RavenHawk

On 2/9/2019 at 10:05 AM, captain america said:

New Blow Superior looks great! Legioss, not so much. Looks like Sentinel caught-on about the accessories. Wonder where they got that idea? 

 

 

In fairness, Stick and Ray already seemed to have the connection point designed into them when they were first released.

18 hours ago, seti88 said:

 i wish the upvote buttons were around...+1 for the compilation 

The two hexa designs on the blow superior missile panels irked me a bit, as it didnt look like it quite fit in design wise. However all the other design cues such as color and stripes were spot on!

I am so wishing someone would just open up the panels and display the missiles! 

 

The legioss has that chunky look, definately want to see fighter as well b4 committing... 

I get that they don't quite seem to fit design-wise, but, honestly, I like them. It's all a matter of personal taste, but the look appeals to me.

11 hours ago, tekering said:

Hate to agree, Cap'n, but yeah... Those proportions are disappointing.

Massive chest and squat little legs might make for a decent Armo-Fighter, but Soldier mode's an eyesore... especially that shoulder-mounted sensor array thing.  

I like the proportions. May not be lineart accurate, but I view all of the Sentinel MOSPEADA stuff as a "reimagining", and I like the look.

Again, it's all each person's individual tastes.

9 hours ago, enphily said:

That's all subjective, but i like proportions of new Legioss.

Agreed.

9 hours ago, Ridden001 said:

 I only have one critique of what appears to be a feature of design.  I don’t like the pegs on the bottom edge of the blades, if you look at the blade housing there is a slot that terminates and it appears to be the design to stop the blades at a specific point when retracted by having the peg stop where the slot terminates.

 If the peg on the blade is static, this is a massive blunder of epic proportions.  It’s using 80’s transformer toy tech on a premium adult item showpiece.

Who at Sentinel approved that as an acceptable solution?  

 

 

I assume that those are less about a stop to prevent over-retraction, and more something sticking out on the inside that you can grab with a finger nail to extend the blade, but I agree with you. It's an old approach used for decades, and it would have been nice to see some more innovative engineering there.

6 hours ago, jenius said:

The FEWTURE Garldan is also at WF with a July release date... but same old prototype from years ago. Will this be the year it really happens???

At this point, with Arcadia showing a solid track record of products in general, and continuing to show a commitment in line, and with all of the Fewture delays, do you think people are really going to spend money on the Fewture one?

8 hours ago, VF-Zer0S said:

Just bought the E=X Garland from freeing for $100 did I do good or is it still not worth the price? 

I talked about my experience with this one a couple pages back. I got mine for $115, and am very happy with it.

I think it looks gorgeous in person, but the loose bits and transformation are frustrating at first. However, by the time you get to your third transformation, I think you start to enjoy it. I think it's well worth the $100 you spent.

Just read vol. 1 of Mech Cadet Yu today.

While it technically isn't manga, it really pretty much is...

Written by Greg Pak, with art by Takeshi Miyazawa, everything about it is manga-like, except that it's in a larger format, all color, and put out by Boom Studios.

I have to say, even though it's aimed at a more all-ages audience, this was a very fun, entertaining, light-hearted read.

I recommend it if you like giant robots at all. I ordered vol. 2, and will be getting vol. 3 (the end of the series) when it comes out in April.

10 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Granted, but the cover and/or title are what get your attention.

The title's not going to grab anyone who's not already a Robotech fan, and that atrocious cover art isn't going to encourage many (if any) to pick it up outside of maybe morbid curiosity.

I think that the standard covers are there to get people's attention, and draw in new readers.

These alternate covers are usually shipped in much smaller quantities (like 1 copy of a special cover per 10 or 20 standard covers that a shop orders) and are usually sold by comic shops immediately marked up, aimed at collectors (i.e. someone who is an established fan and has an affection for the Waltrips, in this case).

32 minutes ago, jenius said:

Wonderfest is HERE!

http://anymoon.com/blog/?p=12222

Crap. Looks like I'm going to be buying Legioss(es) again...

2 hours ago, tekering said:

As the interior art improves, the Waltrip brothers' cover makes a mockery of it.

I view the cover as more of a throwback than a mockery. The writing, however... that's a different story (no pun intended).

50 minutes ago, Kuma Style said:

Took 5 freaking years but finally found the last Blodia I needed at a fantastic price. 

Had to Google it... but congrats!

14 minutes ago, Vifam7 said:

 

Anything in particular you are looking for?  Certain genres or subject matter?

 

My tastes are scifi, leaning towards more realistic stuff, but I don't want this thread to be just about what I'm looking for. Anything that people are reading or have read that they want to either recommend or vent about their annoyance with is fair game.

