#Gundam Justice Knight

[wounded-edge]

[allthatyouknow]

What are the inspirations for the show? I get a lot of Gundam vibes

Gundam is absolutely a huge inspiration for ATYK. Specifically Gundam Thunderbolt (which was the 'required watching' for everyone on the show).

Armored Core, even though it came out mid-production definitely pulled us back into the mech genre - perfect timing there.

Believe or or not System Shock 2, which I finished playing right when I started writing the show in earnest played a big part in the tone I wanted to take with the 'horror' segments.

Star Trek Deep Space 9: Particularly its depiction of how remote outposts of a larger "good" government can be neglected, and in turn begin to form their own moral judgements in the field.

But the biggest inspiration, and the spark for the whole show and it's yet-to-happen climax is this song by Justice.

I listened to this song in ~2016 and imagined *something happening*. The entire campaign is essentially working back from there. Of course, there's no guarantee it will happen. But at this point, some things feel inevitable. That's as much as I can say!

EXTRA SHOUTOUTS WITH NO EXPLANATION: Dead Space, Citizen Sleeper, Disco Elysium, Signalis, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Prey, Warhammer 40:000, Pathologic 2, Factorio, Risk of Rain, SYNTHETIK, SOMA, Space Station 13, and most importantly you the listener.

(Okay I'm done going through my steam library and listing everything that ever resonated with me)

[carnelianwings]

More Seed Freedom thoughts with spoilers, this movie really be living rent free in my head.

Or, I've always loved the old nature vs nurture debate in biology, it's one of the things that drew me to Gundam Seed in the first place with the old Coordinator vs Natural argument.

I love that for the most part, aside from Kira, no one else really gets an upgrade for the final fight - they're all arguably side grades (or debatably a step down) and that the entire Foundation vs Three Ships Alliance/COMPS/Terminal/Orb battle in the end is a metaphor for the age old Nature (Foundation with the higher spec units and mind reading) vs Nurture (TSA/COMPS/Terminal/Orb with the lower spec units but higher skilled and more experienced pilots) argument in science, and one that's been simmering beneath the surface since Day 1 in Seed with the whole Coordinator vs Natural conflict.

The Nature side of the argument is pretty straightforward (as usual) - the Accords are all genetically enhanced to be stronger, but they've lived in isolation the whole time. They haven't had much life experience, relying purely on the superior specs of their units, the element of surprise, and mind reading/control (a skill granted to them via Aura's genetic manipulation) to gain their initial victory.

And for once, all of the Coordinators (plus Lacus, the sole Accord) are all on the Nurture side - Nature may have given them an edge via genetic engineering and enhancement, but it's their life experiences (both on and off the battlefield) that get them the clutch win in the end.

For Shinn, his "downgrade" from the Immortal Justice (stated to be a cut above anything from Seed Destiny) to the Destiny Spec II doubles as his redemption. He's spent his time with COMPS, trying to atone for everything he's done under Durandal's sway, but he never forgets the experiences he did have while he was an ace pilot with ZAFT. His Seed Mode is pure instinct (nature) but it's stronger now, having been tempered by his experience in Seed Destiny and in the interim with COMPS (nurture). Stella comes out from the depths of his mind when the Black Knights try to mind control him to drive them away and protect him (nurture). The Black Knights can't comprehend that "darkness", and it's because they haven't lived life on the front lines the way Shinn has, experienced loss the way Shinn has, and in the end, this is what grants him victory over a vastly stronger but less skilled opponent.

It's actually impossible for me to talk about Athrun in this context without bringing in Cagalli, that as much as the movie focuses on Kira and Lacus for the "nurture" side of the argument, these two do as well, and with much less screen time. Cagalli's a Natural, and aside from her Seed Mode, she is all about the "nurture" side of the argument - every fight she's participated in, every action she takes as the Chief Representative of Orb, even providing the upgrades for everyone - it's all from her personal life experience. And as for Athrun? He might be a Coordinator, but it's his training in ZAFT's military academy, his time on the battlefield, his time away from that battlefield with Cagalli (heh heh) that makes him the person he is in Seed Freedom.

Kira's upgrade from Strike Freedom to Mighty Strike Freedom with the Proud Defender was kind of a given - he'd just loudly confessed and professed his undying (unconditional, even) love for Lacus for the first time on screen, had it reciprocated, so Lacus sweeping in on the Proud Defender to grant him yet another upgrade is kind of a given. For him, the answer is Nature may have given him an edge, but Nurture (his experiences starting from Seed, meeting and falling in love with Lacus) is what truly gives him the edge in battle in the end.

