Video - Naruto Shippuuden Opening update

This is an updated version of the Naruto Shippuuden opening, starting from episode 8, to tie in with a new chapter of the storyline. Can you spot the differences ?

Video - Hero's Come Back

Finally !!! Here's the newly released PV Hero's Come Back by nobodyknows+. This is the first opening theme from Naruto Shippuuden series.

Haul of the Day - 11 Apr 2007

Thanks to shaun, managed to get the repaint Darkseid from the latest DC Super Heroes.

Haul of the Day - 07 Apr 2007

Toy haul from TFH.

• SOC GX-36 Ideon. This figure is huge, and heavy. Japan edition.
  
• SIC Vol 37 Blade (Jack form) and Leangle. Japan edition.
  
• Star Wars Saga Collection Elite Corps. Japan card.
  
• Star Wars 30th anniversay Treachery on Saleucami Battlepack. Hasbro.
  

Book haul from Kinokuniya.

• TV-Magazine, April edition. Comes with a DVD with 40 minutes of Transformers material, to commemorate the rerun of Beast Wars and re-releasing of Beast Wars toys.
  
• International Artist, April/May edition. I think I might have missed the previous issue. The price tag is S$14.90, but I noticed that the price has changed to S$17.00 (goodness, what's the deal with all these escalating prices even before the July 2007 GST hike) after the sales girl restock the shelves with new copies.
  
• Japanese magazine on comic drawing, character design and story telling.
  

AMKHub

Went down to the new shopping mall at Ang Mo Kio called AMKHub to do some shopping and also take a look at all the excitment about this new mall.

It certainly is a refreshing change. The mall is still not officially opened, but I think about 80%-90% of the space has been taken up and most shops have opened for business. Like any shopping mall, it has almost everything you need, supermarket, fashion, music, DVD, food, and services.

NTUC FairPrice supermarket (called FairPrice Xtra) was the first to open in the basement. It has a Carrefour Suntec feel; large space, racks full of stuff.
Not much of a toy section though, but essentially everything you need for your daily necessities.

The mall is stock full (and mainly) of fashion shops, from little boutiques to big labels like Levis. Besides clothings, there are also accessories and jewellery shops.

I only found one shop selling DVDs, VCDs, and CDs, and many selling handphones. Xpressflowers also had a shop there, and DBS and Citibank were the 2 big banking players, taking up a large space on the top levels. Citibank seems to setup a regional office based on the space.

In terms of food, you have big players like NewYork NewYork (surprising that they open one in a hdb heartland, but seems that this is the way to go), Fish&Co, Pepper&Lunch, Dian Xiao Er, Soup Restaurant, Mos Burger, etc. There are also smaller shops serving snacks, like a durian pancakes, fried vegetable cakes. It was too crowded to try them, so I might give them a try during one of the weekdays when I am off from work. A foodcourt on the top level is still work in progress.

The connection to the bus interchange is completed, but the buses have not yet moved to this new location.

The concept is similar to Compass Point, but the shops are similar to Jurong Point.

There is also a nice centre stage for shows.

AMK itself is a matured estate, having common establishments like cinemas and bookshops scattered all over the central. So having these shops here would not make sense though.

Overall, it was a nice shopping experience. I'll be back again.

Haul of the Day - 30 Mar 2007

Transformers field day, courtesy of the great folks at TFH.

• MP-5 Masterpiece Megatron

• e-Hobby Exclusive Kissplay Cassettes 3-Pack
  
• 6" Titanium Fallen (Dreamwave comics)
  
• 6" Titanium Cheetor (Beast Machines)
  

Takara Beast Wars Reborn 10th Anniversary

• TM-01 Optimus Primal
  
• TM-02 Megatron
• TM-03 Cheetor
  
• TM-04 Waspinator
  
• TM-05 Dinobot
  
• TM-06 Blackarachnia
  
• TM-07 Corada
  
• TM-08 Arcadis
  

And thanks again for dinner guys !

Haul of the Day - 18 Mar 2007

Took a stroll down to the local library to get borrow some books on effective management and leadership, and picked up a Series 1 Spirit Aang for S$11.92 (20% discount off S$14.90) along the way.
See previous article on the animated series. And due to some fluke with the local credit card company, I still have not purchased the Book One: Water DVD boxset.

Book Two: Earth, or Season 2, is currently broadcasting locally on SCV channel 32 every Sat (11am, repeat) and Sun (5pm). Season 2 was aired in the US exactly one year ago.

Book Three: Fire, is scheduled to air this year 2007 in US. M. Night Shyamalan is also signed on 08 Jan 2007 to write, direct and produce a trilogy of live-action films based on the series. Big things happening for the Avatar.

