Soul Eater Not: Review - Not is definatly the word

Soul Eater Not: Review - Not is definatly the word

Review: Soul Eater Not

Released: UK ???

Platforms: 

FINAL OPINION: WATCHABLE

So a couple of weeks ago I heard that there was another Soul Eater anime. When I heard this I was as happy as I never knew they created another Soul Eater anime. All Kinds of things were going through my mind. Such as is it a continuation, all new story or maybe they went the Full Metal Alchemist route and re-did it to more closely follow the manga. Either way I just needed to see this latest anime. So after some searching and reading on Wikipedia I realised the anime has been out for some time and has been dubbed by Funimation. After doing some searching I managed to find all 12 episodes on YouTube in full with no crappy editing to stop the video from being taken down. I was quite sad to see only 12 episodes for this anime and by the end I was 50/50 on the idea of more episodes.      

Soul Eater Not lives up to its name in the fact that if you are going into this with fond memories of the original series you may be quite disappointed with what you find here. I’m going to say from the start this is not the Soul Eater that you know, as this series is very different in tone than the original. This series is a prequel / side story to the original. The main cast of the original take a back seat and make mostly cameo like appearances. Soul Eater Note stars three main female protagonists Tsugumi Harudori is a halberd demon weapon, Meme Tatane and Anya Hepburn. Tsugumi Harudori is indecisive about which one of them to choose as her partner meister. All three girls go to the DWMA (Death Weapon Meister Academy), which is an institution for humans who are born with the power to turn into weapons and the wielders of these weapons, called meister. There are two types of class. The EAT students (Especially Advantaged Talent) train themselves to become warriors of justice, the NOT (Normally Overcome Target) class is for those who just want to control their powers with the intent to not become a threat to others and to themselves.

The tone of this series to me is more along the lines of other anime that play a lot on breast jokes and girls in short skirts, however there are moments where the original Soul Eater pokes its head in. unfortunately those moments don't last long. There isn’t a lot of action in this and as the episodes went on it became harder to watch as the short skirt and breast jokes kept popping up, but that doesn’t mean that the show wasn’t any good. Even though only twelve episodes Soul Eater Not still told a great story and developed the three main characters pretty well. Towards the end of the show it gets good and I mean original Soul Eater good, but unfortunately once it does it ends.

For me the animation for the show was very good, but doesn't use the same style as the original show. My biggest grip with the animation was the original main characters seemed older than they should be since this is a prequel it comes across as odd, just watch the first episode and see what I mean. The music used is really satisfying and doesn't disappoint.

The drawbacks of Soul Eater Not are that once it gets good it ends. Twelve episodes just isn’t enough, however still does manager to tell a satisfying story. On top of this its biggest drawback is that it's not the original. Yeah it pokes its head every now and then but it's simply not the original and that's what people will instantly compare it to. The new show is so far from the original and Soul eater fans will find themselves disappointed with what they find. As Long as you keep this in mind the show is worth a watch. Even though this is some kind of prequel if you have never watched Soul Eater watch the original first, it's one of the best anime out there.       

FINAL OPINION: WATCHABLE

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Yeah its raining time to go outside.

Yeah its raining time to go outside.

Nothing like a rainy day for the gears team. Usually I wouldn’t take figures outside while it’s raining to take photos however, this I’ll make an exception for the gears team.  I thought they would be an interesting set of figures to take photos of during the rain.   

Created by NECA and apart from one (cog soldier or carmine if you will on the far left of the first picture) each of these figures is based on Gears of War 3. Each one looks fantastic the level of detailed is really good in this latest line of figures. Apart from better detail the latest figures also have an improved level of articulation in various areas of the figure. The level of detail especially in the faces (just look at Marcus) is truly immense and shows the level of effort that has gone into these figures.

In terms of accessories you get the usual with these line of figures such as lancers, retro lancers, pistol, flame throwers, and shotguns. The accessories vary depending on which figure you get furthermore, there are also gold version of both the lancer and retro lancer.

If you like your figures and a Gears of War fan then you can’t go with these well detailed and articulated figures. The best thing about these figures is the cost isn’t very high in fact they are pretty cheap to get depending on where you get them. They usually range from £11.99 to £19.99 or more, which is nothing compared to the sky high prices the Play Arts Kai line by Square Enix usually goes for. Best of all your more likely to find these figures online or in stores unlike the play arts which I tend to find in short supply after a while. 

