Toybox REVIEW: Bandai Composite Ver. KA Gurren Lagann

So after 2 weeks of no internet and a longer than expected (but nobody's fault) delivery time from AmiAmi, I finally get to do the review I've been waiting for - the highly anticipated (by me anyway) Ver KA Gurren Lagann!

The first obvious thing to point out is that it differs from other Gurren Lagann in that it is covered in highly stylised tribal markings/tattoos - a trademark of designer Hajime Katoki (famous for designing all kinds of mecha, including the mobile suits from Gundam Wing Endless Waltz). While this may be something that could potentially put you off the figure, if anything it was one of the things that drew me toward it even more. For a start its something different and it'll set it apart from the rest of my Gurren Lagann collection, but there's also much more to it than that. The tattoos are highly reminscent of those Kamina had, and in a series that openly flaunts the possibility of parallel universes, perhaps something he may have put on the robot had he had the chance. Secondly comes as something that was initially a blow to me, and something that could also put you off the figure - the paintwork. Now for months on end prior to its release and even on the figure's packaging it's shown as being a rather beautiful shade of metallic red, another element that made the figure catch my eye in the first place and something that would set it apart from my other figures. But no - in the end the figure was released in a flat-but-show-accurate red. I got over this pretty quickly, but I realise this could have been a selling point for some people.

But if you can get over these two things - you've got one amazing figure in your hands. The sculpt and build is spectacular and makes the revoltech Gurren Lagann look basic in comparison. Sure it's not as posable as the revoltech version but the poses you'll want to put a Gurren Lagann figure in it looks much better - especially the "Pierce the heavens!" point. Sadly however it can't manage a good looking Gainax cross armed pose, but then neither can the Revoltech.

It also has it beat on accessories - included are 2 extra set of hands (pointing and weapon holding), 2 dual drill wrist pieces, 4 sets of sunglasses (2 mini ones for the body and 2 full sized boomerang weapons), an additional head and another extra that deserves its own paragraph, so I'll come to it later. The revoltech figure may have the wingpack, but bear in mind you had to buy both Lazengann and Enki to get that, so it doesn't count.

As for that extra accessory - this is probably what sold the figure for many people, because it's a freaking GIGA DRILL!!!! Yup, this is the first (to my knowledge) posable Gurren Lagann figure to include such a thing. The drill itself is hollow and made up of three parts, then slotting into the figure as an additional hand. Since the drill is almost the size of the figure itself, it's pretty much unable to hold it up without the help of the supplied stand. Speaking of the stand, that's also a really nice touch as it includes not only the series' logo but also the pilots of Gurren Lagann (I know there were a few, but Simon/Kamina are the main ones so that's what's here).

Ver KA Gurren Lagann is an excellent figure no doubt, but it's also one that's going to divide fans. The lack of metallic paint is a bit of a bummer, but if you don't like the look of the tattoos from images then its unlikely that you'll like them in-hand either. But if you can get over these things -you're in for a real treat of a figure that is as unique as it is awesome.

Toybox REVIEW: Revoltech SFX Mothra

Mothra seems like an odd yet expected monster to receive a figure in the Revoltech SFX line. As the line seems to have a big thing for kaiju, adding arguably the second biggest creature after Godzilla himself is no surprise. But on the other hand, how much articulation can you give a giant moth? Before we get onto that I’d like to take a moment to discuss the packaging – which itself is a work of beauty. Much like Gamera’s, and I’d imagine the rest of the line too, it’s a beautifully designed box which unless you speak a lick of Japanese offers nothing more than a few pretty pictures. Still, its worth noting and as far as boxes go definitely a keeper.

When it comes to the question posed, as expected the answer is indeed very little. Not that Kaiyodo haven’t tried, but it remains that Mothra’s only points of articulation are his head, abdomen, wings, mouth and (tiny) legs. Nevertheless, this is still one of the most articulated Mothra figures to date and a great representation of the monster. Colourful wings, bright blue eyes – it’s all there.

