SRW W Stage 53

HOLY CRAP. This stage was insane. It pits you against the Sol 11 dudes from Gaogaigar Final at first. There's seven bosses in that mix, and seven of those cube things. SEVEN BOSSES, two of which had HP over 60k. Well, we started out pretty far away. I found out why soon.

Eviluders appeared on around turn 3 in the other corner of the screen as neutrals - meaning, the goal of this chapter must be "let the Eviluders and the Sol 11s kill each other". That alone would have been easy enough, if it weren't for The Database arriving with THREE upgraded boss mechs, one piloted by Applicant(who can move twice). So, we're very outnumbered, and O, being myself and all, decided to hog all the enemies for myself - I can't let the silly Sol 11s kill MY Eviluders >:O

Anyway, my X Astray and Powered Red were handling practically all of the Sol 11s by themselves. Prayer got shot down in the middle, but I don't think the Powered Red was scratched even once. SP conservation was a big necessity here.

Of course, once you kill enough d00ds, more Eviluders show up. But then the original Nadesico appears OUT OF NOWHERE, captained by Yurika and helped by Lapis(...wtf), and they bring Tekkaman Blade and Kira, both of whom were taken for dead. Oh, and I got Tekkaman Rapier too, because I'm awesome.

Anyway, lots of Eviluders kept coming. Eventually we FINALLY killed everything(well, there were still Eviluders) and then we all boson jumped out towards The Database's main base. (I think.) Save for Gai, who stayed to fight the rest of the Eviluders(the Sol 11s followed us).

Nightmarish chapter. But, I got the most money out of this stage than any other - about 300k. :)

December~February Gundam Models

As I've been slacking off lately, here are the Gundam models for the last few months.

December

Gundam 00 HG #6 - Gundam Virtue
Virtue is next up on the Gundam 00 High Grade lineup - unfortunately, it cannot purge its armor and become Nadleeh. Yay fat gundam.

Gundam 00 HG #7 - Union Flag (Graham Acre)
Ace pilot Graham Acre's custom Union Flag.

Gundam 00 1/100 #2 - Gundam Dynames
The second 1/100 scale model for the series is Gundam Dynames.

Master Grade #102 - Unicorn Gundam Ver. Ka (Picture depicts "Destroy Mode")
From the light novel "Gundam UC(Unicorn)" comes this beatiful Katoki Hajime-designed Master Grade kit. Normally, it is almost completely white - a bit bland. However, its trump card, "Destroy Mode", looks utterly awesome.

Master Grade #29 Special - Sazabi (Metallic Coating)
A special re-release of the Sazabi kit from way back when, now with a metallic coating applied to it.

January

High Grade Universal Century #85 - Re-GZ
As HGUC kits continue on with Char's Counterattack, the Re-GZ is next up - the "refined Gundam Zeta". Amuro piloted one before he got the Nu Gundam.

Gundam 00 HG #8 - Tieren Taozi
Enhanced human Soma's blindingly pink-colored Tieren. Check out that color scheme... I didn't think Soma was the kind of girl who would like pink, but whatever!

Gundam 00 1/100 #3 - Gundam Kyrios
The third 1/100 scale model for the newest Gundam series is the Kyrios, complete with transformation capabilities.

Master Grade #103 - Zaku II (Black Tristars) ver. 2.0
An upgraded Zaku II model - colored black and purple in the name of the Black Tristars. This came out a while ago, but with the release of the Zaku II ver. 2.0 a while back, they decided to release this one.

February

High Grade Universal Century Set - Char's Rick Dom vs G-3 Gundam
An interesting double-set consisting of Char's personal Rick Dom and the G-3 Gundam, neither of which were in the series, but in the novels. The G-3 Gundam was actually the testbed for the Magnetic Coating that was applied to Amuro's own Gundam in the anime.

Gundam 00 HG #9 - Gundam Throne Eins
The first of the Throne Gundams is Eins(hence the name). This badass-looking Gundam reminds me a lot of Strike Noir, actually.

Gundam 00 HG #10 - Tieren Space Type
The modified Tieren for use in space combat. To differentiate, it's colored blue. :)

Gundam 00 1/100 #4 - Gundam Virtue
The fourth 1/100 kit, Gundam Virtue. Unlike the HG kit, this one CAN purge its armor to reveal Gundam Nadleeh. Quite nifty, if you ask me.

BB Senshi #307 - Kakuton Giros
The eigth in a series of SD Gundam kits themed after the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" epic. Xiahou Dun was the original model for this one.

Master Grade #34 Special - ν Gundam (Metallic Coating)
After the Sazabi was re-released with a metallic coating, the ν(Nu) Gundam follows. It's all silvery.