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PLAY ARTS KAI METAL GEAR SOLID: CYBORG NINJA

PLAY ARTS KAI METAL GEAR SOLID: CYBORG NINJA

PLAY ARTS KAI METAL GEAR SOLID: CYBORG NINJA

I don’t know what it is with these play arts figures they just seem to get better and better with each new line of figures. The level of detail and the articulation to match, I don’t think there is another set of figures that can match up to Square Enix’s level of production. However as the figure line gets better they also get more and more expensive and sometimes hard to find which, is often a pain. Cyborg Ninja AKA “Grey Fox or Frank Jaeger” was originally introduced in the PS1 game Metal Gear Solid. Fox was the only Fox-Hound operative to ever be given the codename Fox because of his skill in the battlefield. 

Metal Gear Solid’s Cyborg Ninja is the latest to join the play arts kai toy line and I have to say it is one of the best figures to date. I know I say this to myself all the time with each play arts figure I get my hands on but, it’s true this is one of the best figures to date. It’s a tuff call which is number one out of Final fantasy Gabranth and Cyborg Ninja there both just so good and very accurate to the actually characters they are based on. What is it with characters that are in amour, or where masks or are in some kind of mecha suit that makes them so cool compared to all the regular guys. 

The articulation of the Cyborg Ninja is what we have come to expect from the play arts kai line of toys minus a couple of articulate joints such as the waist. This does not hinder the poseability of the figure in any meaningful way. All the typical ninja like poses are still very much possible. There have been a number of play arts figures in the past that really needed a stand to do any meaningful poses. Personally compared to some of the other figures in the kai line I’ve been able to stand Fox in a variety of poses without the aid of a stand. This is great and pretty much explains the lack of stand included, however a stand couldn’t hurt for those that really wanted one included. I personally hate having to use a stand to get my figures to stand up in certain poses.  

Grey Fox or Frank Jaeger comes in metallic finished paint which looks mighty impressive furthermore, the level of detail on the figure looks damn nice too. The little details on the suit such as the finely printed writing down to the last detail are game accurate. A lot of effort has gone into this figure it is a finely crafted figure and it shows. 

As with most figures in the kai line Fox comes with some added accessories, such as his famous katana, arm canon and additional right hand to hold the katana sword. The katana is finely crafted and looks great but my favourite is the arm canon finely crafted also and looks mighty impressive. Unfortunately there I no alternative head showing Fox’s face like in the game, something similar to what they are doing with play arts kai character Sam Gideon from the game Vanquish.

 

I don’t really have anything truely bad to say about this finger is pretty much as close to prefect as you can get. Although this being the play arts figures there some people out there that might receive a bad figure with wonky joints and the wrong accessories like two of the same right hands for instance. For I have no such issues this time around with this figure thankfully. The only true downside to me about this figure and the play arts kai line in general is the pricing which seems to get even more expensive with each new release, which is a shame. Simply because these are great figures and some of us won’t be able afford them all and most of these figures don’t hang around long enough to receive a price drop. So it seems us play arts collectors whether loose or moc will have to put up with the hefty price tags which, at the moment range from £49 to £70 per figure. Anyway the figure is fantastic and is well worthy of being in everyone’s collection.

FINAL OPINION: AWESOME / MUST BUY

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Review: PLAY ARTS KAI: Dissidia Squall

Review: PLAY ARTS KAI: Dissidia Squall

PLAY ARTS KAI: Dissidia Squall

Previously I looked at the Gabranth figure of the Play Arts Kai Dissidia line and it is an awesome figure. So this time I thought I’d look the Squall figure which is my second favourite figure in this volume. 

Squall comes with his trademark gunblade weapon and two extra interchangeable hands just like Gabranth did. This version of Squall is base on his Dissdia look and as far as I know this is the second figure of Squall to be released. The original figure was part of the Final Fantasy 8 Play Arts line. Now I didn’t have one at hand so I can’t really compare the differences. The Play Arts Kai line in general has more detail and articulation in its figures compare to the past Play Arts lines. Knowing this I can safely assume that the Play Arts Kai Squall figure out does the original in every way.

