My Shiny Toy Robots

As many Western Garo  fans patiently wait to see the end of Kouga's story in Demon Dragon of the Blue Cries , in the meantime there is a new chapter in the Garo  legacy that has begun. Presumably taking the action long after Kouga's time as the golden Makai Knight, Garo: The One Who Shines in the Darkness (" Yami o Terasu Mono ")   picks up with a brand new knight wearing the armour, a new setting and a brand new threat.  Much like Kouga, Ryuga has good taste in coats The One Who Shines in the Darkness  takes place at the huge Vol City, a thriving metropolis built around a volcano and swarming with the demons known as horror. Ryuga Dougai, the Makai Knight who has inherited the title of Garo, arrives in the city after being summoned to help his former master - Makai Priest Burai, take them down. Joining forces with fellow knights Takeru Jakuzure, Aguri Kusugami and Makai Priest Rian, Ryuga aims to once again make the now-greyed Garo armour shine o...

Although it hasn't been in a public eye for a good while, Ninja Science Team Gatchaman is an anime icon. 70s/80s cartoon fans might know it better by the names Battle of the Planets  or G-Force , but the sci-fi Sentai style show reached worldwide fame under whatever name it was using. 2013 proved to be the year of a Gatchaman  review, with a live-action film remake of the original series and a brand new anime series that went by the name of Gatchaman Crowds . With the film not doing quite as well as people hoped at the Japanese box office (I still can't wait to see it though!), does this 13-episode series deliver to bring the world of Gatchaman  back into the public eye? You're gonna love her or hate her. Our story is set in the city of Tachikawa, Japan in the year 2015. The world has become enthralled with a new social media app named GALAX, which rewards its users with points for various "missions" they complete. Eternally cheery high-school girl Hajim...

It's not very often that a series as good as Bakemonogatari comes along, and being only 15 episodes long its easy to be left wanting more from it. So it's just as well Shaft  decided to continue animating the light novel franchise, continuing with the sequel Nisemonogatari (which translates as "Fake story", or "Impostory" if you still want a clever pun out of it) in 2012. The show ran for a total of 11 episodes. Our fire sisters: Tsuhiki & Karen Continuing on some time after the events of Bakemonogatari , Nisemonogatari picks up with two new arcs concerning the two characters we saw little of in the first season - Koyomi's younger sisters Karen and Tsuhiki. Nicknamed the "Fire Sisters" at school, the hot-headed Karen and short-tempered Tsukihi are a duo and perform deeds in the name of justice. When this of justice lands Karen in trouble with a conman named Deishū Kaiki, as usual its up to Koyomi to save the day and deal with...

Over the past 42 years there have been 24 Kamen Rider  series alongside movies, specials and more. However there are few that have a reputation like Kamen Rider Black does. This 1987 series is currently the ONLY Rider series to have had a direct sequel continuing with the same protagonist is often cited as one of the best that both the Showa era and franchise as a whole have to offer. 26 years later, does Kamen Rider Black still live up to these expectations? The show that DIDN'T become Saban's Masked Rider Just like the original Kamen Rider  series, Black continues the tradition of our hero being an augmented human originally created for evil. However telling the same story all over again would be boring so there's quite a different angle to it. On the night of their 19th birthday, stepbrothers Kotaro Minami and Nobuhiko Akizuki are kidnapped by the evil Gorgom cult. The two are considered to be the "Century Kings" and subject to cybernetic surgery - w...

With all the main mecha and extra limbs out of the way, it's now time to see what Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger has to offer in the way of big additional robots and movie exclusives. First up is the Zyudenryu I've been looking forward to the most - Kyoryu Violet 's Plezuon .I say Violet, but sadly Red seems to use him more often. Alas, this is a rant for a different post. Plezuon is a hefty robot, and so takes up three boxes all to himself (though his "wave" also saw re-releases of Gabutrya, Stegotchi and Dricera too). One box contains the torso and head, the second contains the arms and Plesiosaur head and the final one the legs. Inside you'll find the figure moulded in purple and white plastic, which each box also containing the obligatory piece of soda candy. As usual here on out my review photos will be of a painted kit, so check HERE to compare to a fully-stickered version. PLEZUON It seems being a plesiosaur isn't different enough...

After a rather lengthy hiatus, I have returned to the world of Super Sentai minipla to finish what I've started - the Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger Zyudenryu . This third offering from the 37th series features Kyoryu Gold's Pteragordon , as well as Kyoryu Grey's Bunpachy . What makes it even more exciting is that Pteragordon is able to transform into its own robot mode, PteraidenOh , as well as combine with the previously released Kyoryuzin for even more dino-samba fun. These dinosaurs are broken up into three boxes - two for Pteragordon (top and lower halves) and one for Bunpachy. As per usual the building instructions are printed on the inside of the box, and each model kit also comes with a single piece of soda candy for you to enjoy. For candy toys, they sure don't come with that much candy eh? Continuing this review you'll be seeing my painted models, so to also see how they look stickered check out the pictures on this blog . PTERAGORDON So...