Kamen Rider Kiva Episode 5

Apart from Gundam Double O, I'm following every episode of Kamen Rider Kiva as well. As compared to Gundam Double O, Kiva is a lot more lighthearted, and I always enjoy the good humor and action in the show. So far, the unsubbed version stopped at Episode 5. As Season One of Gundam Double O is coming to an end soon, it's good to still have Kamen Rider Kiva to watch ^^

Unlike Ryuki, Kiva is the sole Kamen Rider in this series, even though we'll be welcoming a new one into the show very soon. The story is easy to follow, which is why there's no problem at all even if you just get to watch the unsubbed version. Each episode maintained the usual Wataru's life & Megumi & encounter with the Fangire's human form & Yuri's story in 1986 for the first 15 minutes and Kiva's fight with the Fangire for the next 10 minutes or so. That's how the show was for the past five episodes. Whether it's going to get more complicated for future episodes is unknown, but don't get me wrong, it's still very enjoyable.

The development of the story so far:
(1) Wataru is still very poor with his communication skills, but at least he is not wearing a mask and gloves anymore as he did in Episode One.
(2) Megumi is getting cuter ^o^
(3) Keisuke is introduced since Episode 3, but haven't fight any Fangire yet.
(4) The Fangires are getting stronger, (Duh?) and now they survive more than one episode.
(5) Kiva's Garuru form is introduced (since Episode 4)

Screen shots from Episode 5:











Kiva's Basher form (water creature?) is coming in next episode ^^
The new Kamen Rider to be featured in this series is Kamen Rider Ikusa (according to Wikipedia), played by Keisuke the bounty hunter. It's a great irony that while he is a good friend to Wataru in human form, he hates Kiva and seeks to destroy him along with the other Fangires.


That mask design is extremely cool ^^


A preview of Kiva's new motorbike, transformed from a Statue launched from Castle Dran (not shown yet).


Armor Trans Kiva (Garuru Form) - End of March release, 2,200 Yen.

More Updates on Upcoming Gunpla

More updates on upcoming Gundam merchandises:


MG Strike Gundam with Sword and Launcher packs.



HGUC Nu Gundam


HG 1/144 Trojan Noiret's Customized Gundam Astray Green Frame
Images above are from Model Graphix April Issue scan.


Box cover for HGUC Nu Gundam.
Images from Toysdaily.


Jumbo Grade 1/35 Zeta Gundam


SHCM-Pro Char's Zaku II


HCM-Pro Gouf Custom - April release, 2,415 Yen.


HCM-Pro Tieren Ground/Artillery Type


Upcoming GFF - Gundam Mk. III from Z MSV. No information on its price or release date yet.
Click to view 00 Region Exia as well.
Images above are from Hobby Japan April Issue scan.


HG 1/144 OverFlag
Images from Toysdaily.



SD Destiny vs Strike Freedom set.
Images from Toysdaily.


SD Char's Counterattack set - a very vintage box cover design. ^^; If not mistaken, this will be the first time SD Geara Doga is released in blue (Rezin Schnyder's colors). The initial release back in 1994 only featured the mass productive type.
Images from Toysdaily.

For more information on the price and release date of these upcoming Gundam merchandises, please refer to this previous posting.

On the other hand, the most anticipated Gunpla - HG 1/100 Virtue/Nadleeh is now available on Hobby Search!




We get to see all the images from the model's box many moon ago ^^;


Huge leg armors!!


A huge slide of foil sticker as well, probably the most to be used among the four 1/100 Gundam Double O Gunplas.


A single-piece part for the entire feet doesn't look good for its articulation.


My greatest questions about this kit - is the V-fin going to get its 'armor' which can be detached in Nadleeh's form? Looks like the answer is no. You'll have to swap the V-fin between the two modes.
Notice that the red chin of Virtue comes from a huge piece of foil sticker ^^;
Well, some drawbacks here and there, but the sheer size of this monster and the ability to convert between the two modes are reasons good enough to get this kit for me ^^

Finally, a bit of updates on the bad news mentioned yesterday, regarding Bandai's plan to raise prices on future Gundam merchandises. :( Here's the extract from Gunota Headlines:

"ITmedia News reports Bandai is looking into a mark-up on the price of Gunpla. According to the news, the reason for this is a steep rise in the cost of materials as a result of high oil prices. When the change in pricing might occur, exactly what merchandise it will affect, and how much it will be is not known. Bandai's PR department is quoted as saying, "The details haven't been decided but there is a change in merchandise specifications which has added cost to new parts & booklets for Gunpla and we will be repricing."

A week ago, Aoi Model Shop, a blog said to be run by an employee in a hobby shop on the outskirts of Akihabara, claimed there would be a 10-20% increase in HGUC and MG kit prices beginning around May. Oil prices were cited as the reason. Furthermore, the site said it looked as though old merchandise would also be marked up as it was reissued. As with the official news, it was said there were details yet to be settled."

Well, with the huge hike of petroleum price all this while, it's a matter of time when more and more things in our life get pricier, and finally it hits Gunplas as well. Is this going to affect your interest in collecting Gunplas?

Core Fighter in Gundam Double O & Others

GNY-004 Gundam Plutone from 00F is designed with a Core Fighter! Anybody saw that coming?


Like the other mecha in Gundam Double O, Gundam Plutone have his own secret ;-)


The Core Fighter's design looks a bit like the one for GP03S, but its docking mechanism looks like that from Crossbone Gundam.
If the Celestial Beings can design a Core Fighter for Gundam Plutone, I wonder why can't they design a better MA mode for Gundam Abulhool Type F ^^;

On the other hand, a bit of recap on upcoming Gunplas in the coming months:


HG 1/144 GN Arms - March 15, 5,775 Yen,
HG 1/144 Overflag - March 21, 1,260 Yen,
HG 1/144 Throne Drei - April, 1,680 Yen,
HG Gundam Nadleeh - April, 1,260 Yen.
On the left is the news about Exia Avalanche being featured as a new character in two Gundam card games.

100,000 Thanks and More!

Posting no. 501 ^^

My blog just pass its 100,000-visit benchmark yesterday...



Thank you very much for your support :)
My blog met it 10,000-visit benchmark in February 2007, 20,000 in June, and then 50,000 at the end of last year. Currently, My blog is enjoying more than 1,000 unique visits daily according to the my Nuffnang analytics.


Checking on my blog's stats always seem like looking at the share market to me XD


Most of my blog's readers are from the United States, followed by Malaysia and Singapore. Thanks! ^^
Well, apart from thanks, I really have no idea what to say. ^^; I suppose more updates and interesting stuff up here are better than merely words of appreciations? No problem then, I'll keep that up for sure ^^

Some changes will be made to the layout of this blog as well, but minor ones. The content is always more important to me. I've ditched the mini banners for the links to avoid the "bandwidth exceeded" incident of my Photobucket account last time. Also, it's much easy to update as well.

By the way, do you know that you can access more links to other websites not included on the homepage when you click on "View Complete List of Links" above all those links?

Anyway, thanks again for your support all this while. Hopefully I can reach my 200,000 or even 300,000-visit milestone within this year as well. ^^

P/s: I designed the banner based on a wallpaper I got from an online forum, which was quite some time ago. Since it's not mine, I have no right to keep it to myself right? So here you go:


Click for larger view.

SD Goodies

Three upcoming SD kits to be introduced (again XD) here:

SD Destiny Gundam vs Strike Freedom set




Images from Space diary of the captain.
Tamama Foot Soldier & Dark Keroro: Available now from Hobby Search. Tamama Foot Soldier is 600 Yen, while Dark Keroro is 700 Yen.



Images from Hobby Search.