Haul of the Day - 11 Mar 2007

• Transformers Classics Minicons Dirt Digger Team, Predator Attack Team, Clear Skies Team (OG People's Park)
  
• Gundam Universal Century High Grade Hy-GoGG model Kit on clearance (Seiyu Bugis)
  
• some Weapons series (CSC)
  
• Star Wars 30th Anninversary Coin Series Super Battle Driod (OG People's Park)
  
• Batman #663, the Secret #1 (G&B)

Managed to find the elusive Batman #663 and picked up the Secret #1 because of the art by Jason Alexander. Now have to hunt down issue 2, as it was released on Mar 02, 2007.

Video - Nagareboshi ~Shooting Star~

Here's the newly released PV Nagareboshi ~Shooting Star~ from Home Made Kazoku. This is the first closing theme from Naruto Shippuuden series.

Movie - 300

Just watched the movie premier of 300, a film by Zach Snyder, based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller. The graphic novel is losely based on The Battle Thermopylae, in which Spartan King Leonidas and 300 Spartans fought to the last man against Persian King Xerxes and his massive army of one million soldiers.

The movie itself is a close (shot-for-shot) adaptation of the graphic novel, so there should be no complaints from comic readers.

I have not read the graphic novel, but the movie does look like a live-action comic. The movie is basically set in sepia/gold/bronze colour, with the red cape adding the contrast (those who have seen Sin City should be familiar with the style).

The story is simple, the battle scenes are a visual treat, the rock music accompanying the battle scenes was a good combination, and the dialogue is sometimes cliche but tacky, and not hard on the ears.
Overall, I would say that this is a should-see movie.

Note that due to nude scenes, some sexuality and scores of visual carnage (that's how my friend put it), the film has a rating of M18 in Singapore.

Oh, and this was the goodie bag. Nothing worth shouting about.

Haul of the Day - 04 Mar 2007

Top, left to right:

• Medicom RAH Clone Trooper (TFH)
  
• Art Asylum DC Minimates Superman/Luther 2-pack (Alaric's)
  
• Art Asylum DC Minimates Batman/ODAC 2-pack (Alaric's)
  
• Konami Busou Shinki Series 4 MMS EX Weapon Set Type Fort Bragg
  
• Weapon series from Dragon Quest and some samurai manga (Ng's Collection)
  
• Mezco Hellboy Comic Series 2 Alien, Johann and Roger. Managed to get all 3 except Rocket-pack Hellboy, which I already have loose (Alaric's)
  

A couple of magazines I picked up on the way:


And a cool tote bag from Ng's Collections, which was given if you purchased more than S$100.

Haul of the Day - 21 Feb 2007

Picked these up today at Bricksworld and TFH after work. And this is like the first time in probably one year plus that I left the office when the sky is still bright. Yes, quite sad actually.

Star Wars Lego Clone Troopers battle pack 7655 and e-HOBBY Japan exclusive black version (The Hybrid Stlye)T.H.S.-02 Convoy.

Video - nobodyknows+

Was searching in youtube hoping to find the music video for Naruto's new anime opening, but found these music videos from the same group nobodyknows+ instead:

Ultraman in love ??


Kungfu Hustle ?

Happy Chinese New Year 2007

Naruto: Shippuden begins

Naruto fans will rejoice as the filler episodes come to a closure and the anime picks up the pace with the manga.
The next chapter of the adventures of Naruto continues in the Shippuuden, or Hurricane Chronicles. Time-skip: It is 2 plus years after the failed attempt to retrieve Sasuke from Orochimaru. Everyone has grown up, and some like Naruto has undergone training during this period of time. For more information, refer to this link.

With the start of a new series, the show kicks off with new opening and closing themes. As with most of the Naruto themes, they are great.

Opening theme, Hero's Come Back by nobodyknows.

They have a "loud" and fast rap theme to kick off this series, but somehow it just does not connect with the animation, especially the pencil-like sequence. The animation is great, though not as fast pace. The first 20 and last 10 seconds are great though.

Closing theme, Shooting Star by Home Made.

The closing theme, usually a slower song, is awesome.

Video - Swindlers and You

Checkout this cool animated music video from an indy band called Atomic Swindlers. The catchy song is called Float (my electric stargirl).

The owl is the coolest ! hahaha.

It has a Aeon Flux feel, set in a Samurai Jack environment.
The animation is done by Joel Trussell. Checkout his site. This guy is great !

