My Shiny Toy Robots

Following on from 2007's Phantom Hourglass , Spirit Tracks takes us forward 100 years later, to the land of New Hyrule (the land in which Link and Tetra left in search of at the end of the 2002's Wind Waker for the Gamecube), here our hero Link seeks to become a rail engineer along the land's 'Spirit Tracks'. Following his graduation ceremony performed by Princess Zelda Link is asked by the Princess herself to escort her to the Spirit Tower in order to discover why the tracks are slowly disappearing. On the way they are attacked by the Chancellor of Hyrule Cole, who reveals himself as a horned demon. His intention is to free the Demon King Malladus, and requires Zelda's body in order for him to return. Zelda is kidnapped and Link is knocked unconscious, however when he wakes up he finds Zelda's spirit is dislodged from her body, and the two discover that they must travel New Hyrule to restore the Spirit Tracks and stop Malladus' return. Cue the staple...

Macross Zero is  five episode OVA series released in 2002 to coincide with the 15th anniversary of the franchise in Japan. This mini series is instantly set apart from its predecessors as it is in fact a prequel to The Super Dimension Fortress Macross , giving some insight into happened before the war between humanity and the Zentradi began. Set in the year 2008, one year before the events of the original series, Zero depicts the final battles of the U.N. Wars between the U.N. Spacy and the Anti-UN forces, and is also set in the South Pacific, where the titular alien spaceship crash landed 9 years earlier. Amidst the violence, a U.N. Spacy pilot named Shin Kudo is attacked by a strange enemy aircraft that can transform itself into a robot. Crash landing on Mayan Island he learns that this remote island and its peaceful native inhabitants hold a great secret linking them to the alien space ship and would become the focus of the war, whether they like it or not. Shin even...

After painfully enduring the 6 part OVA sequel to SDF Macross – Macross II: Lovers, Again, which was so bad that it doesn’t even deserve a review on this blog, I was sceptical about whether I was going to enjoy Macross Plus. I had seen this 4 part OVA series once before, and my vague memory it suggested that it wasn’t that great (although in its defence I did watch it on a 3+ hour bus journey to London) but given that I now had a good background knowledge of the Macross franchise and a determination to give all its iterations a fair viewing, it was time to give Macross Plus another chance. Thankfully unlike the aforementioned Macross II this OVA was created by Studio Nue, the original creators of SDF Macross. Set 30 years after (2040 AD) the events we saw in SDF, it tells the story of loose cannon pilot Isamu Dyson, who is assigned to a test flight centre on the colony planet Eden as the test pilot for the prototype variable fighter, the YF-19. Competing with the YF-19 is the YF-21,...

So like I said I would I've taken the time to go back and revisit the entire Macross chronlogy, and what better place is there to start than the very beginning? Released between 1982 and 1983, The Super Dimension Fortress Macross (or SDF Macross for short) was a 36 episode series that told the story of the mysterious spaceship SDF-1 Macross, which had crash landed on Earth and had been rebuilt by a military organisation known as the U.N. Spacy. On its launching day the ships cannon mysteriously fires, shooting down an advancing alien invasion searching for the space craft, which once belonged to their enemy. A war breaks out and the Macross is forced to launch into space as the military battle these aliens, known as the Zentradi, in giant transforming mechas known as Variable Fighters (or Valkyries). Caught up in this is civilian pilot Hikaru Ichijyo, who later joins the military after recommendation from his "senpai" Roy Focker, and 16 year old Lynn Minmay, a girl wit...

"After being threatened by extinction at the hands of alien invaders called the Zentradi, humanity undertook the task of guaranteeing itself a future by launching fleets of colony ships into space. On Macross Frontier, one such fleet, high school student Saotome Alto's life is changed forever: the fleet is suddenly attacked by unidentified creatures while he is performing aerial stunts for a concert by the wildly popular idol Sheryl.  Alto quickly finds himself in the cockpit of a new-model fighter struggling to protect Ranka Lee, a young girl he met only hours earlier, from the invaders' swath of destruction. Noting his performance during this incident, the S.M.S. Skull Squadron private military company invites Alto to join their organization, where he continues protecting his friends and Macross Frontier."  Ah the Macross franchise, arguably one of the biggest mecha (or even anime in general) franchises in Japan and yet, much like its main rival Gundam , I kno...