The lack of articulation is made up by the brilliant diorama included with the figure. Recreating the iconic scene from Mothra’s 1961 debut, the figure includes a miniature destroyed Tokyo tower stand, complete with Mothra’s hatched cocoon. The figure itself can be displayed flying over the destroyed tower or alternatively emerging from its cocoon (the hole in which the revoltech joint is connected can be plugged up if not in use). It’s an extremely nice addition and something that really sets the figure apart from any other Mothra toys that have been produced.

In the end, for a kaiju fan this is a necessary purchase – I mean come on, it’s Mothra. But for the casual collector it’s nothing spectacular. That’s not particularly a knock against it, as it was never really going to be a knock out from the start. But from a line that has already brought us Baragon, Gamera and Gyaos and soon to give us Moguera, Anguiras, Rodan and (rumoured) Gigan, Mothra is more than deserving of her place.

Toybox REVIEW: Doctor Who New Paradigm Dalek Strategist

In brief addition to the review of the Doctor Who season 5 Dalek Drone figure I reviewed a few months back, here is the second (or third if you include the SDCC exclusive Dalek Scientist/11^th Doctor 2-pack which, at a hefty £25, I do not) release in the New Dalek Paradigm - the Dalek Strategist.

And frankly I must say it’s looking a whole lot better in blue. Maybe it’s me slowly warming up to the design, or perhaps it’s that I have a soft spot for blue Daleks (although this is the first time a primary blue Dalek has been canon), but this is certainly missing some of that oomph I felt the drone was missing. Despite mine having some dodgy QC (the eyestalk is stiff to the point I feel I’m going to break it, and the appendages are bent at the connector ends) this was a great purchase and I’m now looking forward with a renewed hope to the rest of the New Dalek Paradigm…..and of course the stone Dalek!

Toybox REVIEW: Doctor Who Classics The Master & Axon 2-pack

The early 70s could have been a disasterous time for Doctor Who. The Doctor was exiled to Earth and therefore unable to travel in the TARDIS, meaning that week after week the monsters had to come to him. Earth was repeatedly invaded by aliens and it was up to the Doctor and UNIT to stop them. The format could have become stale and repetitive quickly, but (in my own opinion) it had the best core cast Who ever had to stop that from happening. And a lot of that praise would go to Roger Delgado's original (and still by far the best) Master. And finally he has his own figure, following hot on the trail of the Anthony Ainley Master figure (which I still do not own, as I am hoping for a rerelease in his standard Traken costume).

The Master is an entirely new sculpt, in the all black costume Delgado wore for the majority of his appearances as the character and comes with his signature weapon, the Tissue Compression Eliminator. The headsculpt captures Delgado's likeness brilliantly, emphasising that calm, collected evilness all interpretations of the Master have lacked since. It's a simple figure, not requiring as much detail and/or colours as some of the figures in the line, but it's utterly fantastic. The Doctor's greatest single foe finally gets a figure worthy of his name. Hands down my favourite humanoid Doctor Who figure Character Options have produced.

The Axon is also good, but certainly not on the same scale. As far as big lumbering monsters go it's a fantastic figure (it also helps that the Axons are one of my favourite generic Doctor Who monsters, but there are a few little issues. Firstly, the figure is a repaint of the unreleased Krynoid figure from the 4th Doctor story The Seeds of Doom (which I think was originally going to be the Build-A-Figure in Classics Wave 2). While admittedly the Krynoid costume was a modified Axon costume, the changes were noticeable and to those with a keen eye and/or an eye for accuracy the figure is a krynoid painted orange. Compare the figure to photos from the series itself and you'll notice what I mean. Now I'm not particularly bothered about this - the figure still looks like an Axon and I don't particularly care for Krynoids, but as Character Options have seemingly been striving for accuracy down to the littlest detail on some of their figures, this may come as a disappointment. Secondly I think the colours might be a little too light...but that might just be me nitpicking.

In conclusion the set is worth the purchase for the Master alone. The Axon is merely a lovely bonus. Now my favourite Doctor has his main foe to be posed with. I am a very happy fan right now.

Custom Figure: The Last Dalek

"THE DALEKS SURVIVE THROUGH ME!"

