Toy Review: Transformers BotBots Duderoni (Series 1)

Review:  #549
Name:  Duderoni
Brand:  Transformers
Allegiance:  N/A
Line:  BotBots
Year of Release:  2018
Size Class:  BotBots (Series 1)
Mold Status:  new

ALTERNATE MODE:

Duderoni transforms into a slice of pepperoni pizza, this is a very novel alternate mode.

It can be hard to wrap yourself around a robot that transforms into food but anyway, it's basically a pizza slice shape that has cheese and pepperoni painted on top.

As a BotBot, Duderoni is much smaller than even a Legion figure.  This is still a cool and pretty believable alternate mode.

TRANSFORMATION:

The transformation is a bit more involved than you'd expect.  The tip of the slice folds out to form the legs, and these are on balljoints as you really have to wriggle and rotate them.  The arms are a lot easier as they form from the thicker part.  The face and torso is the underside of the slice so you just need to stand him up afterwards.

ROBOT MODE:

For such a little dude, Duderoni has a decent robot mode with great sculpting.

As you can see, he has most of the pizza on his back but that is forgivable for something of this size.

The face has a lot of personality but the quality of the paint applications may vary.  The head is fixed and cannot be moved in anyway.

Once again, Duderoni is tiny, as above, Legion Crosshairs absolutely towers over him.

Duderoni has some decent articulation with balljointed shoulders and hips.  A great little robot that carries plenty of personality.

OVERALL:

Duderoni is yet another winner in the BotBots line.  The robot mode is surprisingly versatile while a slice of pizza is just so unexpected that it's very cool.

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Date A Live III (2019)

Date A Live III is the third season of anime based on the light novel series.  After the shorter second season, this season is back to being twelve episodes long.  It is set in a world where the appearances of spirits causes the natural disaster known to the masses as spatial quakes.  The spirits take on the form of girls and apart from eliminating them, the other way to seal their powers is to make the fall in love.  Thus enters Itsuka Shido, our protagonist, and also the only one with the ability to seal the powers of the spirits by kissing them.  As interesting as the premise is, it ends up becoming a typical romantic comedy interspersed with some battle scenes here and there.  The series has long since given up on trying to make it seem that an effort is made on hiding the truth and the damage from the general population.

The season begins with another typical arc.  A new spirit appears and Shido must go ahead and make her fall in love with him in order to seal her powers.  This has the additional benefit of keeping her safe since with her powers sealed, the AST and DEM will have no interest in capturing or killing her.  The new spirit brings with her, her own unique power and this is what makes this arc different from the rest.  However, the events leading up to successfully sealing her powers ends up becoming a retread of the movie.  Shido will go on dates with all the characters thus far and it is starting to become unwieldy.  This is because the anime is trying to give each character equal screen time which means less time is spent on average per character overall.

There is very predictable plot development where it doesn’t even try anything to spice things up.  The spirits often overreact and misunderstand what is currently happening.  Shido makes them fall deeper in love thanks to his (cringey) self sacrifices.  All the spirits vie for Shido’s affections and attention but it is hard to see what makes Shido so special such that everyone likes him.  Shido’s personality is becoming more and more generic as time goes on.  The anime goes through the well worn themes of being there for someone, supporting them no matter their appearance and that everyone can make friends.

The second arc that starts from the middle of the season is where the events get quite a bit more interesting.  It focuses on Origami, who is a subtle yet impactful character thus far.  She’s devoted to Shido but has always been on the other side of the battle, being the enemy to spirits.  However, a compromise or resolution is achieved in this season, which also sheds a bit of light on the spirits themselves.

The arc involves a classic story using Kurumi’s powers.  It’s interesting because of the conundrum it presents and what Shido can possibly do to rectify it.  The situation starts to get messy, in a good way, because this is probably the best arc that the anime has had thus far.  You go into it as confused and disorientated as Shido as he slowly tries to piece together what happened.  It sheds a lot of light into Origami’s past and her inner feelings but the resolution is weak.

