Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Box Set

My first review on manga box set, the (self proclaim epic) manga from Hayao Miyazaki "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind". There are a numbers of franchising products available from this manga and one of them that I owned is Formania Gunship.

For starter, the author Hayao Miyazaki is a film director, animator, manga artist, illustrator, producer, and screenwriter. He is also the co-founder of Studio Ghibli. Well, i guess this shall give you a ring on the series he have release namely Spirited Away, Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle, Ponyo & etc. (more details please pay a visit to wikipedia)

Nausicaa manga is release on 1982 & adapted to animation on 1984 in Japan. The animation is re-released again in Engilsh recently by Walt Disney on 2011. (again, if you interested please pay a visit to wikipedia)

The edition I have in hand is the hard cover box set release by Viz. It come in 2 volumes & with a poster. The book measure 17cm by 26cm which is slightly larger than normal manga however this can clearly bring out each of the details drawn by Hayao Miyazaki.

Just a small idea on the story line. The human world has been completely destroy due to human fault & the current world is vastly cover by a toxic forest with only huge insects can live in. Of course human will never learn the lesson & seeking for war in the remaining land. The story is deeper then what I have written & is highly recommended as I wouldn't go far in spoiling the reader on the rest of the details.

This edition come with a numbers of colour pages. Each of the colour pages easily give me a flash back to the storyline.


From volume 1

From Volume 2

There is something extra come in the end of each volume.

Introduction to Hayao Miyazaki:

How Nausicaa come to idea:

Brief details to the character Nausicaa design:-

 

 Sketches of Nausicaa:-

Lastly, the edition come with a both side printed poster shown below.

My verdict, grab this while it still available. If you have seen the animation, reading the manga is a must as the animation only cover around 20% of the storyline & make some (a lot actually) adjustment to suit the animation air time.

Bandai Metal Build Destiny Review

Long awaited Metal Build Destiny finally released & freshly delivered to my office today. It seems that MB Destiny is a super hot item where all the online merchant I normally visit is out of stock (hopefully they will restock in upcoming days like MB Exia).

I have paid 16,150 Yen plus additional 2,020 Yen for EMS. First & foremost is the packaging & open box review. The box art is awesome while the rest of the packaging is quite standard similar to MB Freedom. Behind of the boxes give us a sneak preview of a numbers of gimmicks & a numbers of killer Destiny poses.

Destiny is well protected under 2 tray within the box & also inclusive of an instruction manual on how the gimmick work (graphically, as I can't read kanji).

The base is in fearsome red which is perfectly match with Destiny. The mechanism doesn't change from MB Freedom base.

Destiny himself is spiky. Yes this is my 1st impression for him. He is painted in pearl finish which didn't fully reflected my lousy photograph.

 

 

Below is the picture I get from a forumer for comparison of MG Destiny & MB Destiny. Which is more fearsome (& spiky, sorry I can't stop myself from seeing all those sharp spikes).

Come in package inclusive of a numbers of arsenals showed below:- (it seems like doesn't included the plasma orb released from his palm).

It come with interchangeable hands (which spell not moveable fingers joint).

And finally, Wing of Destiny.

Once fully equipped, I find that Destiny is EXTREMELY back heavy. The stand is a must to allow Destiny seems standing straight.

Once the wing is fully expanded, it become space consuming monster. I doubt he will be display with fully expanded wing in my cabinet.

I found there is an improvement to the joint in between the backpack connection in compare with MB Freedom. However the chest is too high for my preferences & also I forget to mention we need to install the side skirt our own which is too tight (If you notice, I didn't put it up in this review).

And for the joints, Bandai have did a great promo video shown below (courtesy of a forumer as well).

My verdict is despite (I repeat) EXTREMELY back heavy, Destiny do blow me away in display after a few (yawn) number of Exia(s) release. Of cause there is a number of haters for SEED series but I myself do like them (so my review might bias). Do you not like him? Check out the photograph from amiami which will do the justice instead of my below standard picture.

Photograph from amiami