"Based on the video game of the same name, the show centers on a Gallian Army militia squad led by Lieutenant Welkin Gunther, the son of the well-known Europan War I hero and Gallian army officer Belgen Gunther. After seeing his hometown, Bruhl, under attack, ransacked and eventually placed under military occupation by the Imperial army, Welkin manages to escape the siege using his late father's tank known as the Edelweiss. With the help of Welkin's foster sister, Isara, and a Bruhl town watch soldier named Alicia Melchiott, Welkin leads Squad 7 of the Gallian militia forces to rout out the Imperial forces from further invading Gallian soil."  I've never really watched a war anime before (before this I can't honestly say I'd even heard of any war animes before) but after being recommended this by a friend and watching the first 5 episodes at one of my local anime society screenings I decided to give the whole 26 episode series a go. After watched the wo...

Back to the glorious days of classic Who, and what better story to review than the very first outing of 4th Doctor Tom Baker, who in many people's eyes (including my own...despite him not being my favourite Doctor) view as being the DEFINITIVE Doctor. I present to you the 1974 4-part story Robot . The basic overview of Robot 's plot is that the K1 Robot, an experimental and groundbreaking invention by Professor Kettlewell, is being used to commit crimes by the sinister chairman of Think Tank (the organisation that funded the robot's creation) Miss Winters and the Scientific Reform Society (or SRS for short), who plan to hold the world at ransom with the threat of Nuclear war. Enter the newly regenerated Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith, along with the Brigadier and UNIT to save the day. Almost immediately we're treated to the kind of Doctor we'll be getting from Tom Baker. Gone is the dandy scientist that was Jon Pertwee and in his place we have the wacky nomad that...

This is an interesting little game, available exclusive via download on the Nintendo Wii as a wiiware game for 1500 points (thats around £10.50 I believe). In the game you play as small super deformed Pokemon toys which come alive via the use of a "Wonderkey" (like clockwork toys really, just with a fancier name) with the aim of becoming champion of the Pokemon Royal Rumble tournament - a huge melee tournament with about 60 contestants per rumble. Starting out as a Rattata and initially losing your first rumble, you travel around 6 different worlds recruiting more stronger Pokemon to join your cause, rising up the ranks to eventually become champion! Since its both a) a Wii game and b) a downloadable game, the graphics are hardly anything to shout home about, but this actually works to the games favour since it makes the adorable super deformed Pokemon even more cute - especially my personal favourite Raichu :D The gameplay is extremely simple to get to grips with. You h...

Okay I admit, this isn't really "revisting" anything since the episode is only a week old (sorry for the delay too, I've had this ready since last Sunday...but other things came up), but as it is still a part of Doctor Who is has a well deserved place here. We're heading towards the end of the tenth Doctor (played by David Tennant)'s adventures, his companions have left and him and he now wanders the cosmos alone. But what happens when he arrives on Mars at Bowie Base One, in the year 2058? And why does the Doctor have a horrible feeling about all of this... Before we begin I'm going to sum up my feelings on this episode of "Nu Who", which honestly I've always found a bit hit or miss. Luckily this was a hit. No, not just a hit, a freaking bulls eye. This episode is undoubtedly one of the best of the new series and could possibly go down as one of the greats in the general Who Universe. The idea of there being fixed points in time where eve...