(I believe Orphee calling Kira a "failure" is because Orphee sees himself as superior to all Coordinators as an Accord, even the one dubbed the "Ultimate Coordinator", and not so much that Ulen Hibiki tried to make Kira an Accord and failed.)

In short, Seed Freedom answers the "Nature vs Nurture" argument with "Nature may give you an edge, but ultimately success comes with life experience and nurturing and growing that edge, and that even if you have to start from nothing you can still grow and nurture a skill to get you to where you want to be and you can get better than someone who relies on that edge", and I, for one, really like that answer.

[laurarolla]

So, regarding Gundam SEED Freedom, I can say that if you are obsessed with ideas like canon, hard science fiction, or thinking you deserve the girl of your dreams because you were taught that you were entitled to such your whole life, you probably won't like this movie. You'll also dislike it if you think eugenics is great, or if you can't handle the occasional animated booty jammed right in the middle of the screen. If you are looking for grounded, this isn't it. Incidentally, I happen to really like this movie.

It's cheesy, melodramatic, and not even remotely subtle. However, its lack of subtlety means that issues people so clearly missed in the original shows nearly 20 years ago are placed front and center, from Shinn being groomed into a weapon by Durandal, to Kira's obsessive need to take everything on himself just making things worse. It was nice to see Lacus (or Lacoos, as the new dub decided to pronounce it for some godforsaken reason) actually show more vulnerablilty. She often lacked opportunities to do that in Destiny especially, as well as the story overall.

Things I really didn't like at all were Lacus's pilot suit, the scene with Lacus and Orphee Lam Tao that reminded me of Cross Ange, and Agnes. Just... all of what Agnes brought to the table. They finally wrote a woman in SEED that I genuinely dislike even after really thinking about it. The extra problem there is that most of her issues were also reflected in Ingrid's subplot, and Ingrid's situation was more in line with the message the movie was focused on. In regards to the villains, they were the kind of jerks that were easy to hate in a fun way, if pretty flat in most cases. Orphee was basically incel space hitler, and Queen Aura is kinda just there as the driving influence. Her story pretty much happened off screen 20 years before the plot even started. The other Black Knights were qualified villains, exactly as evil as needed, but they were not ready to deal with either Shinn's trauma or Athrun's sex drive. I will not provide further details on that.

I suppose for a movie about the value and nature of love, it's not surprising just how dang horny this movie is. Like, I know SEED actually has a surprisingly horny feel to it already, what with the shower scenes, the multiple post sex bedroom moments, the strange music video sequence in the Special Edition of the original series that included scenes of Kira and Fllay having sex while the song Zips was playing... okay, so I guess the movie isn't really off brand at all when it comes to being horny.

Overall, the movie is pretty standard Gundam fare that eventually turns into really absurd spectacle in service to a genuinely wonderful message about the idea of love, individuality, and the freedom to make our own destiny. Is it a great finale to SEED specifically? In some ways, yes, but a central theme of SEED is about the idea of how we need to move away from vengence as our response to pain and instead embrace justice, particularly the restorative kind. That bit gets a little lost in the shuffle, but overall I'd say the movie does right by the characters we first met over 20 years ago.

[brightblurr]

What did you like about Gundam Seed Freedom? What did it do well?

Lol I mean.. there was some bad but some good too.

I can make a list of the things I loved that they did that fixed Destiny issues:

1. Athrun and Cagalli got their happy ending. They didn't shove more Meyrin at their pairing and finally let them conclusively be together. Their working relationship, with the trust over the remote control, shows they are finally in tune with each other. They trust one another. We know Athrun is not in Compass and new released artwork shows he still wears his Orb uniform. I am so happy the movie let them be together. And didn't shove them in our faces unrealistically like it did Lacus and Kira. They were shown as a strong unit.

2. Shinn had a fantastic moment piloting IN HIS OWN SUIT and it truly showed that he was an amazing pilot. Durandal chose him for a reason. And he had a better battle prowess than Athrun and Kira combined. He honestly did not need the fancy guns and weaponry, he knew how to utilize the Destiny better than anyone. They addressed him being the Freedom Killer and showed that he had changed and was there to work with Kira. Such fantastic character growth. Amazing way to bring a character who had lost his growth in his own series back up to par. They really did not have to go so hard to redeem Shinn but they did and it really showed. My entire theatre applauded Shinn when he got in the Destiny. The fight sequence against the Black Knights just shows how deadly Shinn is when he is focused and capable, and how he knew that he could take down the Black Knights. It was everything an ace pilot should be.

