Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Cosmic Region Akatsuki

Gam-ba-tei Cagalli-sama!

I'm not sure if you like Akatsuki Gundam from SEED Destiny. In the story, this Gundam is built by Orb in secret and is supposed to be launched when the country is in grave danger. The illogical part is: if it is that strong, why does Orb have to keep it in the store-room all the while until Cagalli threatens to commit suicide with a Skygraspher (only SEED Destiny fans will get this joke~). After two episodes, Akatsuki is passed down to Neo Lornock/Mwu La Fraga to be sent to space. Actually I was quite disappointed with that, as I was hoping to see more Cagalli in action.

Built with similar design as Strike Gundam, you’ll see shadow of Strike Akatsuki very easily. As a matter of fact, many modelers modify MG Strike to get Akatsuki. Really cool, especially the golden color scheme. Anyone wants to try modifying PG Strike?

Anyway, we are lucky to have the Aile unit (called Oowashi) and space pack (Shiranui) in a single release of this Cosmic Region Akatsuki. So Gundam fans don’t have to buy two Akatsuki in different equipments. Priced at around 4500 yen, should be around RM200++ in Malaysia.

Image is from Ichiba.


With very few Gundam models and products at the moment, Akatsuki Gundam makes the headline

Monday, September 25, 2006

Character designs for Tranformers the Movie 2007

Saw some unconfirmed designs of a few characters of Transformers the Movie 2007 on CountingDown.com. Some of you might have seen Optimus Prime and Megatron before this. So, what’s your comment?

For me, frankly, I don’t quite like the designs of both the leading robots. Optimus seems a bit too ‘stylish’ for me, kind-of give me the ‘cow-boy’ feeling. Is that how Michael Bay wants him to be? If so, that might destroy his long impression in many fans’ hearts. Optimus should be the very straight kind-of guy, like how he is in the original series, at least that’s how I feel. I mean, they use the same huge wind-screen design for his chest for around 20 years, no matter what vehicles he transforms into, so what’s the point of giving him smaller boobs now?

And then Megatron, walau~~

The designers must hate him real bad to give such a design to him. He doesn’t even have identifiable fingers! Well, at least he is not wearing the awkward-looking helmet anymore. :-P My favorite design of the ultimate bad guy is Galvatron, the ungrateful evolved version of Megatron. The crown-like helmet seems cool to me.

Anyway, since these images are from a forum, nothing has been confirmed, so let’s hope that they make some adjustments based on the fans feedback, so that we don’t end up with another Gozilla or Final Fantasy Hollywood crap.

Images are adapted from CountingDown.com.


The new Optimus Prime, will probably stir up some controversy among Transformers fans


The truck design of Optimus Prime, now way to figure out how he manage to transform into the robot mode above


The new Megatron, any possibility that he is partly organic in this design?


Megatron face in battle mode. Pretty mean, and now he has teeth too :-)


The design for Bumber-bee. Cute? I don’t think so


Jazz. Sleek chick-catcher from Sibertron. I wonder if he is that stylish in robot mode


And this is Starscream, looks really different now. I wonder if he has the same squeaky voice from the original version?

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Learn Economic Models from the Cows

Don't know anything about economic models? Don't know anything about government system? Here's a very simple way to make yourself understand those concepts. Learn from the two cows :-) Just for leisure actually :-D

Taken from MissIzzy.org.

SOCIALISM:
You have 2 cows, and you give one to your neighbor.

COMMUNISM:
You have 2 cows. The State takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM:
You have 2 cows. The State takes both and sells you some milk.

NAZISM:
You have 2 cows. The State takes both and shoots you.

BUREAUCRATISM:
You have 2 cows. The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, then throws the milk away…

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM:
You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION:
You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow has dropped dead.

A FRENCH CORPORATION:
You have two cows. You go on strike, organise a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION:
You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create a clever cow cartoon image called Cowkimon and market it worldwide.

A GERMAN CORPORATION:
You have two cows. You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION:
You have two cows, but you don’t know where they are. You decide to have lunch.

A RUSSIAN CORPORATION:
You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 2 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.

A SWISS CORPORATION:
You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you. You charge the owners for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION:
You have two cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity, and arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION:
You have two cows. You worship them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION:
You have two cows. Both are mad.

IRAQI CORPORATION:
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows. You tell them that you have none. No-one believes you, so they bomb the shit out of you and invade your country. You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of a Democracy….