After having my mind blown away by the movie at the Sci Fi London Anime All Nighter a few weeks back, I thought it was time to take a look at the 50 episode long series that is Eureka Seven. And boy, was it worth it. The story revolves around 14 year old Renton Thurston, son of miltary researcher and world hero Adroc Thurston, who died saving the world. He loves lifting, a sport similar to surfing but with trapar, a substance abundant throughout the air, as the medium. He dreams of joining the renegade group Gekkostate, led by his idol Holland, a legendary lifter. An opportunity to do so literally falls into his lap when a large mecha, called the Nirvash typeZERO, and Eureka, its pilot and a member of Gekkostate, crash into Renton's room. Renton's grandfather orders him to deliver a special part to the Nirvash called the "Amita Drive", which releases the immense power dormant within the typeZERO called the "Seven Swell Phenomenon". Afterwards, Renton is i...

After the last few years have given us Pokemon films that were either abysmal or average at best, here is the latest in a long line of Pokemon films (the 12th in fact). Arceus and the Jewel of Life is the last in the trilogy of Diamond & Pearl generation films. This movie sees Ash, Brock and Dawn in the of Michina. Little do they expect to once again be found in a conflict between Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. They are saved by a young woman called Sheena, who can communicate with a Pokémon's heart, and explains the whole conflict was because of Arceus being close to awakening. She also tells them that her ancestor Damos betrayed Arceus and s ... tole the Jewel of Life, sending it into a rage and a slumber. Sheena plans to return the Jewel to Arceus. It is nice to finally see some solid continuity between the movies, as this ties together all the previous meetings the trio have had with the legendary trio of Sinnoh. As per usual, the film opens with a stunning battle sequence ...

For my second Doctor Who review (Whoview? I quite like the sound of that...) I've chosen my favourite 5th Doctor (as portrayed by Peter Davison) story, one that proves that the Doctor's plans dont always go perfectly and the lifestyle he and his companions lead does often come at a loss, the grand return of the Cybermen....1982's Earthshock . Set in 2565, the story sees the Doctor and his companions arriving in the middle of an investigation into the murder of a team of scientists in a complex of caves. They are being murdered by androids (who look strikingly similar to the Rassilon robots who would later appear in The Five Doctors ), working for the Cybermen. Their plan is to destroy Earth to prevent the signing of a treaty of galactic powers against the Cyberrace. While their original plan of blowing up the Earth with a bomb fails, they then attempt to use a freighter to crash into the Earth, destroying all life upon it. However with the Doctor and moreso Adric's ...

"Bulleting down through the atmosphere at better than 15 times the speed of sound, RAVAGE considers the data he has already amassed on the small, soft creatures that inhabit this planet. They seem weak and fragile, yet they are the ones that destroyed MEGATRON. That is a fact he will keep in mind as he penetrates their most sensitive installation. Against such an unpredictable enemy, stealth will be his watchword. " After what in reality was a fairly disappointing Soundwave toy (I know I said he was really good in an earlier blog, but I admit to being in ROTF hype mode and was just exciting that the toys were out), is his former cassette minion Ravage any better? We'll find out... Like most Revenge of the Fallen toys its got some nice mechanical detailing, and a cool little "snapping jaws" gimmick. The spikes are made of that rubbery plastic so they aren't sharp and won't snap off that easily either. Articulation is fairly good (well, for a cat) - ba...

"Driven crazy by years locked in an AUTOBOT prison, WASPINATOR is determined to take revenge on the robot who put him there - BUMBLEBEE. Now, after bizarre experiments conducted by BLACKARACHNIA, he finally has the power to make his vengeance a reality. He has come to Earth hunting the AUTOBOT speedster; and he will not stop until BUMBLEBEE is a pile of smoking scrap." Beast Wars Waspinator was one of the first Transformers I ever had, so imagine my excitement when I found out he was not only going to be in the Transformers Animated series, but also get a toy. Then imagine my disappointment when I found out his wave wasn't going to be released in the UK. Then imagine my excitement when I found him and his wave mate Samurai Prowl (who will probably get a review some point next week) in Home Bargains of all places for HALF PRICE! Good times readers, good times. So anyway onto the review, Waspinator is a deluxe class figure and as you have probably already realised t...