3. Athrun being the proper legend he is. Even in the Strike Freedom, a machine he likely never used, he pretended to be Kira and fooled everyone who was watching. He was always brought up as if he was an amazing soldier and strategist. Kira was never revered as much by the Black Knights as Athrun was. When he did make his appearance it was absolutely epic. When he was in the Infinite Justice, he both planned for his enemy by having the remote control and knew how to battle in it. His enemies constantly spoke about him. It was just the best way to honour that Athrun was a legend in the movie.

4. Sai, Miriallia and Kuzzey make appearances. Dearka and Yzak have big roles with their classic mobile suits, the Duel and Buster. Amazing homage to the original Seed crew.

5. I really enjoyed Meyrin. I originally didn't like her character as did many AsuCaga shippers, but this movie removed her from being focused on Athrun and opened her up to being a great pilot, great with technology. She became very independent of Luna and Shinn. It was as if they really expanded her character and helped make her growth believable. It was a nice change.

6. This might irk some people but I found Orphee and Lacus almost star crossed destiny kind of amusing. Orphee was vying for her hard. She was sort of into it at first. I almost want to say the movie did too good of a job setting Orphee and Lacus up. I'm weirded out that I could have shipped them in another scenario. Kira put none of that effort into Lacus.

7. The movie closed off the Destiny issues that were left behind. Everyone had a happy ending. I genuinely could not point to anyone who didn't. It felt like a do-over from Destiny to be honest. Orphee and Maha were just Durandal and Rey.

Overall these are very shallow things to enjoy. I did a post about what the movie did wrong for me, mostly centered around Lacus becoming too powerful. But it still did good and I'm happy I got to see it.

[gremoria411]

Alright, new Gundam Seed Freedom Trailer (and other materials)

We now know what most of the new Main Character Mobile suit designs are - we have the new Rising Freedom Gundam (shown above) and Athrun’s new suit, the Immortal Justice Gundam, which seems to be patterned more off the Aegis this time around (the red colour scheme and it’s a little bulkier).

I’m going to wait until the movie actually comes out for my full opinions on the designs, but notable features are:

The Rising Freedom seems to be based at least partially on the Destiny Gundam, as seen with it’s forearms, chest and shoulders (makes sense).

The Gelgoog Menace, which is almost certainly Lunamaria’s new suit, appears to be a directly upgraded Zaku Warrior, presumably with a greater emphasis on close-combat.

Shinn’s apparently back in the Impulse, almost certainly so they can reuse the model design.

I think that the Immortal Justice is going to be a transforming unit (the Rising Freedom kind of is already).

While the Gyan Strom certainly appears to be *checks notes* Agnes Gieberath’s new mobile suit, I should call out that there were two of them alongside the Immortal Justice in the trailer, so it might be that it’s a limited-production suit handed out to ZAFT’s best? It’s possible that Yzak and Dearka might also be piloting them.

The Shi-ve and Rud-ro of the Black Knight Squadron (boring name) *seem* to be patterned after the Crossbone Vanguard? Though that might just be the head fins. Otherwise, I find the Rud-ro’s rather generic looking.

From what we can tell, the Black Knight Squadron is going to be backing ZAFT (we see DINNs in the background in the trailer) and is composed of these characters (going off the matching colours and approximate numbers):

(I would go through them all but honestly I think only two at most are going to matter).

My final point is; What’s with everyone using old equipment? All I’m seeing in the trailers is GINNs, DINNs, ZuOOTs and 105 Daggers. The Impulse is maybe excusable, but it’s odd. I’d buy that ZAFT reproduced an upgraded GINN after the second Bloody Valentine War, but if they’re all using outdated equipment then it really doesn’t sell them as actual threats to the Protagonists. Yes, they should still be stopped, but it makes it feel like the conflict between the two forces is background, when the Tragedy of War is kind of Gundam’s whole thesis statement.

(Though again, I’ll probably complain a lot less is this gives us new kits for the GINN and DINN)

[red-handed-tamarin]

tam's editable list of major fandoms

Multimedia:

DC

-> Arrow

-> Batman

-> Birds of Prey

-> Justice League

-> Teen Titans

Marvel

-> Avengers

-> Spider-Man

-> X-Men

Sonic the Hedgehog

-> Sonic Boom

-> Sonic the Hedgehog 2018 (comics)

-> Sonic the Hedgehog 2020 (movie and sequel)

-> Sonic X

Star Wars

-> Clone Wars

-> Knights of the Old Republic

-> The Mandalorian

-> The Old Republic

-> Rebels

-> Skywalker Saga

TV Shows (this includes anime, I don’t read any manga whatsoever):

Avatar: The Last Airbender (not Korra)

Criminal Minds (through season 6 or so)

Doctor Who (9, 10, 11, 13)

Dragon Ball (Z & Super)

Gundam Wing (minus Endless Waltz)