The level of articulation in Squall is simple outstanding. The increased level of articulation in Squall allows him to be posed in all sorts of poses. Poses which could not be achieved easily or not at all with the older figure. Unlike Gabranth, Squall is a lot easier to bend into the poses you want. Reason being Gabranth’s joint movements are limited in some places because of his armour.

The attention to detail doesn’t stop with articulation as just as much time and consideration has also gone into the look of the figure as well. Starting with the face, which looks great and is a very excellent likeness to the video game character. 

 

The same attention has also gone into the cloths the character wears. One of the best things about Squall is the gunblade he comes with, truly awesome. The Sword is the right size for the figure; it has the little details on the sword itself and also the little chain that hangs off the base end of the sword. 

As far as I can see no details have been sacrificed and this is a very worthwhile figure for anyone looking for a Squall figure or any figure collector. 

FINAL OPINION: AWESOME / MUST BUY

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Review: PLAY ARTS KAI: Dissidia GABRANTH

Review: PLAY ARTS KAI: Dissidia GABRANTH

PLAY ARTS KAI: Dissidia GABRANTH  

Being a fan of Final Fantasy I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the latest Play Arts Kai figures. This time this set of figures is based around the game Dissidia Final Fantasy. For my first review I will take a look at the awesome villain Gabranth.

Gabranth comes with Chaos Blade & Highway Star swords which can be combined and two extra interchangeable hands. I have to say Gabranth is the most awesome figure out of the three. His amour makes him coolest figure and the attention to detail is just crazy. No matter what kind of pose you put this guy in he just looks amazing from both back and front.

Now this isn’t the first time Gabranth has been released in figure form there was also the original Play Arts figure, which was released some time ago. I can’t make a direct comparison between the two because mine is still in the box, but one thing is for sure being a Play Arts Kai line the new Gabranth benefits from the increased articulation. This allows Gabranth to be posed in all kinds of different ways compared to the original Play Arts figure. This alone makes the newer figure truly remarkable and superior to the older model.

Best thing about this figure is it arrived in great condition. Anyone that has collected play arts figures will tell that at least one of their figures something was wrong with it when they took it out of the box. Simple things like loose joints, Stiff joints, missing hands etc. These things for me have ruined perfectly good Play Arts figures in the past, but I’m glad to say Gabranth arrived without any problems.

If I had to make a choice and could only pick one out the three figures it would definitely be Gabranth. 

FINAL OPINION: AWESOME / MUST BUY

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Marvel Legends Hulk Buster Ironman - Review

Marvel Legends Hulk Buster Ironman - Review

Once again I’m bringing everyone a new toy review and this time it is Hulk Buster Ironman. Hope you enjoy the review.

Straight off the bat this is one of the coolest looking figures I’ve ever laid my hands on. The level of detail and the articulation on such a big figure is just remarkable. Hulk Buster Ironman was released around 2005 by Toybiz is part of the Marvel Legends Legendary Riders series.

Compared to the Marvel Select Juggernaut the Marvel Legends Hulk Buster Ironman is a good deal more articulated. I had a great time putting this guy into poses along with my other figures from the same line. The claims to have 36 points of articulation this includes the ball-hinge shoulders and hips, swivel biceps, waist, and wrists, double-hinged knees, hinged elbows, hinged feet that also rock left to right, hinges at the front of the boots, and an ab crunch joint. That’s a lot of articulation oh and did I mention you can even move the figures and thumbs on this figure have. Now how many figures do you know outside the Marvel Legends line that has that kind of level of articulation?

In terms of figure detail there is a fair amount. The Hulk Buster amour is pretty well detail as you can see there is no disappointment here. Another cool feature of this toy is the helmet can be flipped open revealing Tony Stark and as cool as that is the actually sculpt of Tony is as fantastic. It definitely could be better; however that is a lovely level of detail under the hood of this Ironman Armour. The colour on the armour is your traditional red and gold as it should be. There are also some black line details throughout the figure which makes the figure look even better.

 

As with all Marvel Legends figures the figure comes with a comic, which for this figure is a reprint of Iron Man Issue #305. Along with this the figure also comes with some sort of glider which seems pretty cool but obviously not something Ironman would ever use.

In conclusion this is another great figure purchase and is well worth the money I paid for it. These days trying to track down this figure is pretty tough and no one is selling this brand new for cheap.

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