Toy Review: Transformers Generations War for Cybertron Earthrise Airwave (Deluxe)

Review:  #634

Name:  Airwave

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Decepticon

Line:  Generations - War for Cybertron:  Earthrise

Year of Release:  2020

Size Class:  Deluxe (Wave 2)

Mold Status:  new

AIRCRAFT CARRIER MODE:

The first alternate mode for Airwave is an aircraft carrier mode, which is naturally dominated by the large runway, and a block at the end sculpted to look like a storage facility.

This is effectively a rectangular block but is still recognizable for what it is supposed to be.  While you can spy the treads below, it isn't actually capable of rolling in this mode.

Airwave is a Deluxe and in this mode, he is longer than your average Deluxe, above is a comparison against TLK Bumblebee.

While Airwave is supposed to be an aircraft carrier, it is more scaled for play with Micromasters.

This is a decent alternate mode.

TRANSFORMATION (TO RUNWAY):

As a Modulator, Airwave relies on parts forming in order to transform into his various modes.  To get him into his Runway mode it is very easy as you just need to split the aircraft carrier in half to peg together again into a longer piece.  Peg a few other pieces around to allow it to sit flat on the surface and you're done.

RUNWAY MODE:

The runway mode is not as recognizable as the aircraft carrier, it's mostly designed to be attached to other bases.

The best feature here is the radio tower.  He doesn't look as good from behind given the exposed robot parts, including the fist.

Airwave is now longer than your average Deluxe but the mass is a lot more spread out as a result.

Again, while scaled for play with Micromasters, even their small sizes is still scaled too big to look natural.

As another alternate mode, it is great for play value, but it is not the strongest mode that Airwave has.

TRANSFORMATION (TO BATTLE STATION):

While not on the packaging, the battle station mode is official given that it appears on stock photography and is clearly designed for it.  This mode requires more fiddling as you need to fold several pieces, as well as snap them together with tight connections.

BATTLE STATION MODE:

If you didn't know what it was supposed to be, you'll have a tough time getting to the correct answer.  At first you might think it is a tank, but the treads are not in the right place.  This is actually a stationary battle station, too bad there aren't any figures small enough that you can place inside to station there.

It is obviously not the strongest mode of the figure, and it does feel like a hodgepodge of parts snapped together in a vague shape.

This is a more compact shape, being more square now.

The panels with the two guns are supposed to be able to lift up, but it depends on how your panels are as you might not be able to get enough clearance.

TRANSFORMATION (TO ROBOT MODE):

The most interesting part of the transformation is how the legs have several panels that fold together around the treads (which seems underutilized in all modes).  Otherwise, the partsforming is quite self-explanatory.

ROBOT MODE:

Airwave's robot mode looks really good.  Thanks to his proportions, he gives off the aura of a huge robot if he was done to scale.

He is a solid all rounder thanks to not having excessively hollow parts.

The head is flatter than one would expect, which helps with the large scaled look.  It is on a swivel so he can look from side to side.

Size-wise, he is a smidgen shorter than Siege Sideswipe.

In terms of articulation, Airwave has gotten all the usual joints seen in recent Deluxes.  He has hinge joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips, knees and ankles.

He lacks a right hand, and interestingly, while he has elbow swivels, the plastics are molded in such a way that if you bend it, it renders the swivels useless as it blows that movement.

Airwave is also a Modulator and while this isn't in the instructions, you can have a play around with the pieces to peg onto any other Deluxe in the line and power them up, which is pretty cool.

You can also detach the gun from his shoulder to hold in his hand.  This is a strong robot mode.

OVERALL:

Despite some weaker alternate modes, Airwave is brimming with play value.  With four modes plus the ability to split into pieces to peg onto other Deluxe figures, there are so many options.  Despite this, the compromises aren't game breaking and Airwave is a neat figure worth purchasing.

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A Wrinkle in Time (2018)

A Wrinkle in Time is a fantasy adventure film that tries to be mystical, abstract, epic and magical at the same time.  The strongest part of the film is probably the first ten minutes as it sets up the plot.  Meg was in a happy family, with a loving father and mother.  However, soon after her brother is adopted, their father mysteriously disappears.  Four years on, Meg is shown to be bullied at school and generally unhappy with her life.  Eventually, she discovers that her father, who was a renowned scientist from Nasa, was investigating "tessering", a way to teleport to other worlds (or just worlds really far away).  While the film is about Meg's quest to find her father, it is filled with bland characters that tries to be quirky but ends up being uninteresting.  The film heavily relies on special effects as it is showing off the wonders of these far away worlds but it does more to pull you away than it does to immerse you.  The special effects feel a notch down in quality, and a lot of it feels too plasticky and fake.  The story doesn't pick up, all the while you watch with the expectation that it'll speed up and something big will happen but it never does.  A Wrinkle in Time feels messy and hodgepodge together that it never ever gets even close to what it wants itself to be.