Next up, is a video from the anime Initial D. This is the ending/closing theme to the Second Stage (or second season or series). The group responsible for this sweet song is a JROCK group called Galla. They also did the ending/closing theme for the First Stage. The song is called Kimi Ga Iru.

I could only find the TV edit version of the song.
I actually only heard this song in the Stage Three movie (if I remember correctly). It was played as a background music near the end, and it blended very well with the anime, as each of the characters moved on with their own paths. It left a deep impression on me, that I started to look high and low for this song.

Toy Review - Machine Robo Mugenbine Candy Toys

Saw this set at a Japanese toy site, and was intriged by the articulation, and of course, the gattai (combine) aspect. The usual MRM toys sold at department stores are made of better plastics, and packaging, but lacks the articulation that are built into these candy toys.

The same goes for the other Bandai's Sentai series. I am not sure how Bandai can pack the articulations into these candy toys, but not include them into the other higher end toys.

This gattai set comes with 5 figures, with a robot figure (Mugenroid) acting as the central body for the rest to attach to. This is the basic concept since the Machine Robo Rescue series.

Besides the Mugenroid, the rest of the figures have 2 modes, a Dragon mode and a Weapon mode. From the packaging, this seems to be some sort of Legends of 4 Dragons series.
(Note: After Machine Robo Rescue series, I have not been actively catching up with the later Machine Robo series. As such, I have not much information with regards to the later series.)

This set comes with the following figures:
01. MugenFlameDragon
02. MugenThunderDragon
03. MugenEarthDragon
04. MugenWaterDRagon
05. MugenRoid
- the usual Earth Element themes.

The box contains the toy, catalog, a separate instruction sheet for combining the figures, sticker sheet, a candy and as usual, the actual instructions for assembly and stickers is located inside the box. Nowadays, the toy comes almost pre-assembled, which is a good thing. I am lazy to have to remove the parts from the sprues and assemble them. Even putting the stickers is a chore. haha.


The toys come moulded in their basic colours, and there are some basic colours (eg, eyes) however little, added. The rest of the colours are complemented by the stickers. The toys in Dragon mode.


The toys in their Weapon mode. They have to be taken apart to form the alternate mode, and not transformed.

The weapons can use used by the Mugenroid, or the other higher end MRM figures.

The toys in the gattai mode. Again, the toys are taken apart and reassembled. The instructions are given in a separate sheet included. Some parts form the sword and shield.


The combined mode.

Articulations can be found at the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee and ankle. Though they are just basic articulations, they enable they figure to spot cool action poses. Each figure costs S$6.00, totally at S$30.00 per set. Given the playability of the figure, it is worth the S$30.00.

The other aspect of this toy is that Bandai made it in scale with the higher end series, so you can combined with them as well. Also the concept of building blocks from Bandai is great for instilling imgaination and creativity. Kudos to them.

Toy Review - Final Fantasy III Trading Arts Mini

I have never been good with luck. Usually when I play with blind boxes or those gapshapon machines, I will end up getting those figures that prayed I will not get. Just me or it happens to everyone ? I guess it is really random or blind luck.
This time round, I managed to get something which I hoped to get.


The lady at CC was correct. These mini figures had top notch quality. The paint application is ok, there is a flat coat over the figure, which does not make it look like cheap or knock off figures. The sculpting is nice. I have no knowledge about these characters, but I believe they should be a good representation of the game equivalent.

Now the question is whether to get the whole set ? Not really, as the other figures, besides the winged brown armour figure, I have no liking for the rest. Maybe I will try my luck again.

Haul of the Day - 10 Feb 2007

After another session with the financial planner today, I headed down to the local Comics Connection branch at Northpoint to see if anything new has come in.

Bought the latest candy toys from Bandai's Machine Robo Mugenbine series and a Square Enix Toys Final Fantasy III Trading Arts figures. Got the whole set of MRM (you have to anyways), but only bought a random box of FFIII to try out the quality. The lady at CC asked if I want to take a set, and mentions that the quality is tops. See first lah.

Comics - The Hero Initiative's "Ultimate 100"

...a very special fundraiser coming from The Hero Initative. More than 80 artists were asked to participate by drawing a custom sketch on the blank cover of a specially produced "Ultimate Spider-Man #100," with 100 total custom covers created.
Proceeds from the auctions will benefit the Hero Initiative's efforts to "provide a financial safety net for yesterdays creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life and an avenue back into paying work."

Coolness. A gallery of most of the 100 covers can be found here.

My favourite of the lot if I had to pick 5:
1. Alan Davis
2. Jimmy Cheung
3. Joe Quesada
4. Michael Golden
5. Todd McFarlane