Sadly, ADV seems to be limping from the devastation wrought by Sojitz pulling out of their deal. Still, ADV claims to have some new licenses in the works, so they aren’t exactly out of business yet.

Now, we wait to see what Otakon has in store for us.

That’s not to mention the source code opera that the webmaster and fans seem to be having fun with. The webmaster himself interacts with the AoD community by referencing things said in the discussion threads about BEI.

BEI has managed to take a step up this year. Seeing as how the Nebula Project is far from over, I can’t wait to see what else they have in store for us.

In other Haruhi related news, the ASOS Brigade website has updated again. This time with more of the cryptic source code messages. It seems that something will be announced soon. Though it’s still up in the air if it is a Haruhi related announcement, or just more Kadokawa and Bandai Entertainment announcements (see: the announcements for “Lucky Star” and “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” )

Also, I will be returning to blogging. Due to some happenings in my life, I found much of my time being pulled away from writing. I’ll be updating much more frequently.

Moeu.

I already stated in my Yume post how I got into these little buggers, so I thought I would get posts on the other six I currently own (yeah I’m pretty new to Microman, or is it men?).

Achilles seems to be the sort of “good guy, main character” of the Magneforce line, as Micromen are good guys and Acroyear are bad guys. Being the good guy, you would only think he would have some sort of bright color, like red which is what Achilles is for the most part with some chrome details.

The articulation is pretty good, magnetic joints are in the thighs, shoulders and a bigger magnet connecting the waist to the chest. Regular joints are in the knees, forearms, wrists, ankles and the neck.

Most of the joints are pretty strong ball joints, so he gets some good poses, weight distribution doesn’t matter since it comes with a display stand, with a sheet of metal under the plastic for the magnets in his feet.

Accessories are somewhat little, but has all he should there, lots of extra hands, armor, display stand and wings that I assume he uses as weapons.

The armor looks good and adds the bit of bulk that Achilles needs. It snaps on somewhat easily and stays on for the most part, though I found the armor makes it somewhat hard to change the hands, its other wise nice.

The extra hands add to the creativity that make the Microman line strong, you get the average closed fist, the open hands, the regular cuffed/holding weapon hands, trigger hands (even though he doesn’t come with a gun) and pointed hands.

Weapons are a bit boring but since they have a point when combined, its under stand able, his weapons are wings, I know your probably thinking “Wings? What would he do with wings?”

For one thing, I assume he uses them like swords, but the point is there for his combined mode which I will talk about later. It’s a little sad they take what could have been really good weapons and sacrifice them for a combined mode that wasn’t all to great. None the less nice to see something new, even if somewhat odd.

The combined form can only be achieved if you own Theseus and Icurus, its very weird as I really don’t know what its supposed to be, I guess it shoots stuff while flying around. An arm on the display stand would help this mode a lot, but its some what bland the way it is. It actually only requires the weapons and magnetic ball joints from the other two, a little more involvement of the other two figures would have helped. Not much to say about this mold, I find it to be boring and that the figure by its shelf is much, much, better.

Pros

-creative concept

-looks attractive

-great articulation

Cons

-combined mode could have been better

If I recall, the first MSIAs were the RX-78-2, MS-06S Char Aznable custom and the MS-06F, so you can assume this figure will be a little old-fashioned. While being old, this MSIA is still great, there’s plenty of panel inking, the paint is beautiful, this figure is one that still competes with whatever Bandai pumps out.

Articulation is good, but a bit restricted in the legs due to the skirt armor, and the arms are the old type so they can’t raise up all the way like modern figures. The head and hands are peg jointed so it can’t look up and has trouble holding its machine gun (a bit), that pretty much sums up my articulation woes.

Lots of accessories, the machine gun has a removable drum that the Zaku can hold, which is nice but no story this time.

The bazooka can get a lot of poses, I just whish the support handle was tunable so the Zaku could hold it better.

The missile pods weren’t the best part of this figure, If you can find one, it more than likely won’t have this problem, these are great little accessories, but mine I believe is a production error, I GOT TWO RIGHT MISSILE PODS. this doesn’t harm the figure, but none the less bothers me, to get the left missile pod to fit, I have to place it where either the missiles don’t point outward or cram it on which I’ve found to look best though it slopes, if anything I can give my honest opinion of the right missile pod.

Its held on by a ringlet on the other end and stay on quit well and looks good, maybe if I had the left missile pod I could say the same for it.

The heat hawk is a nice change from the beam saber, it stores nicely on its skirt and looks great when being held, I could not say the same for the US version because it dose not come with extra hands. Since I currently don’t own the US version of the Zaku, I tried holding the heat hawk with the trigger hand and it slid right out, but the heat hawk is still a fun part of this MSIA.

the shield and shoulder pieces are removable, and even interchangeable. Not a lot you can do with them but I thought I would mechin it.