Toy Review: Transformers BotBots Wasabi Breath (Series 5)

Review:  #633

Name:  Wasabi Breath

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  N/A

Line:  BotBots

Year of Release:  2020

Size Class:  BotBot (Series 5)

Mold Status:  new

ALTERNATE MODE:

BotBots delivers again with never-before-seen alternate modes with Wasabi Breath transforming into a sushi.

The type of sushi is one that has a piece of shrimp on top of the rice, it actually looks really good.

As a BotBot though, Wasabi Breath is really small, above is a comparison against Legion Barricade.

A fantastic alternate mode, and the color scheme is spot on.

TRANSFORMATION:

Despite the unique alternate mode and equally unique robot mode, the transformation is quite boring.  Open the sushi in half in order to pull out the head and neck, close it back up and then flip down the legs and you're done.

ROBOT MODE:

Forgoing a traditional robot mode, Wasabi Breath transforms into a dragon!

It's a chunky dragon and little has been done with the body though, given that this is literally the sushi mode with four stumpy legs and a dragon head attached to it.

The head sculpt is good nonetheless, even the teeth is painted.

Wasabi Breath gains a little bit of height but is basically the same size as the alternate mode.  Above is a comparison against Legion Crosshairs.

Articulation is really bad, the only joint worth mentioning is the balljointed neck.

OVERALL:

Wasabi Breath is unique in that it has two imaginative modes.  It is slightly hampered with the simple transformation and static robot mode.

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The Boys - Season 1 (2019)

The Boys is a superhero series that is an Amazon Prime Original. The first season is comprised of eight episodes, each roughly an hour long. The show takes place in a world where superpowers are somewhat common. This has caused a whole industry where yes, superheroes save the world, but there is also a multimedia empire behind them. They have merchandising, movies, games and everything else that spotlights them. The odd thing is that there is a clear monopoly, where the one single company pretty much controls everything superhero related.

The twist in The Boys is how the superheroes have a brand image to uphold. In public, they are the caring, heroic and generous people that uphold justice. However, we see the darker side behind them. When they’re not in front of cameras, they are spoiled, arrogant, sleezy and are some of the worst human filth that you can think of. Of course, there are exceptions but the show paints a depressive and negative view of them. The first episode has very good pacing, and there are plenty of moments where it subverts your expectations to shock you. It likes to lull you into a false sense of security, making you comfortable by showing off the good things about superheroes before it dashes that image. There are some gory events with plenty of violence. There are some scenes that may be more than a bit uncomfortable, especially some of the deaths. Barring that, it kicks off into some very thought provoking exploration about how a society like this works.

The show primarily follows Hughie, an average normal guy. He works as a sales assistant, has a steady relationship with a girlfriend and while his life isn’t amazing, it’s solid. It all upends one day and that’s how it kickstarts his mistrust and anger towards superheroes. He witnesses and experiences the “collateral damage” being swept under the rug, and outright lying in order to keep up the positivity of the superheroes.

While Hughie is normally a good and average guy, he gets caught up with Butcher, someone who is out to get the superheroes to be responsible for their actions. Butcher is somewhat unhinged, and is a proven murderer. The show is good in that it slowly changes Hughie, and just when you think he couldn’t pull through to do what he must, he will subvert your expectations and will.

The other focus is on a superhero, Starlight. She is one of the actually good superheroes, believing in justice and righteousness. Thus she gets a shock when she makes it into the big league and sees how the ones who supposedly stand at the top, actually acts. The show depicts Starlight’s struggle, as one of “them”. She cannot cope with the lies and deceit, and has her own identity crisis. It dives into some politics, and how having a private corporation, Vought, in control of the superheroes, is not a good thing. They seek to continually expand their influence, and they do not keep their hands clean. There are some truly horrible scenes. Horrible in the sense of what these so called “superheroes” are doing, turning their backs, making situations worse. They can nonchalantly screw things up and then have it all covered up so that they can keep their clean image.