2 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

MAAS Toys was, according to their last newspost, attempting to get away from using crowdfunding sites like Indiegogo and Kickstarter to finance their projects.  They tried essentially running their own crowdfunding/preorder campaign without a third party to collect funds (and take a percentage) and as of their January news update it seems to have backfired and resulted in a financial shortfall for the project when 38 backers and 5 retailers failed to honor their pledges and 3 backers had Paypal refund their money.  They may have thought that that approach would be good enough to satisfy Harmony Gold, since it's basically a glorified preorder.

Mind you, I've suspected for a while now that this sudden surge in Robotech licensing right before the end of their license is Harmony Gold once again just selling a license to anyone willing to pay and finding only small-time indie outfits willing to bite.  (So like the 90's, but with toys and statues instead of comics.)

First thought in my head reading that: *** hmmm... naked licensing can be a basis for losing your trademark... ***

Not that it really matters.

20 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Huh... I wonder if they've run aground on Harmony Gold's insistence that their licensees not use crowdfunding sites for their projects?

Ever since Palladium Books came clean about having been lying about the state of its Robotech Kickstarter's finances for three years, resulting in the project's failure due to inadequate funds Harmony Gold has been death on anything to do with crowdfunding.

It's HG, so anything is possible (especially laziness), but I don't know how you can get in bed with MAAS Toys and NOT know that they're going to do a Kickstarter. That's been their business model for at least the last couple of years.

On 2/1/2019 at 7:53 AM, Seto Kaiba said:

Like the ONA, the Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt manga is relentlessly dark to the point that it quickly becomes relentlessly dull.  It'd probably be a pretty good action series if only it were possible to get invested in the characters.  The problem is that the series is so thoroughly committed to gritty grimdark grim darkness that the cast is mostly made up of complete bastards.  It's not like Yazan Gable's often-comedic sociopathy, these are just unapologetically sh*tty human beings 24/7/365.  TL;DR it's a Gundam manga that really wants to be Attack on Titan written by Buckets-of-Blood guy.

The art quality is consistently excellent though.  The only thing I can really complain about there is that the Atlas Gundam is one of the most hideous Mobile Suits I've ever laid eyes on and the character art style makes many characters (esp. Claudia) look like they were supposed to be in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and wandered onto the wrong set.  I don't know about you, but seeing a Federation division leader unironically trying to rock a pompadour takes me right out of the story.

Thunderbolt vol. 1 came in the mail yesterday and I read it last night. Since there are still 3 volumes to go in the English publication of this series, I guess it counts as "current".

I wouldn't say that I loved it, but I did enjoy it. A bit grim, but, at least so far, not too grim. Sort of what I would expect out of a book trying to show war in a more "real robot" light... very much like a war movie trying to show war a bit more realistically and less glorified. Speaking of movies, chapter 5 seemed to be virtually lifted directly from Starship Troopers (maybe I just canceled out my whole "realistic" argument?).

I've enjoyed the writing so far, but I have mixed feelings on the art. The mecha and combat are well drawn, though I find Gundam mecha designs in general to be a bit boring (at least the ones that aren't overly "cartoony"). I guess, design-wise, it's par for the course with Gundam, but, since this is my first really foray into this universe, I was hoping for some more dynamic designs. That said, the artist does a good job of conveying action and using very cinematographic framing and transitions. What I don't like is the way that humans are drawn. They just seem too rushed and cartoony (I can't believe I just used that word twice). They remind me of the character artwork from some of the worse Robotech comics.

Overall, though, I liked it enough where I ordered a cheap copy of vol. 2.

As for other manga I'm currently reading, I've been picking them up on the cheap, so there are a number of starts and stops while waiting for the next book to come in from slow eBay sellers or Amazon resellers, etc.

I just read the first two volumes of Aldnoah Zero season 1 (looks like season 2 and the Twin Gemini spin-off have yet to be translated, and are unlikely to be). I liked it, but only really because of a ton of affection for the anime. The books themselves are adaptations, and it shows... its's a lot like the Marvel MCU prelude comics, which takes scenes and dialogue from the movies and put them into comic format, but it ends up feeling disjointed and like too many transitions are just skipped due to page count. It's fine, and good enough to pick up for a few bucks, but definitely isn't worth cover price.

Finally, I read Knights of Sidonia volume 1. I have all but 3 of the 15 volumes, but of course I'm waiting for volume 2 to show up in the mail, so all I can comment on is vol. 1 so far. I have to say that I like it a lot so far. Granted, I'm a big Tsutomu Nihei fan, and I enjoyed the anime, so there's no real surprise that I liked it, but still... The story is told well, bits of backstory are mixed in appropriately, the artwork is surprisingly clear and easy to follow, and it's nice to get more details and things that the anime couldn't go into.