SURREALISM:
You have two giraffes.
The government requires you to take harmonica lessons

HONG KONG CAPITALISM:
You have two cows. You sell 3 of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank.
Then you execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all 4 cows back, with a tax deduction for keeping 5 cows.
The milk rights of 6 cows are transferred via a Panamanian intermediary to a Cayman Islands company secretly owned by the majority shareholder.
He sells the rights to all 7 cows’ milk back to the listed company, and proceeds from the sale are deferred. The annual report says that the company owns 8 cows, with an option on one more.
Meanwhile, you kill the 2 cows because the feng shui is bad.

NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION:
You have two cows. The one on the left looks very attractive.

SINGAPOREAN CIVIL SERVICE
You have two cows. You scold each one everyday before and after milking.
You teach one of them to scold the other.
You instruct them to moo only on command.

AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION:
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.

Friday, September 22, 2006

Gundam anime review: Char’s Counterattack

Char’s Counterattack is a must watch for all Gundam fans. Really, I’m sure that any Gundam fan will find this anime interesting, and worth watching. The storyline, mecha design, character building, and the battle sequences are of the highest quality of Gundam anime. I would also place my safe bet that Gundam fans who are unfamiliar with the UC timeline will be eager to find out more about the history after watching this movie.

This 90-minute anime is about the final duel between the Federation and the Neo-Zeon armies in UC0093. On a personal account, it is also the final battle staged between Amuro Ray who piloted the famous RX-78-2 Gundam during the One Year War and Char Aznable, the Red Comet. And, finally, Char don’t have to wear a mask anymore like he did in the original Gundam series, or a sunglass which he uses to disguise himself as Quattro Bagina in the Zeta series. Char finally achieves his political goal by becoming the leader of the Neo-Zeon, while Amuro Ray becomes the spearhead of the special task force called Londo Bell, which is formed to counter the threat of the Neo-Zeon.


Nice to see Amuro back in action again after some brief appearance in the Zeta series


Char is not wearing mask anymore, but why is his pilot suit in yellow not red?

Char tries to drop asteroids onto Earth, so that human beings living on it will be forced to move to space colonies, and Earth can once more be free of pollution and human occupation. At the same time, human race can evolved to the next level: Newtypes. Such ideology is not new to Gundam fans who are familiar with Char. His idea of human beings’ souls being pulled down by the gravity of Earth, and the only hope is to move to outer space where the human race can receive their Illuminations and becomes Newtypes like Amuro, Kamille Bidan of the Zeta series, or even Char himself. As a matter of fact, Char managed to drop an asteroids named the Fifth Luna onto the city of Lhasa in Tibet, destroying the headquarter of the Earth Federation situated there.

Char’s cunningness and perhaps the evil within him prove too much for Amuro Ray and co, as they continue to be outsmarted by Char in almost all battles. The flagship of the Londo Bell is the Ra Cailum, with Bright Noa as the captain. It’s such a pity to see that Char, Amuro and Bright Noa who once fought together against the Titans in the Zeta series now becomes enemies. Nevertheless, Char is such an intriguing character, who always seeks to hold true to his own vision for the human race to advance. After seeing the arrogance of people on Earth not recognizing their fault and continue to have discrimination and animosity against the Spacenoids, Char decided that he will not wait for the long and slow evolution to take place, and he would use his own power to forge the destiny of the human race.


The crew of Ra Cailum, sitting in the middle at the back is Captain Bright Noa

On the other hand, his arch-rival Amuro Ray tries all his best to save Earth from entering a period of Nuclear Winter due to all the asteroids being dropped. He picks up a brand new Gundam, the Nu Gundam from Anaheims Electronics which features six powerful funnels to counter Char’s crimson Sazabi. The Nu Gundam seems to have some sort of connection with Sazabi, as both incorporate the a mysterious material called psycho-frame in the cockpit, that relay not only the pilot’s thoughts but emotions as well to the MS, which allows almost perfect human-like reflexes. The psycho-frame’s effect also makes the MS to have some sort of ability to think on its’ own in some cases, make response without waiting for the pilot’s command, which sounds quite frightening.


