Review: The Ultmate Anime Guide by SFX

We were at the Barnes & Noble store in Frederick which I usually try to shop once a month. They usually have one of my fav mags called NEO which is out of the UK. I found the recent one (Issue 85), but also find something else in the magazine displays. "The Ultimate Guide to Anime Special SFX Edition".

It was a sealed folder that had the following inserted:

• The Ultimate Guide to Anime (132 pages)
  
• Magnets of Naruto
• DVD of the first 3 episodes of Sacred Blacksmith
• Double-sided Movie Poster

I got all this for $18.99 plus tax which I thought was a good deal. I wanted to see what this "Ultimate Guide' was all about as I was wondering what it covered. I can't say this is the "Ultimate", but it had some nice articles. It had the some nice write ups of Naruto, Akira and Evangelion 2.22. They also have several reviews of anime and books. Some articles are short, while others are in great detail. It even has a sample of manga called Twelfth Night which was done by Williams Shakespeare. Not too sure about a manga done in Olde English, but the artwork is well done for the series.

I soon discovered that most of the articles were written by the same people. You had Andrew Osmond (who I swear wrote 80% of the articles) and Jonathan Clements . Never seen so much written by one person in a magazine.

If you were a Studio Ghibli fan, I would definitely recommend this. It had no less than 4 articles on the studio, the music and the shows produced I really enjoyed reading about the Cécile Corbel, who is the person that did the music for 'Arrietty'. It was interesting seeing how she got involved in the creating the music for the anime.

My wife loves fridge magnets and has them up already. I have the poster showing 'Summer Wars' (other side was 'The Girl who Leapt through Time') hanging over my computer desk.

The only issue was the DVD of Sacred Blacksmith. Since this was a UK magazine, this was actually in Region 1. After some minor tweaks to some things, I was able to watch this on my computer. This is a pretty cool anime and I may actually get the remainder of the series to watch after seeing this.

Besides that bit of a setback, I still feel this was a worth while purchase.  I am a tad upset by the title since this was not really what you would of thought of reading the cover. I have to say though, even I know it was not really going to be an 'ultimate guide'.

I did get introduced to a new anime called Redline. This may have to be added to my watch list and see if it is worth the hype.

READ MORE - Review: The Ultmate Anime Guide by SFX

#0044 Full Armor Unicorn Gundam, Part II

Very late with this post as I did the first part a couple weeks ago. This is the final set of shots for the #0044 Full Armor Unicorn Gundam (Gundam Fix Figuration series). This set will showcase the figure fully assembled in all its glory.

I am always amazed by the number of arms and stuff they can pack onto these units. Not sure I want to see this Unicorn in Destroy Mode with all this stuff at his disposal. I am sure he could destroy a battle fleet with all these arms.

Like I always do, lets jump right to the figure (which almost did not fit in the case).

4 Revolving Views



Random Cool Shots

Have you picked this up yet? If not, it is one you should have in your collection as it is a great unit.

READ MORE - #0044 Full Armor Unicorn Gundam, Part II

Manga Review: Blue Exorcist

Welcome to the 2nd Edition of Kids Korner

I had my son (10 years old) do a review of this as he wanted to pick it up. It was something I had him do while out of school at the beginning of his vacation. He needs to read more and I thought this would be a fun way to get him involved.

Manga: Blue Exorcist
Story & Art: Kazue Kato
Distributor: VIZ Media
Reading Level: for Older Teen
Page Count: 200 Pages
Number of Volumes: Unknown - so far 2 volumes are out

Back Cover:

Raised by Father Fujimoto, a famous exorcist, Rin Okumura never knew his real father. One day a fateful argument with Father Fujimoto forces Rin to face a terrible truth – the blood of the demon lord Satan runs in Rin’s veins! Rin swears to defeat Satan, but doing that means entering the mysterious True Cross Academy and becoming an exorcist himself. Can Rin fight demons and keep his infernal bloodline a secret? It won't be easy, especially when drawing his father’s sword releases the demonic power within him!

What made you buy this book?

Because in Manga Issue 5 [Shonen Jump Volume 5 - 2011] you get a preview.

What is the Story about?

This book is about a boy named Rin [and] how he finds out that he's 1/2 demon. When he sees Satan, [he] said "Lets got to Gehenna". But Rin said 'No!'. Satan tried to force him, but he got out.

Who are some of the main characters and who are they?

Rin - a person with a special personality
Yukio - a true Cross Academy Exorcism Teacher [and Rin's brother]
Mesphisto - President of the True Cross Academy

Who is your favorite character and why?

Rin, because of his "love to fight".

How do you rate this book (5 being the best) and why?