That's it for me at the moment. Hopefully some other folks can comment on what they're currently reading, and what else is worth checking out.

1 hour ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Not a peep on their official website since 16th January.

Looks like they haven't responded to any comments on FB for about 3 weeks now, either (including ones asking if the Kickstarter was still a go for February 1st).

7 minutes ago, JB0 said:

I expected, in true shady chinese fashion, a 4GB card that only holds 256MB.

(I have a flash drive like that. I bought it because it turns into a poorly-articulated Ravage with a blue decepticon logo. I threw it out when the leg snapped off. Possibly the worst legally-distinct converting robot toy.)

I almost bought that toy! Good to know I didn't miss out...

9 minutes ago, captain america said:

So basically, they don't :P

Exactly. They act like they do, but in reality they only respond to feedback to tell people that they already made their decisions because they know best.

1 hour ago, Mazinger said:

^ this 100x's. 

From what I've seen, they listen, but they've already made their decisions and don't tend to change their minds.

I know I haven't read the last few issues, but in the summary,"The fight led to Miriya... unleashing Invid warriors on Macross City as a distraction..."

Huh?

1 minute ago, no3Ljm said:

From Arcadia site:
Megazone 23 display on the upcoming WonderFest 2019 Winter event.
- 1/24 Proto Garland
- 1/24 Hargan
- 1/24 Transporter

 

Here's hoping for some good pics (and that the Hargan and transporter are looking close to finished)!

3 minutes ago, jenius said:

Thanks for the feedback guys!

I will probably add a couple fighter mode line art comparisons when the video review is done (birds eye and side profile). I'll wait until Rick gets released to do the battloid comparison I ussually do. The problem with battloid is that most the line art is pretty dynamic in ways that aren't very easy to recreate for most toys.

Usually this information has been included in a scale comparison picture like this: 

but I'll start making sure it's also included in the text. When the video review is done I'll be adding pictures similar to the one above to the review as well.

Thanks for giving it a read guys, I'll be following this thread to see if any other issues pop up.

 

You realize you're just making me wish that Kitz Concept would tackle the Alpha/Legioss that much more...

Finally watched the first episode (you need to be a member to watch the second).

I'll start with this: I absolutely hate this animation style... hate it... but the dogfights looked pretty good (except for g-forces apparently not being a thing and stray gunfire not taking down buildings...).

With that out of the way, I actually thought that the writing was pretty good. The story was decent, and is admittedly the type of storytelling I tend to enjoy. There were flaws, and I have my nitpicks, but overall I enjoyed it. The dialogue was actually a lot better than I was expecting.

As for the mecha designs, I liked them. I thought they looked pretty cool and are nicely designed (especially the fighters, enemy mecha, and enemy soldiers). I agree that the designs are nothing groundbreaking and we've seen plenty of similar before, but I think that's largely because these types of designs have that "realistic believable" scifi look to them.

Let's not forget the most important thing:

David Tennant!

Yeah, I'm on board.

1 hour ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Lately I've been re-reading some old favorites like Kaichou wa Maid-sama! and B Gata H Kei, mixed in with some newer stuff including Kaguya wants to be confessed to and the 4koma spinoff We Want to Talk About Kaguya, The Rising of the Shield Hero, Overlord, and the re-release of Macross the First.  I recently finished re-reading Blame! thanks to that lovely new edition that came out over the last year or so.

I've been looking for recommendations to broaden my reading list, so I'm glad you made this thread.  I hope to glean many useful recommendations from it in the future.  

 

I have... though my opinion of it is not high.  

Like the ONA, the Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt manga is relentlessly dark to the point that it quickly becomes relentlessly dull.  It'd probably be a pretty good action series if only it were possible to get invested in the characters.  The problem is that the series is so thoroughly committed to gritty grimdark grim darkness that the cast is mostly made up of complete bastards.  It's not like Yazan Gable's often-comedic sociopathy, these are just unapologetically sh*tty human beings 24/7/365.  TL;DR it's a Gundam manga that really wants to be Attack on Titan written by Buckets-of-Blood guy.

The art quality is consistently excellent though.  The only thing I can really complain about there is that the Atlas Gundam is one of the most hideous Mobile Suits I've ever laid eyes on and the character art style makes many characters (esp. Claudia) look like they were supposed to be in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and wandered onto the wrong set.  I don't know about you, but seeing a Federation division leader unironically trying to rock a pompadour takes me right out of the story.