Nice to get a glimpse on how Nu Gundam is constructed


When the cockpit is in the head, and the head is so big, you’ll get the picture of the size of Sazabi


The MG version of Sazabi gave the big guy bigger shoulder armors and a more ‘pointy’ chest armor


I always find the launching sequence of Sazabi to be very exciting, amidst all the battle sequences

Also joining the battle are Gyunei Guss and Quess Paraya piloting their respective Jagd Doga, which also incorporate funnel system. Gyunei is a Cyber-Newtype, aka artificial Newtypes who always tries to prove his worth by acting over his head in the battle field. Quess on the other hand, is a natural Newtype who has a crush on Char, and being emotionally unstable in MS combat, since she is not originally a soldier. Char sees the opportunity well, and use her ability as a Newtype to fight against the Londo Bell well. Eventually Quess becomes the pilot for the ultimate MA Alpha Azieru which lay waste to many of the Londo Bell MS troops.


Meet Quess Paraya, a strange girl with a strange name. The hair color doesn’t look normal to me either


As compared to Stardust Memory with tons of MAs, we only get one in Char’s Counterattack – Alpha Azieru assigned to Quess Paraya

On the other hand, the Londo Bell seems to be depending a lot on Amuro Ray and his Nu Gundam. They lost a few good pilots like Kayla Su piloting the ReGZ in an early battle, and Chief Mechanic Astonage from the Zeta and ZZ series is also killed in this movie. Nonetheless, Amuro’s amazing skill as a MS pilot allows him to outmatch all the Neo-Zeon forces, including Gyunei Guss, and eventually leading to the final duel between him and Char.


The complete version of Nu – the six funnels are attached to the backpack


The funnels form a beam capony to protect Nu Gundam. Now that’s awesome

The climax of the movie is when Char tries to launch the asteroid Axis, which used to be the stronghold of the Haman Kahn’s Axis before she was defeated by the AEUG. The dropping of Axis onto Earth will definitely cripple the Earth’s ecology, massacring millions of people. Bright Noa’s fleet launches nuclear assault to break the asteroid, but all his nuclear missiles didn’t make it pass Sazabi’s funnels. Amuro meets Char and have their long awaited duel. Bright Noa decides to take the chance to go off his ship with his crew to plant explosives on Axis to break it up at the last minute. His plan eventually backfires when he realizes that one half of Axis detonated is heading straight for Earth.


Amuro is running out of energy for his beam saber!


At the moment only HCM Pro Sazabi is able to mimic that kick. MG? No way!


Sazabi lost his left arm


Come on pal, I saw you hid a card just now. Give it up!

Amuro, who gets the better of Char in the duel rushes to the asteroid to push it back using the Nu Gundam’s verniers. The captured Char in Sazabi’s cockpit pod starts to lecture him on his stupidity. Amazingly, many EFSF and Zeon MSs come to help to hold off the asteroids, but most of them are destroyed during atmospheric re-entry. As Char reminds Amuro about the lost of Lalah Sun during the One Year War, the psycho-frame of Nu Gundam overloads and the combined psychic power of Amuro and the psycho-frame pushes Axis of its course, creating a very beautiful wave-like light rays, while both Amuro and Char has vanish.


As Nu Gundam tries desperately to push the asteroid Axis off Earth's gravity pull...


...many Geara Dogas from the Neo-Zeon army start to help out as well


The light of the psycho-frame can be said as the will-power of Amuro and Char


Can anyone think of a better way to finish the story between Amro and Char?

So, what really happened to Amuro and Char in the end? Perhaps nobody will know. However, that’s quite an intelligent way to finish the fuel between the two ace pilots. I mean, you can’t let Amuro kills Char and live on. All the fans of Char will probably tear down Sunrise and Bandai :-) and the same goes for Amuro as well. The emotional part of Char’s Counterattack is pretty interesting. It seems like the personal issue between Amuro and Char is still regarding the death of Lalah Sun during the One Year War. That’s like 14 years of hatred because of a girl! There’re many other interesting characters as well, Quess is one strange character, and the three way love-hate relationship between her, Char and Hathaway, Bright Noa’s son is quite an intriguing one as well. Hard-headed Cyber Newtype Gyunei Guss is pretty cool, though you might not like him anymore after a while.