As a display piece this is one fine MSIA, lots of options, great pose ability, good detail, the Zaku will surely stand out, a great display piece, and a fairly sturdy toy.

pros and cons

Pros

-Sturdy, ok for play

-Lots of accessories, even if they don’t fit completely

-Nice detailing

Cons

-limited articulation in some areas

A couple of years ago, I snagged this one and the Gyan MSIAs off Amazon.com and of course I was excited. The package finally got here about a week or so later, sadly the car broke down if I recall so me, my parents and my brother (moeu) go hauling off mean while set in the back seat constantly thinking about my two new MSIAs!

Enough of the old stories back to the point of my review, this is basically the same thing you get with the ground type Gundam MSIA except a couple of new parts, and a ground type GM head.

I do not currently own a regular RX-79 [G] Gundam, so besides not being much different there’s not much holding back this MSIA, at the moment I‘m happy just to have a variant this mobile suit.

Excellent detail, theirs everything but panel lines, though the paintjob looks real nice on this figure.

This figure comes loaded with parts, I’ll start with the machinegun included for this figure.

This is my favorite part of the hole thing, the ammo clips can be removed from the waist and the machine gun itself just imagine this sort of scene where the RX-79 [G]is reloading after pouring its ammo into the gouf custom, now a thick smoke lays and thrusting out of it is the unharmed gouf custom and chops the Gundam/GM in half!

Oh the excitement, any way the beam rifle is also very nice but not quit as fun as the machinegun, its nothing compared to the machinegun buts fun. The beam sabers are (again) about average, show accurate but very dull, there’s not much I can say nothing bad but nothing great. Cant be held good due to not having extra hands. The parachute backpack is not really how you would think an average action figure parachute would look.

Its very nice though, its molded to look like the parachute before its deployed and adds to the figure, on top of that if you where to set up a diorama using MSIAs you can remove the parachute part of the backpack

As seen after they land or just leaving a good little seat for GM-sans friends!

The problem is that it’s a heavy peace of PVC and weighs a ton making it hard to get on, considering that its held by a belt resting on the shoulder amour.

The shield is just icing on the cake, you’ll really just want to rake your finger trough it and leave the crusty part. This shield is one of the best shields from the vast MSIA lineup, it can put the good articulation of the arm to use.

Unlike most MSIAs this one has an innovative design, the peg (which holds in to the arm very well also) can be popped off leaving this sort of grey piece that you can then take and place the shield on after turning it, making the shield bit longer ,I guess so it can use it as a last resort weapon.

I find it hard to explain this shield, its actually somewhat simple, just cleaver, unlike the giant surfboard we got with the strike and the RX-78-2.

Surprisingly the weight distribution is really good, even with the parachute backpack equipped, it can get a lot of good poses except when kneeling it might tilt over since its legs have a wee bit of trouble sometimes.

Sorry if lost ya’ll somewhere in this review, but this MSIA is by far one of my favorites.

Time for some simple pros & cons to some up my thoughts.

Pros

-good articulation.

-good detail.

-lots of weapons and parts to tide you over.

-innovative mold

-decently sturdy, ok for soft play.

Cons

-very similar to the regular release of the RX-79 [G].

-parts might get lost if not kept up with, keeping them in a plastic bag would be a good idea.

I found some magnaforce figures at KB toys while I was looking for some old transformers among other stuff (this KB has some old stuff, trust me.) and found the obscured brand name microman, remembering that microman has some pre-transformers history I immediately pick it up. Well the packaging said Takara, had Japanese symbols on it, and -shock- $2.50 PRICE TAG! So I bought the only one they had (Métis) and drove up the street. Sure enough they had Achilles, Phobos and Atlas. Bought em’ all. Then I looked it up and found out these where US versions, which aren’t quit as good as the originals, mine seemed to have some sort peeling feet (magnaforce figures have magnetic joints and magnets in there feet) not that it bothered me since only 3 of 4 micro men had peeling feet and the two I later ordered from hlj didn’t but hlj sells the Japanese ones. In addition to the two I orded I also bought the boundock MSIA for fifteen dollars on sale woo! And Yume who I haven’t spoke of until now.

This figure is very nice lots of parts and options detail is good but mostly made of violet transparent plastic with some painted details and chrome painted face, which at first I wasn’t so found on but regardless Yume is very kawaiiiiiiiiiii.

You have to pop certain accessories out by hand, that’s a pain since the plastic trees are a mess with model kits. I nervously pop the parts out but it was pretty clean, not like a model kit so much.

The vacuum is cute, until she whips a gun out on you then she’s just scary… the end of the vacuum is removable, forming her gun.

The bottoms on her drinking glasses can be removed making needles that I guess she shoots, threes also some kind of attack mode involving the two thin belts that can be placed on her leg amour connecting to her back, or from her back to her gun, in the back its held on by a special piece that sandwiches it to the back of her breast plate. I found that these belts warp easily and are hard to get in her gun, they don’t stick to her leg armor either. Her gun is also able to mount on her leg armor.

Shoulder amour clips on nicely to her petit arms except some times her arms slide off, its some what annoying how fragile she is. These don’t stand out much either, but make a nice detail.