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (seasons 1-3)

The Legend of Vox Machina (not the podcast, just the show)

South Park (technically videogames also but whatevs)

Supernatural (up to season 8 or so)

Yu Gi Oh: Duel Monsters (no other series)

Yu Yu Hakusho (anime but not live action)

Movies:

Boondock Saints

The Man from UNCLE (not the tv show)

The Mummy 1999

Nimona

The Old Guard

most Disney movies

Videogames:

Baldur’s Gate 3

Blush Blush

Detroit: Become Human

God of War 2018

Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time / Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask

Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild / Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom

Neverwinter Nights / Shadows of Undrentide / Hordes of the Underdark

Pixelberry’s Endless Summer

Pixelberry’s It Lives in the Woods

Pixelberry’s Ride or Die

Underworld Office / Charlie in Underworld

Yakuza: Like a Dragon

[the-eeveekins]

Saw Gundam SEED Freedom in theaters last night! My spoiler free verdict?

It's good, I loved it. It's definitely got problems here and there, but the finale was great. I was having so much fun during the final battle that it helps smooth out a lot of the rough edges. Once it stops taking itself too seriously and just has fun the movie turns into an absolute blast! It's pretty much pure SEED, from the melodrama to the ridiculous battles. Shinn & Lunamaria got some much needed justice after all these years, and the battles were great, especially the warship combat!

Really my only significant complaint coming out of the movie was all the weird fanservice and sexual harassment bits. The bedroom scene wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I could have done without the weird camera angles on Lacus and Shinn accidentally groping yet another girl. I know it's SEED and Fukuda, but that could have stayed in the early 2000s.

If you hated SEED before, I don't think this is going to change your mind on the series. But if you enjoyed either of SEED or Destiny, I think you'll enjoy the movie.

SPOILERY THOUGHTS BELOW!

Ah man, that moment where the Mighty Strike Freedom is formed and fucking Meteor drops was the hypest shit, brought a tear to my eye. What an awesome final battle, from Murrue's moment in the Millennium, Shinn absolutely stunting on the Black Knight Squad and the Mighty Strike Freedom vs. Cal-re.A.

Agnes was an...interesting character. I don't dislike her but I feel like the format didn't do her any favors either. So glad that Luna nailed that shot on the nuke and had her moments, especially after 2 decades of awful aim jokes. And YES, Shiho Hahnenfuss! I enjoyed every second of her very brief screentime. She even got an audible gasp this time! Maybe 20 years from now she'll actually get a line of dialogue 😂 Hopefully by then they'll finally run out of Destroy Gundams and someone will finally PROPERLY dismantle Requiem.

Anyway Shinn, my child, I love you, but you are a fucking dumbass for that stunt you pulled with Luna. You're lucky you only got slapped.

[kachikirby]

SD Gundam Gaiden Knights of the Round Table - Chapter 1: The Prince's Return

"There is one other story in the Saddrac World..."

"Britis Castle…FATHER!!!"

Crown Gundam is escorted from the burning Britis Castle by a knight named Formula (F90). The kingdom had been attacked by the Zabylonia empire and Crown needs to escape or he will be killed.

"For a kingdom of peace and justice like Britis to fall to Zabylonia…prince, justice will not always win…" "Justice has lost..?" "Justice means a good heart and correct use of power…in either case… justice has lost…"

The two are confronted by Evil Knight Zaku S. Formula tells Crown to head to the lake, a crazy idea as Zaku S says the MS Clan will drown in water. Formula jumps in with him, saying to have courage, as he will need it and the Knights of the Round to revive Britis.

Zaku S gloats, believing that the prince is dead and then a monster comes out of the water saying that Britis is not yet destroyed. Zabylonia continues their invasion, but they continue to hunt for the missing prince.

Seven years later, a Wiseman named Antonio is thrown out of a bar for being a drunk that talks about the fall of Zabylonia and revival of Britis. GM says that talking bad about Zabylonia will cause their monsters to attack. Then exactly that happens.

The village chief was attacked and robbed by Theif Kai. Theif Kai takes the chief's pendant and is also attacked. They also set the house on fire.

"Antonio, can't you use water magic?!" "I'm a wiseman. I can't use magic."

Then they turn to the rest of Belfast village and plan to set it on fire as well. This angers Antonio enough for him to take action by summoning Crown Gundam, turning his staff into the Vatras Sword. One of the monsters try to attack him, but he is stopped..

By GM!! GM reveals himself to be Crown Knight Gundam, the missing prince. Crown is fine with Antonio releasing his seal three years earlier than intended, and the Zabylonia force reacts as expected. Crown counters as expected.

Zaku S escapes, but he now knows where Crown is.