5 - Because of the illustration is great. This book made you want to read it over and over.

Will you buy the next volume?

YES!! :) and he actually did picked up volume 2

READ MORE - Manga Review: Blue Exorcist

#0044, Full Armor Unicorn Gundam, Part I

When I saw this on eBay I had to have it. The price tag however kept me away for a short while. When it was on sale at 25% off, then I jumped in and got it - Gundam Fix Figuration #0044 Full Armor Unicorn.

Now this was done with green instead of the regular red coloring. That aside, this was a very nice addition to the collection. It sucks that I can build them, but then have to tear them down as we are packing stuff up. I did run into an issue putting this together which I will get to later.

Here is the the outside and inside guts of this little baby. That alone was enough for me to get this unit.

You get plenty of accessories so you can really get creative with how you want this to look. Here are the inside guts. What I really liked was the fact you didn't have those damn ties anymore. You have a plastic shell over the parts - thank the Gods for that. I swear it always took 1/2 a day just to take all them out.

You get 2 sheets of instructions as it seem that they made a slight mistake in the photos on some of the building.

Of course since this is a Destroy Mode version of the Unicorn Gundam, the horn is opened up as seen below.

Enough of this simple stuff and get to the actual figure build. Now there was a really cool thing that this guy has on himself without adding the stuff (well you will need a beam for the swords). I have 3 shots showing the forearm being opened up to review a beam sword. They really did go all out on the decals and armor ans a large amount of it was extremely flexible.

Lets take a look at the other deadly armaments this unit comes with as well. You have your Beam Rifle, a couple small Guns (not shown), a couple Beam Cannons as well. Not to mention the numerous Gatling Guns and Shields. This has so much stuff, you can go up against a full regiment and still have left overs for a warship.

btw: those damn beam swords kept falling off his backpack
while I was assembling - over and over and over again

Now I did end up breaking a part (+_+). They make these so damn fragile sometimes. You have to 'snap' these onto an forearm and it kept slipping. Finally one of the joints snapped and I had to take a break. Super Glue to the rescue - yea.

Above you are seeing the back of the Shield with the Gatling guns which you get 3 sets of. Two are stationary and cannot be move, while one set needs to be put together. Below you see the shields and how you can see one is solid while the other one can be closed and opened up. The two that are open are used for the arms while the adjustable set is used on the back pack.

Come back next week for the BIG conclusion and the figure in all its glory.

READ MORE - #0044, Full Armor Unicorn Gundam, Part I

Gundam Fix Figuration #0014

I have been getting in some Gundam Fix Figuration's for a couple weeks not. Not sure what bug got up my ass, but suddenly had the urge to get some of them. Wouldn't of been that post over at Collect'em All I saw - no way - right?

This review will be of the GFF #0014,EX-S Gundam Taskforce Alpha. I have been trying to get my hands on the ones that have the most accessories.

When I was putting some of the earlier parts on, it felt heavy. The back fin part was a problem as it did not stay in its spot very well. I mean you had a little peg that held it in and it did have some weight due to the large amount of plastic.

The arms were a bit stiff, but manageable. I did place some parts on wrong as I had to review the box photos since the illustrations were a bitch to figure out. The gun is one of those parts that really had me baffled in how to place on this unit. I did my best, but know it was not setup as designed :P

When all the parts are assembled, you do need the stand. All that weight in the back will make it tip over other wise. I used my IKEA display stand and a black background. I had 2 light sources as well which I think helped with some of the shots.

Here are the early shots of the box, instructions, insides and extra stickers. I am old fashion, so do not plan to use the stickers at all. I sometimes really hate not being able to read Japanese sometimes. Though they have the illustrations, I still scratch my head on some of them.

Box Shots & Extras

I always have fun with these, but hate the damn wire bands they use for these. Seems like it takes me 1/2 an hour just to undo all of them. My cats however love to steal them and play with them around the apartment.

My son kept watching me and asking if he could help. I let him take some of the parts out for me. I have to build one of these with him one time. He said that when he turns 18, he to have them - I said sure :)

Here are some earlier shots with Gundam before I added the extra larger pieces to it.

I really love the details on these figures and the small extras they have really add to it. Here is a shot of a knee part that comes loose so you can remove the canister and held an extra light sabre. The red canister was 1/2 inch wide by 1/4 inch in diameter, but the details are stunning.


Well, lets now get to the really cool part of the show and lets see this baby. Full blown armored version with jet pack and the super-sized laser rifle.

4 Revolving Poses

Here are the Close Ups







Cool Shadow Shot

Well, not sure what will be next in the series. it will either be #0019 or #0044.

READ MORE - Gundam Fix Figuration #0014