Hathaway tries to get through to Quess with his stolen Jegan


A very persistent Gyunei in his blue Jagd Doga. After a while you’ll find his persistence to be annoyingly insistent

In terms of MS design, Char’s Counterattack has some of the best MS design in all Gundam anime. Mecha such as Sazabi, Nu Gundam, ReGZ and Jagd Doga has been around for quite some time, and they are still among the favorite designs of all. My personal favorite is the crimson Sazabi. Look brilliant in the movie, with many flexible close-combat actions, which are pretty close to martial art fight. How I wish my MG Sazabi can have that sort of actions as well. The basic unit for Londo Bell is the Jegan, which is a very distance relative of the GM; for the Neo Zeon, they have Geara Doga, which still maintain the spiked shoulder armor design resembling that of their ancestors, Zaku IIs. There’s one customized blue Geara Doga belonged to the very aggressive female pilot Rezin Schnyder, whom reminds me of Cima Garahau in Stardust Memory.


Not a real transforming MS, the ReGZ’s backpack increases the MS’s mobility while adding a bit more firepower


Without the Backpack Weapon System (BWS), ReGZ seems a bit plain to me


Nevertheless, Amuro fences off Char’s Sazabi with ReGZ before upgrading to Nu Gundam

How many star out of five to be given to Char’s Counterattack? Definitely five from me. As a matter of fact, this movie is so good; it makes me wonder what went wrong with Sunrise’s design of the Gundam anime after Char’s Counterattack. Gundam F91, Crossbone Gundam and V Gundam may have their own originality, but their storyline and MS design are no where near the standard of this movie. Not only the Gundam and other MSs become smaller, those stories seem to be relying on the many number of Gundams appearing in a single anime to win the hearts of the fans. Too bad, I guess.

Anyway, the bottom line is, you’ve got to check Char’s Counterattack out!

Thursday, September 21, 2006

1-72 Sazabi Evolved Ver.

Saw this on G System Shop about a week ago, and spent that much time pulling my jaws together before being able to write a bit on it. I guess anyone who's a fan of Char and Sazabi will go nuts for this kit. The brilliant people at G System Shop redefined Sazabi, thus the title of ‘Evolved Ver.’ Absolutely fabulous, I admire the original Sazabi in Char’s Counter Attack very much, but this new design, with all the extra details is even better!

Since it's a resin kit, people who buy this model will have to do their own painting. That's right; Sazabi's crimson appearance will depend on your modeling skills. At the scale of 1-72, Sazabi would be about the heights of a typical PG model, but the size of the big guy will definitely blow your PG Strike or Gundam RX-78-2 away with ease. The size of the waist and shoulder armors plus the shield is pretty much unrivaled. Also, there is a complete set of inner frames which are so detailed it’s pretty much a PG standard.

Images are from G System Shop.


Front and rear view


Details of the body and rear waist armor. The design is better than the MG version


Helmet can be lifted, revealing the cockpit, and the funnels can be moved individually, cool!


Super-duper new rifle! The shield's design is pretty groovy too

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Sexiest Rodimus?

Fans of Transformers can now get Rodimus of the 'Kiss Ple' series to match up with his commander Convoy. If you recall, I did introduced the big guy a week or so ago in my blog.

But...

Rodimus doesn't seem as cool as Convoy of the same series. The feet design is a bit 'off-scale' and what's the big deal of giving him a pair of yellow hands? I still think that Rodimus from the original series - the one with the 'flame tattoo' on his chest is the coolest.

Anyway, the choice is up to you. This guy is available at the same price as Convoy from HLJ.


Oh Rodimus... Well, at least the little girl in Cheongsam looks cute ^^;

Breaking News!!!

Check out the latest Cosmic Region Akatsuki Gundam, and GFF Kampfer/Prototype Kampfer coming out this December. Just look at the huge gatling. Superb hot stuff!

Images are from GA Graphic.


Cosmic Region Akatsuki Gundam (Oowashi version). Not sure whether the Shiranui pack is included as well in the kit.


Prototype Kampfer with super-duper gatling gun


MS-18E Kampfer, one of my favorite Zeon mecha. Looks a bit fatter than the MG version :-)

Upcoming Gundam Merchandises

Here are the few images of the upcoming Gundam models from The Gundam Base Side 1. The highlight is of course MG Crossbone Gundam X-1 Ver. Ka, seemingly the only MG we’ll get in this month.

All images are from The Gundam Base Side 1. Click on the images to enlarge, and click on the names to see more images from the website.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Gundam Anime Review: Gundam F91

I watched Gundam F91 on DVD about a month ago, after returning from my KL trip. Back then, Bandai had just confirmed the release of MG F91, which was a huge factor why I decided to check out the anime.