The battle begins.

End of Chapter 1.

Table of Contents

Next Chapter ->

[dragon-snoots-a-boopin]

So I have finally played my first Gundam video game and that happened to be SD Gundam Battle Alliance and I am really glad it was because playing this game give me the realization that there are good Gundam video games out there.

This game is really good fun. The combat is fun and fast paced, as it should be. There is a wealth different mobile suits from a lot of the different anime. I am going to list every mobile suit in the game because I can.

RX-78-2 Gundam, Guncannon, Guntank, GM, Zaku II Type F, Dom, Char’s Z’Gok & Char’s Gelgoog.

Gundam Ground Type, Gundam Ez8 & Gouf Custom.

Gundam Alex, GM Sniper II & Kampfer.

Full Armor Thunderbolt Gundam, Psycho Zaku & Gundam GP03S Stamen.

Zeta Gundam, Hyaku Shiki, Qubeley & The-O.

ZZ Gundam & Full Armor ZZ Gundam.

Nu Gundam, Sazabi & Hi-Nu Gundam.

Unicorn Gundam, Full Armor Unicorn Gundam, Banshee, Banshee Norn, Kshatriya, Sinanju & Narrative Gundam C-Packs.

Gundam F91, Crossbone Gundam X1, Crossbone Gundam X2 & V2 Assault Buster Gundam. 

Turn A Gundam, Turn X, Burning Gundam, Master Gundam, Wing Gundam Zero & Gundam Epyon.

Gundam Double X, Freedom Gundam, Justice Gundam Providence Gundam & Gundam Astray Gold Frame Amatsu Mina.

Destiny Gundam, Strike Freedom Gundam, Infinite Justice Gundam, Legend Gundam, Gundam Astray Red Frame Kai & Gundam Astray Blue Frame Second Revise.

00 Raiser, Cherudim Gundam. Arios Gundam, Seravee Gundam, Gundam Exia Repair II, Arche Gundam, Reborns Gundam, 0 Gundam (Type A.C.D) & 00 QAN[T}.

Gundam AGE-FX, G-Self (Perfect Pack), Gundam Barbatos (6th Form), Gundam Barbatos Lupus, Gundam Barbatos Lupus Rex, Gundam Gusion Rebake Full City, Gundam Bael, Gundam Kimaris Vidar & Reginlaze Julia (Final Battle)

Musha Gundam, Knight Gundam, Command Gundam, Gundam Latreia, Liu Bei Unicorn Gundam, Cao Cao Wing Gundam, Sun Jian Gundam Astray & Phoenix Gundam.

So, yeah, there are a lot of mobile suit to play and collect in this game. Now, personally, I find that can be the one downside to this game as well. See, once you do the main story and the DLC stories, there isn’t much left to do. The only thing you really can do is replay story missions as chaos missions and yeah it’s just going after blueprints to mobile suit you may have some but not all of or just not have yet. Some people may find that fun but I personally have already become bored of it. But that is really the only negative thing I have for this game. I definitely recommend giving this a play. 

[judedeluca]

Jude’s 32nd Birthday Wishlist

Yeah, I’m posting this now. Because if I’m getting the holiday prompt list up for everyone else I might as well.

This year has been a fucking nightmare. You’ve all seen my posts about what’s been happening in my life. With my mom, and the house, and the mortgage and everything. It’s just been blegh. So I might as well.

That’s why when I put this together I made it entirely villains and antagonists.

07th Expansion: Featherine Augustus Aurora

The majestic Witch of Spectating and Theatergoing, who is said to have died and come back to life to surpass the realm of witches. She’s considered to be a total monster by the likes of Bernkastel, and has the power to simply pull out reality’s script and change it at her whim if she feels like it.

Avengers: June Covington (Scarlet Witch/Toxie Doxie)

A scientist with an affinity for poisons and body augmentation, she has no regard for human life and enjoys experimenting on herself. She served as Norman Osborn’s Scarlet Witch in his second version of the Dark Avengers.

Batman: Nocturna

Natalia Knight, a morally complicated jewel thief who fell in love with Batman, and later became the foster mother of Jason Todd. Her relationship to Bruce and Jason was erased thanks to Crisis on Infinite Earths. Unfortunately, later characters using the Nocturna name have been written as sexual predators, though they are NOT Natalia Knight.

Captain America: Superia/Broad-Stripe

Diedre Wentworth is a noted misandrist who has tried to take over America using an organization of all female supervillains called the Femizons. She at one point altered time by inserting herself into the early days of the Avengers under the name “Broad-Stripe.”