 

If you want an oddly lighthearted, charming Gundam manga, I highly recommend Developers: Mobile Suit Gundam before the One Year War.  It's about the team at a little engineering subcontractor that developed the first Minovsky reactor-powered prototype for the MS-05 Zaku I.

I'm going to confess my ignorance, but I don't know any of the manga you mentioned in your first sentence (except Macross the First). Google machine, here I come!

As for Blame!, I just read it about a week ago and enjoyed it quite a lot. However, you can definitely tell that it was his first work (well, except for the virtually unrelated short Blame (no exclamation point)). I liked it, and the world building, and the visual style, but some part of me is surprised that it has remained as popular as it has. It deserves to, don't get me wrong, but Nihei has gotten so much better since then!

As for Gundam Thunderbolt, I can definitely see the issues you mentioned about the characters getting in my way of caring for it (as well as, let's be honest, the pompadour). I decided to chance it on the cheap, and ordered a used copy of vol. 1 that I found for a few bucks.

Now, I don't usually go for the more lighthearted stuff, but Developers: Mobile Suit Gundam before the One Year War sounds interesting. I'm going to check it out. Thanks for the recommendation!

Has anyone here read Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt?

I tend towards the more scifi, especially with mecha, but have never read any Gundam manga. This one seems to have solid reviews though.

21 hours ago, Valkyrie Hunter D said:

Hmm, how do I convince mama bear that this is definitely a Valentine's Day movie we have to see? 

My solution: Have kids who have had no choice but to develop the same taste in movies that you have.

Nine times out of ten, the movies that my lady doesn't want to go see are the same ones that my son is suggesting that we go see.

11 minutes ago, Vifam7 said:

My rought summary : Lead heroine Ayako and her class of 40 girls are suddenly transported to an alternate world/dimension where they must fight Nazi zombies. Led by an alternate world fox-girl Saki, they try to find a way back to the real world. Like a videogame, the each girl has a certain amount of 'lives' per day.  Running out of 'lives'  means they actually die for real. Ayako and her classmates are each given roles that are seen in army squads/platoons (such as rifleman, sniper, medic, etc.) and they are equipped in WWII-era US Army style (thus M1 Garand, M1903 Springfield, Thompson SMG, BAR, Willys Jeep, etc)

Thank you!

1 hour ago, Vifam7 said:

Houkago Assault Girls (Afterschool Assault Girls) - Kinda like Sword Art Online except with a WWII D-Day theme going.

This one sounds interesting to me, but i'm having trouble finding much out about it online other than actual sites with scans that look slightly sketchy. Can you say anything else about what it's like?

Since there's an excellent thread about what current anime people are watching, and we have a lot of manga readers on here as well, I thought it might be informative to have a similar thread for that.

Largely, this is selfish, since I never really read much manga (though I've been watching anime and reading comic books/graphic novels for decades), but stopped into a little shop in Boston on a recent visit and decided to pick something up to support the small business.

I picked up Aposimz vol. 1 and really enjoyed it. I immediately ordered vol. 2 and flew through that one as well.

For anyone not familiar with Aposimz, it's by Tsutomu Nihei (Blame!, Knights of Sidonia), and has a lot of the same elements that you would expect from him. There are things called gauna and heigus particles, though they're not the same thing as in Knights of Sidonia. This is typical of him, as he recycles the same names and a lot of the same concepts (like seed ships in at least three of his works), but they're always slightly different. Sadly, no Toa Heavy Industries, which I always enjoy seeing pop up in his work.

On the other hand, the art looks very different. It is set on an ice planet, and everything is very white (apparently at the urging of his daughter). Story-wise, it's a quick and entertaining read (so far), though it feels more like a video game premise than a scifi manga epic. Without giving much away, the main character has to travel taking on lower baddies, building up to the bigger ones. It feels like levels of a game initially, but he puts some twists in it that make it entertaining and unexpected.

That's it for my "current" manga reading. For older stuff, I'm now in the midst of a Nihei kick, so just read through Blame, Blame!, Noise, Abara, and am halfway through my second reading of Biomega (read it once years ago, and am now taking my time and enjoying the second reading). It's really entertaining, if you read his work in the order that he created them, to see his artwork and storytelling evolve, though they're always definitely his own style and have a lot of common elements.

Biomega is by far my favorite manga... but I really haven't read much.

Next up, I plan on working my way through Knights of Sidonia (closing out the Nihei phase, since I can't find Snikt! for a reasonable price, and enjoy reading hardcopies of comics and manga), and then reading Aldnoah Zero season 1 (I just watched the anime for the second time and enjoyed it a ton, so I figured I'd see how the manga, which I believe was based upon it, and not the other way around, holds up).

What are other people reading?