In contrary to SEED everyone is so familiar with, or UC0083: Stardust Memory reviewed in my blog quite some time ago, Gundam F91 is a movie released in the early 90s, not a series. Unlike the development of Gundam anime now, where the different timelines, such as CE in SEED, AW in Gundam X, AC in Gundam Wing and FC in G Gundam are used for different series, Gundam F91 is set in the Universal Century, just as any other Gundam anime before it. Back then, it was even perceived that no alternate timeline can be designed for Gundam.


Seabook Arno - the "Amuro Ray" or "Kira Yamato" if you will, of this story

The story of Gundam F91 is set in UC0123, some 20 years after Char Aznable’s Neo-Zeon War. Peace seems to settle in for the Earth Sphere, as the residents on a space colony are shown having a festival. Some of the characters in the anime, such as Seabook Arno and Cecily Fairchild, are being introduced during the scene of a beauty pageant. In the middle of the fun, some Crossbone Vanguard MSs infiltrated the colony and start attacking the Earth Federation MSs defending there. The Earth Federation proves too weak against the agile enemy MSs, as they are being defeated one by one.


The Feddie’s MS are just useless machines. How did they maintain control of the Earth Sphere all this time? I wonder

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Crossbone's Den'an Zon. Look! My goggles can double as torches! Cool!


Seabook's friends, with a few surviving kids saved from the war

Seabook and his friends start to escape, and they are shown the atrocity of war with so many death and destruction taking place in their place. They rescued a few children on the way and head for an escape pod in the space wharf. As for Cecily Fairchild, her father reviews himself as being under the command of the Crossbone, and presents Cecily to her rightful family, the Ronahs who runs the Crossbone. She is being taken to her father, Carozzo Ronah who always wears an iron mask (in fact, it is an iron helmet which covers his entire head) and her grandfather. The Ronah family’s justification to overthrow the Earth Federation’s rule on that colony is again the old topic used in the previous anime: corruption of the Earth Federation, animosity of the people, pollution happening on Earth, etc. Cecily’s grandfather wishes to build a peaceful world, starting from the space colony recently captured which he calls Cosmo Babylon.


Carozzo’s mask/helmet is so huge he almost looks like a machine


Like father like son? I guess not!

On the other hand, Seabook and co escapes to a training ship called the Space Ark, which carries Gundam F91 intended for field testing. However, the engineer could not understand the circuit that runs the MS, as the bio-computer system is just too sophisticated. Much to Seabook’s surprise, F91 is developed by his mother, Monica. When F91 is being shown to Seabook’s young sister, she figures out that the circuit follows the rope game she used to play with her mother. Finally, with the discovered theories, Gundam F91’s final development is complete. Since no other pilot is available, and the family ties with the developer, Seabook becomes the pilot of the Gundam.


Gundam F91’s design is exceptionally good, amidst so many weird looking MSs


This is Seabook’s mom, Monica Arno, the developer of Gundam F91


The crew on board the Space Ark. Only the one on the far left is a guy, well, just in case you would like to know

The F91 is immediately being deployed, fighting against the Crossbone MSs. Its advanced equipments, such as beam shield, VSBR (Variable Speed Beam Rifle), as well as its smaller size made the Gundam incredibly agile and powerful. The bio-computer system helps Seabook to perceive the enemies’ movement better. In one sortie, Seabook fights against Cecily, and almost destroys her. After reuniting with Seabook, Cecily defects to the Space Ark, and start fighting against the Crossbone instead, particularly her father Carozzo. The Iron Mask seems to have an evil plot to realize the so-called ‘better world’. The plot is finally revealed when unmanned weapons called Bugs are being deployed into the colony. The bugs are flying discs capable to detect human presence in the colony and kill them, making the structure of the colony perfectly intact while the entire population dead. The plan is kept in secrecy from the rest of the Crossbone, who are sure to go against the plan. Anyway, the massacre starts and Gundam F91 with Cecily’s Vigna Ghina fight desperately against the killing machines.


Cecily Fairchild’s MS – Vigna Ghina. The name of the MS was never mentioned anywhere in the anime


The Vigna Ghina’s near whitish paint scheme is the reason why her alliance with F91 doesn’t look so dodgy


Stay away from me, I warn you. I hate bug!