Courage the Cowardly Dog: Benton Tarantella

In life, Benton was a serial killer who posed as an amateur director. He killed over a dozen people before he was finally put in prison. Benton spent the rest of his life behind bars and died, but came back as a zombie.

Dial H for Hero: Ayenbite

A shadowy spirit of remorse summoned when Q-U-E-D is dialed.

Doom Patrol: The Toy

A later member of the Brotherhood of Dada.

She’s often late, and people die because of it.

Flash: Lady Flash

Christina Alexandrova, a.k.a. Lady Savage, Lady Savitar, what have you. A Russian speedster and cocaine addict who became obsessed with Wally West.

Goosebumps: Lucy and the Camp Spirit Moon ghosts

Campers and counselors who were killed by a mysterious black fog, left to haunt the grounds of Camp Spirit Moon. Their only means of escape is to possess a living body. Anyone who tries to leave the camp on their own becomes part of the black fog.

Graveyard School: Aunt Mab

Kyle Chilton’s supposed great aunt, or rather his grandfather’s aunt’s cousin or something. She looks extremely young for her age to the point she doesn’t seem human. She enjoys subtly screwing with Kyle’s head.

Green Lantern: Lord Malvolio

A mysterious alien whose parents were a Green Lantern and an Earth woman. His battles with Hal Jordan ended with the implication that Malvolio tampered with Hal’s ring.

Gundam: Katejina Loos

A selfish young woman who tried not to get involved with the League Militaire’s battle against the Zanscare Empire, only to gradually lose her morals and sanity after she was rescued by Chronicle Asher of BESPA

Iron Man: Hypnotia

A seductive hypnotist and top henchwoman for the Mandarin, she is lusted after by Dreadknight and Blacklash but desires only Tony Stark

Justice Society: Harlequin’s Son

A time lost forgotten antagonist connected with the Justice Society and Infinity Inc., son of Molly Mayne, the original Harlequin

Legend of Zelda: Twinrova

Gerudo sorceresses Koume and Kotake raised Ganondorf and act as his servants, watching over the Spirit Temple and brainwashing the thief Nabooru to serve him. While fighting the Hero of Time, the two combine into Twinrova.

Legion of Super-Heroes: Saturn Queen

Eve Aries of Saturn’s moon Titan. One version of this criminal telepath traveled back in time and helped raise Superman and Batman from childbirth with her cohorts Lightning Lord and Cosmic King. This Eve somehow survived the rebirth and destruction of her universe and ended up in the Phantom Zone.

Magical Girl Raising Project: Melville

A nomad Magical Girl with a rather bizarre speech pattern. She has the power to change her color, letting her blend into the background. Melville wields a harpoon and a bow as her weapon.

She is an ardent supporter of the Musician of the Forest, Cranberry, and will use any means possible to kill her opponents

Mahoney’s: Tormenta

The ebon sorceress and frequent patron of Mahoney’s, she’s crushing hard on server Blender.

Mario: Sue Pea

A ghostly little girl who took a nap and died in her sleep. She haunts the guest room in Luigi’s Mansion.

Power Rangers: Dark Rangers

Lord Zedd’s attempts at creating his own set of Power Rangers. The first group was made up of bullies from Angel Grove High. The second time he went international and recruited criminals from around the globe. The third time, he empowered his minions and a putty duplicate of Rita Repulsa.

Sailor Moon: Zoisite

One of Queen Beryl’s Dark Generals, a smug, vain, and manipulative bastard happy to use underhanded tactics and backstabbing to get what he wants.

Sleeping Beauty: The Evil Fairy

Whether it’s by Disney, Jetlag Entertainment, or Shelley DuVall, she exists to not get invited to the princess’s christening and gets super pissed off. So she curses a baby to die at age 16, and even when the spell’s altered to an eternal slumber, she won’t be deterred. You’ve got your Maleficent, your Odelia, and your Henbane.

Spider-Man: Talon

A “trust fund baby” named Cheyenne who moonlights as a cat burglar, out to steal items of sentimental value from famous people

Static Shock: Madelyn Spaulding

An egotistical and unpopular girl who gained the power to control minds from the Big Bang. She went on a rampage after no one would nominate her for student body president, and tried to take over Dakota.

Supergirl: Superior Girl

Belinda Zee, an unstable duplicate of Linda Lee created when kryptonite rays were filtered through a projector. She’s pretty, popular, and absolutely horrible.

Superman: Puzzler

Valerie Van Haaften is an obsessed Superman fangirl who decided to get his attention by become a supervillain. She now has a body made up of enchanted puzzle pieces she can manipulate with her mind.

Super Sentai: The Flowery Kunoichi Team

Also known as the “Hanarangers,” the Kunoichi Team is made of evil, floral themed women who were created to fight the Kakurangers.