Her platter/tray can be held and blades can be pulled out of it to, it also can be mounted on her leg armor or on either shoulder armor. The drinking glasses can be held, but not easily placed on her platter, maybe its not meant to though.

Her glasses are very cute and add such a good look, they stay in pretty well to. The slot they slide in is hard to notice on her face, the glasses are transparent, making them hard to see as well though.

Weight distribution here does not matter, she comes with a display stand that fits onto her toe and allows her to stand. Her problem is that she’s very fragile and come apart far to easily, but its mold overuse from how it sounds, but otherwise great figure, now if only they made microlady Fate and Nanoha … (nose bleeds.).

Pros & cons

Pros

-lots of parts

-cute and sexy

-excellent articulation

-multiple uses for most parts.

Cons

-very fragile

Accessories: Shield, Beam saber (X2), Long rifle, Boosters (Left and right.).

Mine is the US version so of course no panel lines, but the detailing is otherwise what stands out on this figure (or maybe I just think the tallgease looks good as a mobile suit.).

Its articulation is where this figure has its problems, first due to a combination of a annoying chunk of plastic on the forearm, an old style hinge joint and what could have been better piece connecting the long rifle to the shoulder piece, it has trouble holding the long rifle, it actually almost can’t hold its long rifle while mounted on its shoulder and has trouble when not mounted on its shoulder.

The beam sabers are about average, though you can leave both hilts mounted in the shield, which is a nice feature. I would have preferred a beam rifle like the one you get with the Leo MSIA, since it had one in the show I think (sorry can‘t remember where) I guess you could just buy the Leo space type off eBay, but I really shouldn’t have to pay the outrageous prices that thing can go for, it should be there in the first place.

The boosters also have a fun little gimmick, when you pull the wings up thrusters flip out! While being fun the thrusters don’t stay out good and in addition mine came apart one day and was quiet cumbersome to get back together. Being some what sturdier than your average MSIA the Tallgease is perfect for play as long as your still careful. Weight distribution is very good on this figure should stand with ease on a display shelf and looks eye-catching with both beam sabers drawn.

Although I have complained a lot in this review, I love my Tallgease and you might also. Now for pro’s & con’s.

Pro’s

- very solid among other MSIAs.

- fun to play with.

- decently detailed.

- good weight distribution

Con’s

- articulation compared to modern figures is, well, bad.

- gimmicks aren’t solid.

This is an old MSIA so I can’t expect much, but still very nice to at least have some wing MSIAs that aren’t Gundams, though could have been better. On side note would be rather nice to have a second version Tallgease and Leo MSIA later remolded into the Mercurius and Vayeate, one can only wish.

First off…

Moe-tan

Episodes viewed so far: 2.

Impressions: Well…it’s moe, that’s for sure. Though, the show crosses the line at points, it makes up for it with some decent comedy.

Potemayo

Episodes viewed so far: 1

Impressions: Very, very funny. If Guchuko doesn’t qualify as one of the best characters of the year, then none of them do. Sadly, I’ve only been able to see the first episode, but it really impressed me. The jokes never felt flat, and it all flowed together nicely.

Umisho

Episodes viewed so far: 4

Impressions: A very solid show. It’s a “turn-your- brain-off” fanservice show, but it a very well done fanservice show. It spices up the usual clichés of the genera, so that it’s fun and rather refreshing. Those who don’t like this type of show won’t be impressed, but for those who actually like to have fun, it’s a very worthwhile show.

Code-E

Episodes viewed so far: 2

Impressions: It’s interesting, but very laid back. Because of this, it gives off the same vibes as the “Read or Die” TV series. Though, they really shouldn’t be compared. They are both two completely different shows. Still, it’s been a nice show so far. And it’s got Halko Momoi, that’s a plus.

Zero no Tsukaima: Season 2

Episodes viewed so far: 4

Impressions: It’s taken everything that made the first season great, and made it even better. It’s making so much headway. My only complaint is that it isn’t explaining the conflict between the various nations and kingdom very well. A good fantasy show should develop the overall scope of the world that they are in. Otherwise, Louise-chan is 10x more moe, Siesta is 10x more moe and sexy, everything is just generally better. Though that’s not to say that the first season was bad, because it wasn’t.

Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kai

Episodes viewed so far: 5

Impressions: Wow, this is in the same boat as ZnT2. It carries on from the first series, and improves on areas where the first season was obviously lacking.

Doujin Work

Episodes viewed so far: 4

Impressions: Another solid comedy this season. It’s a show about a young woman, with no interest in the Anime/Manga culture before, decides to take up writing and drawing Hentai doujishi looking for big bucks. It’s like “Comic Party”, but twisted. Every episode has never failed to make me laugh.

Baccano!

Episodes viewed so far: 1

Impressions: Yay for EPIC violence and dark comedy. It’s a bit confusing, but it left me wanting more. SO far, so good.

That’s all I’ve had a chance to watch so far, though there are a lot of other promising shows out there as well.