While battle scenes were never one of Date A Live’s strong points, they remain as average as ever in this season.  What usually happens is that the spirits transform into their spirit forms, meaning they’ll get some fancy armor and waves their weapons around.  The group known as the AST will have flight gear allowing them zip around in the air and the mysterious third faction DEM Industries will talk a lot as they continue their hidden agenda.  The battles don’t actually have much action in them since it likes to have the characters move around before cutting to when they’re hit and then a lot of close ups with dialogue.

The last episode of the season is a weird episode in that it is not serious at all.  It felt like that after the season finished with its second major arc, the animators still had one episode left and thus put in a filler type of episode which has no consequence to the story.  There are times during the episode where you’re left thinking if they are serious since it is so cheesy.

Overall, Date A Live III could possible be the best season in that it has an interesting second half.  It focuses on Origami who was one of the first characters to pair with Shido and yet she never really got the spotlight before now.  One of the bigger negatives of the season though is that despite DEM Industries being the focus point and such a big threat in the second season, they have done nothing this season.

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Book Review: Accel World 18: The Black Dual Swordsman

Review:  #911
Title:  Accel World 18:  The Black Dual Swordsman
Series:  Accel World – 18th volume
Author:  Reki Kawahara
Comments:  The plot slowly moves forward because the author tends to overindulge himself with battle sequences.  In this case, it takes up half the volume.  At the end of the last volume, the appearance of the final former member of Nega Nebulus leaves the characters stunned and we see how overpowered this character is.  Merged into this is the introduction of the new space themed level which feels a lot like a gimmick and somewhat improbable.  Once the battle is over, the plan to strike the Acceleration Research Society is revealed in bits and pieces.  As per usual, this plan is sidetracked with yet another subplot in which Haru partners up with someone in order to investigate the nature of Brain Burst.  The massive amounts of exposition and excessive amount of description can start to drag the atmosphere down but at its core, the story is still gripping.  The whole nature of Brain Burst has evolved so much, with so many mechanics added that it is completely unrecognizable from when it was first introduced.  Like the previous volume, there is a short story.  It focuses on Blood Leopard and Scarlet Rain, diving in their backgrounds.  Chronologically, it is set close to the volume, right before the school festival.  It gives a deeper insight in Blood Leopard and her real life, but is otherwise optional.
Rating:  6/10

Toy Review: Transformers Tribute Evolution 3-pk Bumblebee (1977)

Review:  #548
Name:  Bumblebee
Brand:  Transformers
Allegiance:  Autobot
Line:  Tribute
Year of Release:  2019
Size Class:  Deluxe
Mold Status:  repaint of the 2007 version

VEHICLE MODE:

This version of Bumblebee is based upon his very first live-action appearance from the 2007 movie, and thus he transforms into a 1977 Camaro.

Like the original (and unlike the Japanese version), he keeps the painted windows although it doesn't look too bad.

He is average sized for a Deluxe but noteworthy is that he has thicker plastics that just feels more solid than the more recent figures.

In comparison to the other two in the pack, he is definitely the heftiest and the biggest.

The missile launchers from robot mode can peg onto the underside and act as twin exhaust pipes.

Rolling him on a flat surface is the extent of his play value in this mode.  He focuses more on accuracy to the real vehicle than gimmicks.

A good vehicle mode and it's nice that they omitted the burnt battle damage marks in this version.

TRANSFORMATION:

As part of the gimmick of the original movie, he features a few Automorph features.  To start the transformation process, you are supposed to press a button the hood which will automatically snap the hood down to form the chest while at the same time flipping up his head and moving the front wheels aside.  In actuality, it can often get caught and you have to manually complete the maneuver.  Otherwise, everything else is pretty standard.  The arms come out from the sides, while the rear splits to form the legs.  There's a bit of Automorphing there as well as you move the rear windshield pieces up to push down the leg pieces.

ROBOT MODE:

Robot mode is where the figure is showing its age.  It is a lot more blocky than recent movie figures, and it feels more like a toy than anything (and yes, it is supposed to be a toy but recent figures look more like display pieces than action figures).

He has his fair share of kibble and they're most out of the way or are elements of the character mode.  The only piece that isn't that great are the car shell pieces on the back of his legs.