Titans: Dark Angel

An evil, demonic witch obsessed with making Donna Troy as absolutely miserable as possible. She’s the person who destroyed Donna’s past and succeeded in making it impossible for it to be straightened out.

Urusei Yatsura: Ran

A supposed best friend of Lum, Ran puts on the façade of a cutesy homemaker who loves frilly things and baking, when she’s really a vindictive, manipulative succubus capable of sucking the vitality out of people through her lips.

Wonder Woman: Blue Snowman

Byrna Brilyant, a gender fluid immoral scientist who stole their father’s invention of “blue snow” and uses it for the sake of monetary gain.

X-Men: Nanny and Orphan-Maker

A pair of traumatized mutants who try to “save” mutant children by killing their human parents

Yu-Gi-Oh: The Kageyama Sisters

Risa Kageyama and her identical sisters are obsessed with Duel Monsters and have built their deck around the Hecate Sisters

[gatormeister]

Gundam SEED Freedom!

I enjoyed the hell out of this movie.

Some spoilers for the film ahead

Let’s get this part out of the way fast. The villains suck. The Accords come outta nowhere, rehash both Le Creuset’s and Chairman Zala’s “kill all naturals” and Durandal’s “we’ll make everything eugenics” plots. They just exist for Cosmic Era to say “eugenics is bad,” “war is bad,” “peace and love good,” all over again. There is nothing complex to this plot outside of figuring out how to make Kira and Compass the bad guys to the rest of the world.

We don’t get the character drama back- well we sorta do, but it’s mind control weirdness and does not last long, but you do get to see a lot of nice small interactions and moments between the main cast, something that the first show did great and was less present in Destiny. Kira just sort of goes and does his character arc from SEED over again. Athrun shows off why he’s a better mc. Shinn decides to spec harder into being a human puppy with how he acts. It’s all great stuff. Lacus I’d even say is at her best in this movie, having a full character arc of her own. Agnes is a new character, she’s a very jealous traitor, who really just feels like she exists just so that Lunamaria can fight someone at the end. I wasn’t a huge fan.

The action is mostly done in 3D, and I’d say it looks great the whole way through. The new designs were fantastic. The Mighty Strike Freedom feels like a massive improvement of the original Strike Freedom’s. Athrun’s Z’gok is great alongside the Infinite Justice hidden inside it. The Rising Freedom is also a very good design. The Impulse is mostly the same as Destiny which is to say fantastic. The Gelgoog Menace is yet another incredible SEED variation of an OG suit like the Z’gok. The Gyan Storm is okay, wasn’t super big on its original, and this is about the same. The Knights’ suits are cool enough, but I don’t think I’d jump to build one.

Great movie overall. Not as good as the two Thunderbolt movies or Endless Waltz, but it is absolutely no slouch either. Well worth watching.

I suppose Hathaway’s going to the next Gundam thing I watch. It’s the last of the early UC stuff for now, so might as well knock it out. I’ve heard great things.

[fantasyinvader]

So, I picked up the first Injustice game this weekend. Used copy, cheaper than it would be to buy it off the PSN. Definitely feels like a weekend rental title, though that might be because I've only played the story mode rather than go for individual character endings and such. I've always been kinda interested in this though, despite me sucking at most fighting games, because it always sounded more like an expanded version of the Justice League episodes surrounding the Justice Lords. But I've always been a bit wary because, despite being a fanboy of the character, I've always heard it was Batwank.

I'm a fan of Batman, but he's a very flawed character. So pushing him as this paragon is, well, it's never going to sit right with me. Batman is a character who takes the law into his own hands and at times goes too far. I'm not a fan of what I've heard about the White Knight stuff, but even in Nolan's The Dark Knight it was always a question of how far Batman would go for Gotham. While he might not kill directly, but is totally okay leaving someone to die in this incarnation, he ultimately needs to go full Big Brother in order to stop Joker. It's a line to far for Lucien Fox, who quits afterwards. The fact is, Batman can be like Dirty Harry or Cobra in his pursuit of justice when handled improperly. That the law comes across as a hinderance to him by protecting criminals, so it's okay when he breaks it.

Considering the backlash The Punisher has gotten and talk about him being retired, it's a delicate balance for such a character.

But back to Injustice… it was okay. I don't feel like it was stroking the ol' Batdick too much. Was Insurrection!Batman the good guy? Yeah. But he also roped in the regular timeline Justice League without asking them in order to unlock the Kryptonite weapon, and we had to beat him up in order to bring regular Supes to deal with Proto-Homelander. So, very flawed good guy needing the regular Batman to remove his pointy lil head from his Batass. I think the problem with Insurrection!Batman is that we're given only the barest amount of context for the story in order for it to work, with the rest meant to be fleshed out by the comics, comics which paint this guy in a worse light as he didn't support Superman emotionally after Metropolis was nuked and instead treated him like scum over Joker's death.

