super moves needed to be landed in very close distance, and it takes a good couple seconds before the moves activate after you pressed the button, which you can get interrupted by your opponant's firing sometimes. Different mech can use different mission discs, with the basic green scopedog being the more versatile than others with more usable ones. And if you want new weapons, kill the enemy mech with combat moves, so they drop their gun as they die. Then you can pick it up and use them. But this is not a necessity since you don't really run out of ammo. Only need this when you see a cool gun you don't already have, or switch a gun that fits the situation more. The Stages break up into various missions, on a honeycomb grid. Once you play through one, you unlock others that attaches to it on each sides. Some of these are story mission, others are just side missions that gives you extra things to do. Uoodo alone has 16 missions, and you can pick and choose the ones you unlocked on which ones you wanna play first. There are usually some anime stills (screen grabs from TV show), and Chirico's monologue right before each mission. Sometimes other characters chime in and speaks. Very similar to the way the PS2 Macross game tells the story. Right now, I still have the very low level mission discs. But looks like you can do some pretty cool stuff as you advance with the higher level mission discs. The mech animation is great. Though Chirico's running animation can be better. To capture mechs, you need to have Chirico on ground and land some 'critical shots' on enemies mech's cockpit, so you kill the pilot instead of blowing the mech up. then you can hop in and use it as you please. So overall, still pretty simple control. But its not too bad. Wonder if it will get pretty epic with you battling a bunch of mechs at the same time, like in the OVAs. That would be sweet. (First mission, showing various basic gameplay with the Scopedog) (Rabidlydog in action. Graphic looks better here with the vast outdoor in bright daylight)

It is a plastic model unfortunately. It is a "partially painted multi-color kit" to be exact.

I get what you mean now. Just finished the TV series, as well as the movie. The ending few episodes sure is the saving grace of the show. Again, not that the show is bad at all. Its good. Just not super good. But you do grow to like the characters, and it leads to a pretty epic battle in the conclusion. The last few episodes are also very well drawn. Great ship battles and explosions. For a late 80s TV show, the quality is pretty high on those episodes. Though I don't quite like the show after the halfway point. Lots of filler episodes that try to be funny. It was light hearted mostly, but they really push it there to a point I am scratching my head. Some episodes there look pretty low budget too, with the drawings and animation quality going down, until it slowly pick up towards the end. So ovreall, a good show, and very good at some point. I can see why it became a classic for some. And I swear I almost thought I was watching Gunbuster at certain moment. The animation, the ship designs, the color, the laser effects...look sooo Gunbuster sometimes. However, the movie is quite a disappointment. Its the first time I saw a feature length animated movie that actually has a much lower budget than its TV show! The drawings are off and the smooth signature Gainax animation (I am not talking about the bounce ) is just not there. Story is just ok, nothing too memorable. It feels more like a one and a half hour long mediocre episode, and all the cool bits in the TV episodes are gone. Having the first half hour all flashback of TV footage doesn't help either. Again, the first time I've seen a feature movie that looks cheap compare to its original TV. And people back then pay to see this?! Interesting... Good that it just comes as a freebie in my DVD set.

Ditto. That'll probably one way for TakaraTomy to be ahead of the game, even though it post a great risk. DMZ Bloodsucker, Fatty Ground, Berserga, the Beetles & Tortoise are sure welcoming items. Just don't know how well they would sell as a big toy. In terms of the PS2 game, I bought it. But since I got a PS3 lately, haven't really been playing the game other than checking it out for like 30 mins when it arrived. Came with the nice preorder freebie book that shows all the mechs in game with some brief character & story info. All the pics of the mech are in-game CG models. From the little time I had, the CG rendered intro video look like arse. Hate the way Chirico looked in it. Nothing look like Chirico other than the hair & outfit. Its the most horrible CG rendtion of any PS2 games I owned. But the in-game chirico is not bad, looks completely different and closer to the TV show. The control on the Scopedog is pretty smooth (Namco worked on it), but control is simple with not a lot of complicated manuvers. When Chirico is on ground, his control is limited too. With the hand gun that has very limited shots on a clip, but it recharges when empty after a few seconds. You can kidnap mechs or hop on any empty ones lying around. In game graphics are passable, but not impressive. Some environments are just really big textures boxes (not that the TV show has a lot more detail). Though the game supposed to cover all the TV and OVA story (even with a bonus mech or two from Pailsen Files & Commando Vorct, but most likely no story element from those two series), it has a very good mech line up. Pretty much all mechs you see in TV and all the OVAs (minus Mellowlink, which is excluded). So bottom line, it can be a fun game, especially when you love the series. But don't expect it to be very deep or a visual blast. It reminds me very much of the PS2 Macross game from a few years back (also Namco worked on it with Bandai I think). Very authetic in terms of the show content, all the voices, sound effects, music, and story are there. Decent simple gameplay (but nothing very innovative or deep), but with mediocre graphics (PS2 can do much better than this, especially in late 2007). It really depends how much you love Votoms to determine whether its worth picking up.