I honestly think Character Options missed out not releasing this one. Sure they released versions of it that appeared later on in the episode - the 'Genetic Print' Dalek (pictured below) and the Mutant Reveal Dalek, but the caged 'Metaltron' version of the lone Dalek from 2005's Dalek is by far the most visually striking. Powerless and alone, the former last Dalek in existence used cunning and trickery to escape its captivity, proved that the Dalek plunger arm is more deadly than it looks and then went on to be more deadly and far scary than any other Dalek has been since the revival of Doctor Who.

This custom was made by first taking the Dalek apart and cutting/bending specific panels to create the battle damaged look it had in the series. Chunks were also carved out of the gun arm to replicate the damage. I used Humbrol Brass enamel paint on the body followed by a wash of very watered down black paint for the dirty look. The base colour is a mix of Citadel chaos black and mythril silver.

Anime REVIEW: Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop is a popular animated series, let alone anime. As well as hitting top spots in pretty much every "Top (insert number here)" anime lists, Bebop has also managed to hit a few general animated series lists too, one example being IGN's Top 100 Animated TV series from a few years ago. The series has been described as having "sophistication and subtlety that is practically one-of-a-kind" (themanime.org) and that "From beginning to end this may be one of the best anime ever...". Until now I've never even watched Cowboy Bebop. I think it might be time to see what all of the fuss is about....

Cowboy Bebop is a 26 episode (and one movie, but we'll come to that later) series set in the year 2071 and revolving around bounty hunters (or cowboys) Spike Spiegel and Jet Black, who are later joined by femme fetale Faye Valentine, androgynous computer hacker Ed (or "Radical Edward") and a dog named Ein who might be more intelligent than the viewer initially perceives. While the show does follow a fairly "bounty of the week" format, every so often the episodes are interspaced with insight into the characters' pasts (Spike as a former member of a crime syndicate, Jet as a former ISSP officer, Faye's mysterious forgotten past etc.), which (in Spike' case anyway) builds up toward an explosive finale.

Not that the self contained episode is a bad thing, because they each deal with very different things and have very different styles. From sinister assassins with childlike minds to a more comedic tale concerning Ed and some hallucinogenic mushrooms, Bebop's stories are a perfect blend of action, comedy and, usually, a deeper meaning.

The animation and writing quality isn't the only thing that really sets Cowboy Bebop apart from other animes though, this music also plays a significant part in creating the flavour that the show offers. Yoko Kanno (of Macross Plus, Escaflowne and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex fame to name a few) creates a score for the series that is like no other, assembling a band (called 'The Seatbelts') to create the jazz and blues style music throughout the series, and their hard work pays off to great effect. Music's influence over the series can also be seen in the episode titles, which either make use of a genre name (Cowboy Funk, Jupiter Jazz) or pay homage to rock music from the 70s/80s (examples include Hard Luck Woman [KISS], Toys in the Attic [Aerosmith] and Bohemian Rhapsody [Queen]).

This trend doesn't only follow in the series, but also extends to Bebop's movie, entitled Knockin' On Heaven's Door, set somewhere between episodes 22 and 23. While the film itself isn't quite up to the standard of the series, it's still a fun ride and a highly enjoyable movie, putting the Bebop crew up against larger stakes, resulting in a much more widescale plot and some fantastic action sequences. Kanno's score also continues to excel expectations.

A truly perfect series is a very rare thing indeed. But Cowboy Bebop is definitely one of those. With a perfect series length that doesn't drag nor feel too short, fully fleshed out characters, superb writing, an ending with enough ambiguity to keep the viewer second guessing about the fate of our heroes, along with brilliant animation along with a soundtrack like no other, there is nothing about Cowboy Bebop that is in need of bettering. This is something not only anime fans will enjoy, but one that has something for everyone. That's what all the fuss is about.

Reviews in Time & Space: The Daleks

Taking a short break from my summer quest to see a large portion of the Doctor Who stories I've never seen, I decided to come back a visit an old favourite of mine and I'm sure many other peoples'....the Doctor's first encounter with a race that would become arguably as popular as the Doctor himself. Of course, it's none other than the Daleks.

