I finally got the model kit of my recent dreams...in a slightly different form. Instead of getting the 1/100 MG Aile Strike, I got the 1/100 MG Strike Rouge. Basically the same thing, only the Rouge is colored pink and red and is piloted by Orb's princess Cagalli Yula Atha.


While I was at Great Toys getting the Z Gundam 6-DVD set, I had noticed the Strike Rouge on the high shelf. The saleslady told me there were still no MG Aile Strike kits. I figured why not get this one instead? Besides, I already had an HG Aile Strike.

I took it home and opened the box. I was amazed at just how many parts were there to cut off and complete. There were 9 main runners of parts, not including the ones for the beam saber blades, the ones for the 1/20 figure of Cagalli, and the huge runner for all the polycaps. I got to work cutting and filing down the parts...and it took me 9 hours of solid work to finish, including the Aile Striker flight pack and the linear-catapult display base. Was it a challenge for me or what!

This early on though I will note some potential problems. The MG kits are best considered true models and not toys. This is evidenced by just how heavy the finished Strike Rouge model is---owing to all that added plastic in its internal frame---and its rather poor foot stability while standing up, compared to its smaller HG cousin. Equipping the Aile Striker makes things rather complicated too---it makes an inherently unstable model back-heavy. I suppose those floppy hinged feet are the primary reason why the display base was thrown in. The base has an adjustable arm that plugs into a slot in the Strike Rouge's crotch area for in-flight poses.

As a project and as a whole however, this kit is stupendous. It certainly met 90% of my expectations. I'll be looking forward to making at least one more MG model in the near future.
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Since I mentioned Z Gundam, I might as well talk about it. I watched all 50 episodes in a semi-marathon and watched all the events of UC 0087 fly by me.



Let me get one thing straight: the subtitling on these DVDs frustrated me. A Taiwanese company did the Chinese and English subs on these DVDs, so I suppose they concentrated their efforts on their Chinese audience. On the first DVD a frustrating number of instances can be seen where the subs were nonexistent. Fortunately things do get better, but some later episodes and even the final DVD have "bastardized" names. Camille Bidan turns into "Jiameiyou" while the ship Guwadan turns into "GuFada." The English itself used on these episodes also gets turned into an irritating mishmash which would probably make better sense when spoken in Mandarin. Really irritating. I paid PhP2400 for this?! Where's the consistency in good subtitling?

As for Z Gundam itself it's pretty good. I've read reports that this series was very dark---they were not kidding. As early as the first episodes Camille's parents get killed right in front of his eyes. The writers take every opportunity to convince us that the Titans government of the Earth is atrocious and worth hating, yet in the trademark Gundam way, the AEUG rebels aren't really that heroic either. I'll shut up about the rather shocking ending.

The animation surprisingly doesn't take a very big leap from the quality of 0079, however, and that might be a pain to watch for newer viewers used to the slickness of Gundam Wing and Gundam SEED.

I admit I didn't enjoy this one as much as I would have, simply because of that subtitling. If the subs worked however, I feel I would prefer the original 0079 over Z Gundam. Zeta seems a bit too serious and fast-paced. Up to now I think I had lost track of the progression of the plot simply because every episode is packed with action and new plot directions. It's as if 50 episodes were not enough to contain its story. Still good though.
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A 9.0 quake in Indonesia recently triggered a major tsunami that affected the coastlines of 8 Asian countries and killed thousands of people. Damn.

I've been thinking about how the Philippines would survive one. I bet if one had hit Manila, we'd be an instant bowl of seawater that won't drain away. You can't really predict when a tsunami's going to hit; besides if you could, what would you be able to do within 15 minutes? Where would you go? Panic's surely going to set in.

Makes me wonder how vulnerable we actually are to nature. As long as we reside on earth, we are hapless subjects to its tantrums (earthquakes) and acne (volcanoes).