The headsculpt, considering the time it was released in, is actually quite accurate and doesn't look too simplified.

A quick comparison against a Deluxe and it shows that Bumblebee is a little bit taller than a Siege Deluxe but that just means he's about normal height with the Deluxes of that era.

Articulation is okay, a bit limited by today's standards.  Due to transformation, his shoulders are weirdly situated and are lower than one would expect.

He comes with two missile launchers and these are spring loaded missiles launchers.

He can hold the launchers in both hands as a type of handgun.

Or you can peg them onto the underside of the forearms.

Lastly, you can peg them onto the wheels on his shoulders and they look awesome if not for the fact that they don't actually lock into place so they'll droop.  The feet is also quite large and situated way too forward in comparison to his body to look good.

A comparison with the other two figures in the pack and this version definitely shows its age in terms of aesthetics.

Despite the blocky look and everything, Bumblebee has still aged well as an action figure.  His simpler transformation works well and makes him more fun.

OVERALL:

1977 Bumblebee is still worth the purchase.  He has a great vehicle mode and while the robot mode has not aged gracefully in terms of aesthetics, it is still a fun figure.  He has a few weaponry options and he feels well built in your hands.

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Adventure Bar Story (3DS)

Adventure Bar Story is a JRPG originally for mobile phones, then ported to iOS and Android, and then finally to 3DS.  The game is only playable in 2D.  It is a RPG with unique elements.  The main distinction being that you only gain experience points to level up by eating food that you cook.  While this is different and refreshing in the beginning of the game, it soon becomes a grind as you realize that the food you can easily produce and eat doesn’t provide much experience.  It will eventually take days before you can raise the higher levels.  The game has a calendar system where you spend each day deciding on what you want to do.  Most of the time, you would want to enter a dungeon.  You can only enter one dungeon a day.  The main reason is because you can pick up food ingredients scattered in them, which is much cheaper than buying it from shops.

The game uses random encounters.  Fighting monsters will net you points that accumulate for each character in order for them to learn new skills.  The encounter rate is a tad bit too high, especially in the larger dungeons making it annoying to explore.  There is a turn based battle system which is simple and functional.  Characters can attack, use skills or use items.  The speed of each character has an effect as well since a character may be fast enough to have two turns before the enemy has one.  A nice quality of life feature for grinding (and you’ll be doing this a lot) is the autobattle option which speeds up the battle animations as well as having characters automatically use attack.  The other major component of gameplay is the cooking.  It has minor simulation elements since your character own their own restaurant.  You decide what dishes to cook with your ingredients and what to sell based on the price and what’s currently popular.  You gain recipes or you can experiment around hoping to stumble onto a workable recipe.

You will quickly settle into a routine for each day which comprises of going to a dungeon to get ingredients, buy a few things, cook, and then open the restaurant to gain money.  The hardest part of the game is the beginning since you have to juggle between buying better gear, buying new recipes, buying ingredients and buying cooking methods.  This is not to even touch upon deciding whether you want to sell the food you made to make money or eat it for experience points.  The story is really simple and shallow.  Unfortunately, what interest you may have will be quickly dampened as the plot events comes in drips and drabs.  You control Siela, who owns a restaurant with her sister, which doubles as their family house.  A rich noble wants to buy out their restaurant so they end up deciding to make it the best and most famous restaurant in town in order to prevent it from being taken over.

The progress, and thus the pacing, of the story will vary since it is depending on your own progress of selling enough dishes in your restaurant, advancing through the cooking contests, and clearing dungeons.  In the end, it has a pretty boring story with too little cutscenes spread too far apart for a RPG.  The very final part of the game does have better pacing with the quick succession of bosses and new dungeon content.  You’re not confined to grind the same areas repetitively like the first 80% of the game.  While most dungeons have a boss, they are pretty easily as long as you had been regularly eating and leveling up over the course of the game.