Another common theme is that it explores the impacts of living with superheroes. These may just been fleeting comments here and there, but it adds another layer of how a world with superheroes who have amazing powers, would work when they interact with normal people. The pacing is very good, and it keeps up the suspense in every episode but it does slow down a just a notch during the middle. It’s only a temporary hiccup since it never gets boring where you’re wondering when the good bits are going to happen though.

As the season marches towards the end, there’s a significant revelation about the superheroes on top of what was already being uncovered by the characters. It is like a chain of conspiracies that manages to pile on top of each other, each bigger and more intoxicating than the last. With no end in sight by the time the season finale comes around, you don’t know whether it would be able to satisfy, or most likely disappoint. This gets even more pronounced in the last 15 mins or so, where Butcher and Hughie encounter such a huge problem that surely the remaining time is not enough. Yet again, the show manages to surpass those expectations and it leads to a mindblowing finale that is a really good ending to the biggest objective of the season.

Overall, The Boys is an excellent show. It is one of those rare shows that does not waste any second or minute of each episode. It manages to keep up its pacing throughout the whole season, with compelling motivations for each character and developments that twist each time it is fleshed out.

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Planetarian ~The Reverie of a Little Planet~ (PC)

Planetarian ~The Reverie of a Little Planet~ is a visual novel developed by Key. The developers have defined as a “kinetic novel”. As a result, Planetarian removes even the most basic of gameplay of visual novels. There are no choices, decisions or any other gimmicks that pause the story; instead, it is literally a visual novel. You read the story from start to finish with no player input at all. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, where the majority of the human population has been wiped out in a senseless war. Giant killer robots were unleashed and still roam around to this day, while the remaining humans are scavengers and everyday is a struggle to even just live. The world has turned into hell, with sunlight gone, constant acid rain, and uninhabitable lands as a result of the bio-weapons used.

Following a Junker, as someone who scavenges for parts to sell in order to survive, he enters a promising city. The city was wiped out in the early days of the war with a bio-weapon and after 30 years, the bacteria have died and the place has become safe enough for humans. “Safe” is a subjective word though, as the killer robots still roam. However, it attracts Junkers due to the alluring promise of a goldmine of parts.

The Junker chances upon what used to be a planetarium. There, he meets a robot attendant, who has the appearance of a teenage girl. Robots back in the heyday were physically near indistinguishable from humans. With her introducing herself as Hoshino Yumemi, she is still running through the routines, patiently waiting for a customer to arrive. When the Junker showed up, she immediately persuades him to sit down and watch the show.

Despite the Junker being wary, he doesn’t immediately destroy the robot. As he stays, we learn more about the world and the whole time where Yumemi has been waiting here, dutifully performing her role. She is immediately likeable, and you can’t help but feel sad when you realize that every day she is patiently waiting, and certain, of customers arriving. Whether she stands out in the rain calling, or happily reciting her lines, she oozes a sense of childlike innocence and naivety. You just don’t want to see the moment, which is surely coming, when she is disappointed as nothing works anymore. It is actually a miracle that she functions at all.

Despite that, time has not treated her well as she is not designed to last this long. Her parts are becoming aged, she is slowly malfunctioning. As a robot, she has no concept of the war, and all the non-responses she encounters when requesting help and creating support tickets to other departments are glossed over. Yumemi is steadfast in her beliefs. She truly believes that people will return to the planetarium again, and that the shows will continue. Due to the limitations of her programming, she cannot comprehend the effects of no electricity, or seeing the streets flooded and void of people.

For reasons that even he doesn’t fully understand himself, the Junker stays at the planetarium, even though his finds Yumemi annoying. Yumemi is constantly chattering but her devotion to her task is one of her charms. That scene when we see the show that Yumemi has been clamoring on up until that time was magical. It is really surprising at how easily the writers managed to make you care for the characters in such a short amount of time.

Just as you are wondering what direction the story will go, the second half moves at a brisk pace. While it never feels rushed and it is well fleshed out, the events flies by and you can have to stop for a moment or two just to process what has happened. The ending kicks you in the guts and you’ll be surprised at how much you care for the characters at this point. It’s a good ending in terms of the emotional impact and it creates a sense of self-awareness, and some deeper themes like the meaning of life itself.

Overall, Planetarian ~The Reverie of a Little Planet~ is a fantastic visual novel that should be a must read. Despite being short enough that it’ll only take two to four hours to complete (dependent on your reading speed), it packs a surprisingly big emotional impact. Since it only focuses on two characters the whole time, it does a superb job at building them up and having the player care for them very much. You end up invested in them and their future, and it’s just so sad to think of what had happened before the events of this game and what is going to happen after it.

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