Having Batman fight Supes as the tutorial sucks though, especially since they kept fighting Superman for the final boss.

But that's really it. It's more like the game is supposed to get players interested in the comics for this timeline, and if you have problems with that timeline then the story doesn't work as well. I mean, regular Supes and Wondie get some really epic moments to their credit, Regime!Flash switches sides after Shaz…the real CAPTAIN MARVEL is killed for saying Regime!Superman is going too far which also works with the explanation that not all the heroes broke bad. They're just afraid of this Superman who is like a less-fleshed out Homelander. If only there was such a skin for that final fight.

So the basic story has overall a decent execution that's hampered by supplimentary materials, much like Gundam SEED. It set up a fertile field to expand upon it's story, but for many people said expansion ruins it.

I'm going to go watch Superman The Movie tonight.

[gundamfight]

[hypetokyo]

Gundam Build Divers Re:RISE High Grade 1/144 Plastic Model : Gundam Justice Knight

https://www.hype.tokyo/products/gundam-build-divers-break-high-grade-1-144-plastic-model-gundam-justice-knight

[reversemoon255]

ZGMF-X19AK Gundam Justice Knight

Credit to Kazami, this is a very well put together Gunpla. Its level of polish is very high, it has a strong aesthetic, and the support unit is a nice non-intrusive gimmick. I could easily imagine this being in the Top 8 of GBF or GBFT’s tournaments. Except, and I feel this is why Kazami is the weakest member of his team, its loadout sucks. It has the equivalent of four vulcans, a beam gun, a beam saber, and a pointy stick. It probably would lose to the Build Strike Full Package in a straight tussle. He’s probably better flying around as just the support unit since it has the same firepower and is harder to hit (a reoccurring problem for Kazami). Still enjoyed how his episode arc went, even if his general performance wasn’t really addressed.

The Good: This is gonna be a good year. This kit easily stands up with a lot of the modern HGUC kits I’ve seen, making full use of its parts count, minimal stickers, and no polycaps. Each foot alone is eight components compared to the usual two or three of some older kits. And if you hadn’t guessed, it’s an original kit, too. It doesn’t go back and use runners from any other version of the Infinite Justice.

It has insane levels of posability. There are some dedicated levels of engineering to keep those shoulders out of the way of its arms, it has articulated toes and verniers in those toes, its backpack moves on multiple axis, and its hips are crazy. The side hip skirts have a dedicated joint to slide backward out of the way at a natural angle, and its hips have an additional extension which can be locked in place using its back hip skirt. I think they’re there so you can mimic Kazami’s posing.

I also want to mention the shield. It has a handle and an arm plug, but the shield has a squared off part of the handle so it doesn’t rock when being held out forward, and the plug has four mounting points so it can be placed in different direction. Not only that, it also has storage for those parts built in.

The Bad: The biggest articulative downside is that shield. The extra parts hanging off the shoulder pauldrons get in the way when mounted on the arm. They themselves being articulated helps, but it’s still awkward. And on the details front, only because the rest of the kit is so pristine, the lack of any purple on the back hip skirt disappoints me. I almost had a color match for it, but it was too dark. Ended up painting it gold.

The Details: I did a lot on this kit. Like I mentioned when I did Earthree Gundam, I’m doing the panel lining for all of BUiLD DIVERS in metallic green, which looks good on the Justice Knight, especially in larger spots like on the knees. Almost all the verniers are in green as well, with the only exceptions being the ones on the lance and shield in black. I also, early on, painted the chest vulcans gold, and stupidly thought “I should color match,” and so I repainted all the gold parts. It wasn’t as bad as usual, though, thanks to the help of my new Mr. Paintstation!

No, seriously, I got these on a whim since I see them in official Gunpla stuff sometimes, and they’re actually really useful. Really helped out with all the major repainting I had to do. And it all turned out well. In addition to the repaints, I also painted the beam guns in the shot lance, the details on the shield, and the hilt of the sword. I left the sword blade white and only painted the recessed areas of the handle (in black). In my experience, when dealing with sheathed swords, painting the blade if you intend to sheath it results in a lot of chipping, and the same goes for a handle you keep putting it in and taking it out of a hand. It’s an instance of “I don’t want to keep repainting this.”

Overall, this is a great kit. Great build, great articulation, very little downside, and a decent price. Definite recommendation if you’re enjoying the show, strong recommendation if you enjoy a good build.