Following on instantly from the events of An Unearthly Child, the Doctor and his companions find themselves on a faraway planet covered by a petrified jungle. After discovering a futuristic metal city on this dead planet, the Doctor purposely sabotages the TARDIS so they they have no choice but to investigate the city. But the Doctor gets more than he bargains for as they are thrust into the world of the Daleks and their enemies, the Thals. Now the Doctor and his companions must escape from the Daleks and help to end a war that has been waged for centuries, and brought the planet Skaro to its knees...

Fans of the new series be aware, the early adventures of the first Doctor (as portrayed by the late William Hartnell) are very different from the Doctor as portrayed by Eccleston, Tennant, Smith and even some of the later 'classic' Doctors. Here the Doctor is both rash and selfish, his determination to explore the city of the Daleks resulting in him and his companions not only becoming prisoners of the Daleks, but also being exposed to highly lethal amounts of radiation. These early companions are also very different, with both Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) not choosing to travel in time and space with the Doctor and his granddaughter Susan (Carol Ann Ford), instead essentially being kidnapped by the Doctor after they discover the TARDIS and the secrets behind Susan and her grandfather. While they initially seem at odds with each other (which makes for very good viewing, especially when coupled with the prior adventure), their ordeal with the Daleks brings them closer together as a group (or a family even) and is much closer to the usual dynamic between the Doctor and his companions. This character growth is evenly spread out among the 7 episodes of The Daleks, which in turn gives plenty of time for the story to progress at an even rate, looking at the horrors of nuclear war and demonstrating some of the Nazi-esque ideals Terry Nation used in creating the Daleks. It just further emphasises to me how the new Doctor Who series would benefit from more episodes per story, not only to bring back the cliffhanger format but also to make stories with potential (I'm looking at you Victory of the Daleks) not look like rushed messes.

The Daleks of this story are also very different from what they would become. Before a time where there were Dalek empires and Davros, before the Daleks had the ability to travel through time or even space there were these mark I Daleks, mutants trapped in their casings, unable to survive the nuclear fallout their war with the Thals had caused without them. Not only this, but they are also trapped within their own city, dependant on static electricity from the metal floors. These Daleks are far more vulnerable than they would become in the future, but this doesn't mean they aren't a threat. In fact, they are as equally, if not more so threatening then the fully fledged Dalek empires of the future. They may have obvious weaknesses - but they themselves know it, and this creates far less arrogant, more manipulative Daleks (a similar kind appeared in the excellent 1974 story Death to the Daleks). The original design makes these Daleks also feel a lot more alive and individual, each with their own distinct voice pitch and dilating iris in the eyestalk (a feature that was dropped when the Daleks first appeared in colour in 1972's Day of the Daleks and would not be returned to them until 2005's Dalek). Back then there was also the mystery of what exactly was inside the Dalek casing, a brief glimpse of the mutant only being seen at the conclusion of episode 3 'The Escape'.

As the DVD sleeve insert says, this is one of, if not the most important story in Doctor Who's extensive history, and that is no exaggeration. Without the popularity the Daleks brought to the series, Doctor Who may have been another flash in the pan BBC drama and it certainly wouldn't be famous for what it is today - the adventures of a time travelling alien battling monsters in time and space. When the series was originally commissioned the BBC's then Head of Drama Sydney Newman didn't want the series to fall into the generics of sci-fi strictly said "No Bug-Eyed Monsters (abbriviated to BEMs), and no tin robots." Six episodes into the series the Daleks were unleashed upon the world and, well, the rest is history. This story was not only the very first to be adapted into a novel, but also remade into a cinematic adventure starring Peter Cushing as Doctor Who (while admittedly this movie condensed the plot into a shadow of its former self, the Daleks have never looked better and therefore the two Cushing Dalek movies are particular favourites of mine).

The Daleks have been a staple of Doctor Who since the very beginning, being the only monster to have battled all 11 incarnations of the Doctor (8th Doctor Paul McGann has some excellent Dalek stories in both book and audio format). The series wouldn't be what it is today without them, so long may they continue to appear.