Yeah. Funny that the Brutishdog is still not in the line up of the DMZ, when you would have thought it would be like the second or third one easy. Maybe TakaraTomy try to to collide head on with Yamato's lineup? But if DMZ is going to have a Gregory Turbo Custom variant, or a DMZ Burglarydog, they'll end up being part of my collection for sure. I do want a Turbo Custom. Just not sure the current one is the right one for me...especially when it cost as much as a big SOC.

Looks like we DMZ people got a new convert! However, I actually bailed out on this DMZ Turbo Custom. Partly I already got Red Shoulder Custom and Rapidlydog. Partly because of the big price, but not a lot of difference to offer from what I already have. Just too many other stuff to get. Looks like the DMZs don't run out of stock very fast either. So maybe I'll wait and see if there is a better Turbo variant later on. Still think Gregory's Red Shoulder Turbo with the lens guard & the tank treads looks the sickest of the bunch. Hope they'll make that one.

Just watched the streaming Episode 1. I'm sold. This is a very awesome intro episode jam packed with a lot of action and great animation. Looks like I have a new cool mecha series to follow.

They won't stream the whole series for free, would they? Seems too good to be true. I'll watch a couple episodes, see if its as good as people say. If so, I'll still collect the DVDs. A 6-Disc release is actually very good already.

Same here. Think I might have been the one that snatched the last one, or second last from their pile. While I still haven't watch the show, I am pretty excited about the trailers and clips I've seen. Eagerly waiting for the upcoming ADV DVDs.

Yeah. Definitely worth buying as long as you are not super picky about paint job (as you are bound to find some sloppy spots, if not a lot), and don't mind the slightly compromised proportion of Baikanfu's look (shoulders sit a little low). This is one of the rare gokin toy that you can totally see how complicated and how much work they have put into the design to make everything work, yet the collector don't have to go through very complicated transformation or part swapping process to enjoy it fully. It has a complicated structure, but yet so simple to combine and move the thing around to pose. And in the end, all the bits and accessories hide neatly in the little display hill top. Gunbuster is a marvel to transform, but there is some parts swap involve. Baikanfu on the other hand feels very clean and hassle-free. Can't be happier about how stable this toy is too.

Just got this guy last night. Its like Bandai finally heard my comment, with stability is a key factor for a figure, and it always start at the ankle joint. Thank you Bandai, for finally having a SOC with RATCHET ANKLES! Baikanfu is pretty much the best executed SOC I have come across in terms of fitment. No loose joint to fix. NONE, especially when it has more hinges than any other SOCs. Its one of the more poseable SOC for sure, and turned out to be the most stable SOC to date. For once, there is absolute zero balancing issue even in action poses. No more worries on the thing falling by the slightest touch, or leaning in anyway. I almost couldn't believe it when I saw the multi-jointed ankle with ratchet, as well as ratchet toe joint. Its all I've been asking for for years, and finally, its been realized. The little Rom figure is great too. Quite a bit smaller than a microman, but is actually more sturdy overall. And its just amazing how they managed to design all the joint hinges wrapping up the figure limbs from the outside one on top of another. When seeing the whole thing combined bending the joints freely, its a marvel to behold. This is definitely one of the best designed SOC. But on the down side, this is also the worst painted SOC in my collection... Not just a couple spots, but sloppy overspray and ugly touch-up everywhere, and on all figures too. Looks like they really rushed out this release, as I am not the only guy with paint issues. But this toy is so great that, I actually found myself overlooking this flaw, regardless its the worse paint case of SOC I've ever had.