CD Review: Gundam Wing Operation S
by Cleod
KICA-2063
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- Prologue: AC195 Xmas Eve
- White Reflection (Short Size)
- Journey to the Sun
- Main Title~Sub Title
- AC196 Xmas Eve
- At Circus Tent
- The Powergame
- Heero’s Dream
- Appearance of Marimeia
- Enforcement Rush
- Duel!
- The Dangerous Game
- Codename:Wind
- Battlefield
- Perplexity
- Holy Night
- Wufei’s Irritation
- Clash at Stratosphere
- Sorrowful Memory
- Final Attack
- Riot of Citizens
- “Endless Waltz”
- White Reflection (Full Version)
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One thing I can say is that I bought the Gundam W -
Endless Waltz - Original Soundtrack: Operation S completely by mistake. What I
didn’t know was that there were only two songs on this CD, which are TWO-MIX’s White
Reflection in Short Size (TV) Version and the reprised Full Version (Tracks 2 and 23).
However, most of the remaining 21 tracks of BGM
(background music) are also good listening. Some of the highlights are: Track 3 -
‘Journey to the Sun’, which is a calm reflective song, evocative of the quiet
thoughts the pilots must be thinking upon the long awaited ‘end’ of their struggle;
Track 6 - ‘At Circus Tent’ is a cute, playful song, bringing to mind the
calliope music used by circuses in the real world; Track 8 - ‘Heero’s Dream’
has a more somber quality to it, with the synthesizers adding a touch of
otherworldliness in the first part; Track 9 - ‘Appearance of Mariemaia’
seems to be a simple theme for the little girl who would be Queen, but these is an
subtle undercurrent of threat supported by the percussion and melody being picked out
on the keyboard; Tracks 13 to 16 - ‘Codename: WIND’, ‘Battlefield’,
‘Perplexity’ and ‘Holy Night’ respectively, are reminiscent of the
BGMs from the PC game Warcraft 2 — music to put you in a more martial frame of mind.
But not everything in this cd is great. There were
tracks that were pretty nigh useless. Take for example Track 4 - ‘Main Title~Sub
Title’, which was the BGM for the start and end of the commercial break sections.
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CD Review: Maaya Sakamoto Singles collection+ Hotchpotch
by Charp
- Yakusoku wa Iranai
- Tomodachi
- Bokura no Rekishi
- Gift
- Kimi ni Ai ni Iko
- Hikari no Naka e
- Light of Love
- Kiseki no Umi
- Active Heart
- Pilot
- Platina
- 24
- Koibito ni Tsuite
- Pocket O Karanishite
- Call your name
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VICL-60507
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Well, since this issue’s main feature seems to be
Escaflowne, i thought that it seemed proper that I made a review of this album. I
initially didn’t do the Esca OSTs primarily because there are already tons of reviews
of those already (Kanno fans far outnumber Maaya fans).
Hotchpotch is the latest solo album release of Maaya
Sakamoto (until her third original album to be released later this year that is...)
and was released last December. It contains a collection of previously released
singles compiled in a neat package which would otherwise have caused a lot disk
swapping.
Track 1, 2, 6 and 14 are from Esca so some of you
have heard it already. Track 3-5 are from Clamp Campus Detectives. 8 and 9 are from
Lodoss TV. 11 and 12 are from CardCaptor Sakura. 7 is from Brain Powerd. 13 is for
Napple Tale. The rest of the tracks are original and unassigned.
I have to say that this is a pretty good deal. Her
original albums are usually only 10 tracks long, and the fact that it contains
Maaya’s (and maybe even Kanno’s) best work makes it a must buy. Take my word for it.
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Model Kit Review: 1/48 Bandai LM Guymelef Escaflowne
by Aries Cheezums
Bandai’s plastic rendition of this heroic mecha from the
series of the same name may not be as jaw-dropping as the resin-cast versions from
Kotobukiya and Studio HalfEye (which also come with jaw-dropping prices), but it’s a
fairly decent kit for something that’s cheap and widely available.
This skinny guy is molded entirely from grayish-white
plastic, save for the red cloth that forms his cape. The chunk of plastic that it is
simply begs to be painted. Be sure to have that paint brush ready, unless you fancy
collecting ivory pieces. The cape...er, it’s a cape...it may look cheap (trapo po? [a
rag?]), but it’s a novelty at least. Try using a different material for it if you can.
This kit is part of Bandai’s Limited Model series, with
“Limited” being “lacking” instead of “rare” in this case (Awww, no Dragon Mode? ^^’). In
particular, it lacks articulation: nary a polycap on him, just plastic joints that wear
out even if moved infrequently. Not that you can actually pose him in any which way: the
hip is solidly fixed (as are the elbows), the head can move but slightly. The hands,
while molded well in plastic, require glue. Forget about them gripping anything else; one
hand is a closed fist, while the other hand permanently holds the sword. So much for that
fancy Gatotsu pose I had in mind....
Detailing is the silver lining for this chap: surface
detail is plenty. Check out the grooves surrounding the shoulder crystals, the claws on
the chest, the facial and chest markings, and the armor pieces on the wrists and thighs
(although you need to glue the thigh pieces since they tend to pop out).
All in all, this kit requires a lot of patience and TLC to
be presentable. Since the LM line of Escaflowne models are currently the only reasonably
available ones in the market, prepare for some extended bonding time with this kit if you
simply must have an Escaflowne to call your own.