The war goes to space, where the two face the ultimate foe of the Crossbone: the MA Rafflesia piloted by Carozzo. The MA takes the shape of the giant flower Rafflesia, with weapons being controlled via a psychomu system connected directly to Carozzo’s iron helmet. The Rafflesia destroys Cecily’s Vigna Ghina, and she is being thrown to space. Seabook fights on, and the lighting moving of F91 creates after images which confuses the MA. When F91 moves closely to the cockpit, the beam weapons fire at the after images near the cockpit and destroys the entire MA. In the end, Seabook uses the F91’s bio-computer to locate Cecily. The ending is the very lovely embracing scene between the two lovers.


This is probably what you will get when you cross breed a Rafflesia and an octopus

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Yes! Now I’m on God-mode!

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Well, who ask the Crossbone to design the cockpit to be so exposed in the first place?

Well, that’s it. The whole movie stops there, and leaves many questions and confusion unresolved. Don’t get me wrong, the quality of the animation is superb, and every scene is original. No repeated scene is used, which made SEED Destiny looks so lame with so many repeated scenes. The fight scenes are pretty cool as well, particularly the final combat between F91 and Rafflesia. However, the storyline is just too weak, and it seems like the animator or the script writer supposed everyone who watches the movie will understand immediately what’s going on without much explanation needed. For example, in the case of Annamarie, one of the Crossbone’s commander who defects to the Space Ark. The reason of her defection is never explained, and it’s funnier to see that the crew of the Space Ark accepts her without any question at all. More over, they let her MS to re-supply on the ship and send her out for combat in no time. How naïve and kind, I thought.


Annamarie should stay with the Crossbone. Really, she died five minutes after defecting to the Space Ark. Walau!

On a personal note, I truly think that the Crossbone’s MS design is horrible. They look like… ghosts! Especially the grunt units Den’an Zon and Den’an Gei deployed in the first operation to take over the colony. Thanks to them, Zakus and GINNs look great to me now. Plus, who gave them those names in the first place? They are so hard to remember, even the Croosbone don’t seem to like to pronounce those names. The bridge crew or operators just go, “Launch, Annamarie’s forces…”, or “Zabine’s troops, roger!” instead of “Launch, Annamarie’s… err… let me check the name… … ah yes, Annamaries’s Dahgi Iris” or “Zabine’s Berga… err … Gemos, oh no, Gino, no no, Giros, yes yes Berga Giros, roger! … What?! He crashes into the hanger?!”

Hellish!


Den'an Gei. The bad guy’s design just gets uglier by each series.


Not only his MS’s name is annoying, his full name is pretty hard to pronounce as well: the pirate-like Zabine Chareux

Also, why must there be a masked character in each Gundam anime? Characters like Char Aznable, Zack Maquise, Raw Le Cruze, Neo Lornock, and Carrozo Ronah all wear mask. And all of them started off being the bad guys (some are bad to the end)! Wearing a mask seems to be a tradition now for Gundam anime :-)

Another important note is the size of the MSs. It is imperative to know that as the anime follows the chronicle of the Universal Century timeline, technological advancement of the MSs is definitely moving forward. MSs are smaller now (16 meters tall) in contrary to the ones in the past which are much taller (18 meters) and bulkier. Everyone is carrying beam weapons now, and F91 is the first anime featuring beam shield as well. The size of MSs may not be a problem on screen, but in terms of models, that means a lot. When models are developed smaller, the design of details and action becomes much harder, as parts of the models become smaller and delicate. Bandai finally achieved the peak of molding technology when they are able to incorporate PG level of inner frame and playability into a model which is close to an average 1-144 scale one, and branded it as MG. You can probably see why Bandai gives so much emphasis to the release of MG F91 now.


Seabook finally reunites with Cecily in the end


"This is the beginning" A beginning to what?

The ending is pretty beautiful, but showing Seabook spending 10 minutes in F91’s cockpit focusing hard to find his girlfriend is a bit too much, I think, when the anime seems to be rushing all the time to get there. Again, like what I said earlier on, there are so many things lack explanation in the ending, for example, what happens to the Crossbone now that Carrozo is dead? What about the Earth Federation? Since the Crossbone’s threat is real, are they going to retake the colony? What happens to the Space Ark after the war? And Seabook? F91? If you intend to watch this anime, get ready to ask more questions instead of more understanding about the Universal Century after Amuro Ray and Char Aznable.