Master Grade #104 - Strike E + IWSP (Lucas O'Donnell)
From the latest Gundam SEED ASTRAY manga, FRAME ASTRAYS, comes this customized Strike Gundam - equipped with the Integrated Weapon Striker Pack, my favorite of the four normal ones(there's also Lightning and Gunbarrel). This looks more badass than the original Strike + IWSP, in my opinion~

Random tidbits

Just some stuff about Super Robot Wars W. I enjoy most SRW games, of course, being a mecha fanboy, but this one is really getting me to laugh out loud.

On top of the wacky relationships they create across series (Sousuke from FMP and Mamoru from Gaogaigar for one), they really enjoy drawing out the characters'... well, character. While a lot of it is serious, of course, with series like Tekkaman Blade and Detonator Orgunn being main parts of the overall storyline, the writers took time out to whip up some pretty funny scenes.

Here's the one that really got me. This one appears later on in the game, when the characters start discussing The Power(see: Gaogaigar). Note: Kazuma is the "Banpresto Original" of this game, and the main protagonist.

Kazuma: .........
Mikoto: What's wrong, Kazuma? You look like you're thinking hard about something...
Kazuma: ...Remember when we came into contact with The Power near Jupiter, how we used it?
Sayaka: Yeah. The army even thought about using it for their weapons, but it was ultimately turned down at the conference in Paris.
Kouji: But it was over the top! With The Power, we could form Genryuujin and Gouryuujin.
Kazuma: Yeah, that! If we used that power, would Kouryuu and Anryuu be able to do that too?
Enryuu: Us...!
Rairyuu: Combine with Kouryuu and Anryuu!?
Kouryuu: Kya-! Combining with you two!
Anryuu: Somehow that's... rather embarassing...
Hyoryuu: Don't worry, Anryuu. If that time comes, leave everything to me.
Fuuryuu: Wait a minute, Hyoryuu-senpai. Combining with Anryuu is my job.
Enryuu: Hey, Kouryuu! Between me and Rairyuu, who do you like better?
Rairyuu: Me, right...!? If we do combine, it'll be you and me!
Kouryuu: Ee~! I can't decide which one of you I like better!
Rairyuu: Kouryuu! You want some Robo Juice? Hold on, I'll get some!
Enryuu: Out of the way, Rairyuu! That's my job!
Hyoruu: Anryuu, you like CCIS's '99 Robo Juice, right? I'll come right back with some.
Fuuryuu: Trying to gain points with her... That's shameful, Hyoryuu-senpai.
Hyoryuu: This is normal affection for one's little sister. Don't read too much into it.
Anryuu: S-Stop it, Hyoryuu...!
Kouji: ...This is your fault, Kazuma... You've just started the greatest sibiling rivalry in history.
Kazuma: My fault!?

Later on, in one of the final chapters, there is a bit of discussion as to the meaning of certain characters' names. As fans of Tekkaman Blade know, the main character's nickname is D-Boy - given because of the fact that he has amnesia and cannot remember his true name. The "D" in his name stands for "Dangerous" - at least, according to Noal. During the heartbreaking scene where D-Boy digs up the time capsule, Yumi(from Tekkaman Blade II) says that she thinks that the "D" really means "Dream". Right before the stage starts, after everyone deploys...

Iberu(Yumi): D-san... I'll do my best... Since the D in D-san stands for "Dream"...
Horis: Then, what's the J stand for?
J: ......
Hikaru: Maybe it means "Japan"?
Izumi: It probably means something like "Joke"...
Gai: "Judgement"... or, maybe "Justice"?
Rune: What exactly is the truth?
J: (Even if you ask me, I don't know either...)

Did you catch Gai's reference to SRW J? ("Judgment Justice" is the name of the title theme in that game.) Haha. It seems the writers are growing more and more fond of this stuff. I remember the voice actor jokes in the Alpha series... *envisions Misato saying Sailor Moon lines*

By the way, Trowa(Gundam Wing) grows quite attached to "Naze Nani Nadesico" over the course of the game. I bet that is great ammunition for his fangirl-base.

In any case, there are about five or so stages left for me to get through in SRW W, involving the climaxes of Gaogaigar FINAL, the original storyline, and possibly Golion(i.e. Voltron). I don't know too much about Golion's story, but Mamoru just drew out the goddess inside the Blue Lion and triggered a scene where King Raimon talks to the Lion Team, so I dunno if it's done yet.

Afterwards, I plan to either play more of SRW F or play Compact; I'll also probably pick up MX again, if my schedule allows it. I played MX for a few minutes today and remembered how awesome it was.