There will be times where it is unclear on how to move the story forward.  You will get hints from other characters but you will be stuck a lot of the time with no idea how to move past an obstacle.  The game will just keep telling you that you can’t go forward or you are not ready for it yet.  The same goes for recruiting characters, with some that require an inane amount of pointless repetition before their dialogue suddenly changes.  On the flip-side, there are plenty of secrets to uncover which is rewarding when you stumble across one.  The game’s description boasts that it has over 40 hours of gameplay but therein lays its biggest flaw.  The game is comprised of 90% of doing the same things again and again and it will benefit from a lot of streamlining.  You will be entering and grinding the same dungeon again and again.  There is a slow unlock of dungeons with each new one being a slight difficulty spike the first time around.

It takes around 25 hours to complete the story to the credits.  However, there is a bunch of post-game content which is mainly comprised of bosses and dungeons comprised of confusing mazes.  Although again, it will take effort in order to figure out what content there is because it doesn’t present it on a silver platter.  Overall, despite its repetitive nature, Adventure Bar Story is a relaxing JRPG that can be played in bite sized chunks.  The core gameplay is solid, with an addictive cycle of getting ingredients, cooking, eating to level up and selling to gain money.  If you are prepared to play hours without unlocking the next part of the story, then the game is worth a shot.

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Ready Player One (2018)

Ready Player One is based on the novel of the same name but only the core storyline is the same, everything else has been revamped to fit the format and pacing required for a film.  Taking place in the future where the virtual reality (complete with haptic suits, treadmills and motion tracking) has become extremely popular due to the way the world is falling into ruins.  Oasis is the software that makes it all possible and when its creator, James Halliday died, he put together a competition where the one who finds all three keys will get full control of his wealth and Oasis.  The film follows protagonist Wade Watts as he participates in the competition, against others looking for the same thing and the evil corporation IOI.  Ready Player One is an interesting merge of live-action, representing reality, and complete CGI, representing Oasis.  It doesn't try to make Oasis super realistic, it's more like a game with great graphics and this works well.  One thing noteworthy in the novel is that it carries a lot of 1980s references, it's somewhat downplayed here and it collates together pop culture references (mostly visual) from all throughout the years instead of being confined into a decade.  The pacing is okay for the most part but the competition does not feel well thought out.  There are a lot of flaws with the way the keys are found and earned.  Events happened too quickly before you can process it so it doesn't feel substantial.  It's an enjoyable flick with plenty of action and the CGI is well done so it is still worth a watch.

Toy Review: Transformers BotBots Chilla Gorilla (Series 1)

Review:  #547
Name:  Chilla Gorilla
Brand:  Transformers
Allegiance:  N/A
Line:  BotBots
Year of Release:  2018
Size Class:  BotBots (Series 1)
Mold Status:  new

ALTERNATE MODE:

Chilla Gorilla was originally available as part of Series 1 but was released within some of the blindpacked in Series 3's Arcade Renegades.

The best thing about the BotBots line is how they transform into everyday mundane objects, and things that we have never seen Transformers transformed into before.  Chilla Gorilla transforms into a pair of headphones.

Yes, the headphones are a big thick but it is still immediately recognizable.  BotBots are tiny though, above is a comparison against Legion Barricade so you can see how much smaller they are.

An excellent, and novel, alt mode.

TRANSFORMATION:

Being so small you cannot expect anything complex.  That isn't to say that it is not clever.  Quite the opposite, the transformation scheme will surprise you at how effective it is.  The sides become the arms by tilting the forward but you can push the fists out a bit more.  The middle then flips up to reveal the face.

ROBOT MODE:

This is where he gets his name as the robot mode takes inspiration from gorillas with the long buff arms and shorter legs.

Thanks to the long arms acting as additional points to balance him on the table, you don't have to worry about him falling over any time soon.

The face is on a panel and is one of the most well painted areas of the figure.  Due to transformation, it is fixed and cannot move unless you want it to face down.

Again, Chilla Gorilla is small and short in this mode, above is a comparison against Legion Crosshairs.

Articulation is limited to balljointed shoulders.  You'll still need to keep at least one arm on the ground so he doesn't fall over.  A great robot mode nonetheless.

OVERALL:

Chilla Gorilla is a great little guy.  His headphone mode is cool and not something we see in Transformers while the robot mode has a lot of charm.  He is definitely worth hunting out a blindpack or two in order to obtain him.

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