Month: January 2015

I was just resizing my images when I found this last bootleg the Super Change Robot from Harmony on my trip to France last year.  Two of the same robots in red and yellow. I can’t figure out which robot this is a knockoff of. I am guessing it was a Transformer, but not sure which one. This is from the same store in Lourdes(France) right across the street from the chapel on the field. They sell a lot of religious tourist trap stuff at the store, but they also had some toys to keep the kids from driving their parents nuts religious pilgrimage. I would not pay 5 euros for these robots.

Harmony Super Change Avion Transformable Robot

From the first picture you can see Harmony makes a bunch of other cheap toys. I could not find any info on the net for the Harmony Super Change Avion Transformable en Robot Plastique. So I guess I am the only one who has a post on this little bugger. Anyways, I always find the bootlegs pretty fun to post. I am sure I will find more soon. It is odd that the text ,”Avion Transformable en Robot Plastique” means Transformable Robot Plastic airplane when it is clearly a robot car. Go figure.  Someone needs to learn French.

Harmony Super Change Avion Transformable Robot

I have been on an anime watching binge due to Space Battleship Yamato 2199. I have been meaning to watch this for a few months and I just watched them all in December. Earth is on the verge of destruction in 2199 due to meteor bombs dropped by the Gamilas. The Space Battleship Yamato rushes off to Iscandar in hope of restoring the earth.

While several changes have been made to the series, the remake is very faithful to the original anime. I was surprised how they used the original score and sound effects, which really brought it all back for me. The original Star Blazers is probably my favorite anime to this day, but this remake with a few changes to modernize the plot and bring more depth was a lot of fun. The battles were much more fun to watch and the action was better.

The crew of the Space Battleship Yamato from anime Uchū Senkan Yamato 2199 宇宙戦艦ヤマト２１９９

I really enjoyed the new and original characters and their rich back stories. Nova and Princess Starsha were the only female characters in the original series(and they both looked the same) which made no sense, but the new version fixes this and creates a better balance in the male/female ratio. The animation is beautiful, it really brings the series into this century.  The background stories about rebellion on Gamilas and how the conquered non blue people were treated was interesting and unexpected. Even with more characters and relationships, each character had much more fleshed out than in the original series. Akira Yamamoto and Melda Dietz were new characters that made this a much richer experience. Even older characters like  Erich Domel and Shiro Sanada were much more empathetic. The episode with the psychic really threw me for a loop! That was pretty awesome. I can’t say more without giving anything away. There was an episode with an artificial intelligence that I really enjoyed as well. This is likely the best remake I have ever had the pleasure of watching.

Susumu Kodai and Melda Dietz

While the original series was a classic, this remake takes it to greater heights. I read a review on Kotaku where there are definitely some story flaws, but I may be blinded by my love for this cartoon. Be that as it may, it only detracts a little bit for me and I still rate this anime a 10 out of 10 for me. If you love space opera, this is better than Gundam for me and I love Gundam too! Here is to hoping that there is a remake of the second season in the works out there.

Space Battleship Yamato 2199 (Uchū Senkan Yamato 2199 宇宙戦艦ヤマト２１９９) 2012