Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Wrath of the Titans


A sequel to Clash of the Titans set 10 years after it, in which the titan Kronos arises.  The movie's pacing is brisk and pushes scene after scene of action, such that there's never really a point where there's nothing going on.  The plot is simple, as you would expect, there are no twists at all.  It's predictable in who is good and who is bad.  The antagonist's rationale is brushed over and weak, plus, they never get the proper painful death that they deserve.  After Perseus gets a massive beating and we spend minutes in slow-mo with sad music, he wins within seconds, very anti-climatic.  Wrath of the Titans is also very special effects heavy but curiously, it gets better as the film progresses.  The earlier monsters looked horribly fake and computer generated but the lava effects near the end of the film was impressive.  To be honest, there wasn't really a high point at all during the film, you become desensitized to who is fighting and who is defeated because you see so much of it.

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Toy Review: figma #148 Silver Crow (Accel World)


Review:  #206
Name:  Silver Crow
Brand:  figma (Accel World)
Allegiance:  Nega Nebulus
Year of Release:  2012 (#148)
Variations:  none as of this date

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS:


Silver Crow comes in your standard figma box, this time in a silver and metal colored theme.


The back contains the stock photos which shows off the poses that the figure is able to pull off.


The left side contains a bigger image of the stock photo.


While the right side does too, but has prominently shows off the figma brand too.


Silver Crow is figma number 148.


Opening up and revealing the contents, Silver Crow has a decent number of extra attachments.


First up are four extra sets of hands for various poses.


There is your standard figma display stand, Silver Crow is stable enough for stand by himself but of course, the stand is used for the more dynamic poses.


It comes with a small plastic bag to store all the extra pieces when not in use.


There is a pair of forearms, this is for the incarnate attacks.


A few pieces of smokey transparent plastic which represent the incarnate energy used for his signature move, "Laser Sword".


There is an extender piece for the display stand, in case you want him to situate higher than normal, like for flight poses.


His other signature feature, a pair of silver wings.  These are really nice and big, doused in silver paint.

FIGURE:


Silver Crow is a character in Accel World, being the digital avatar of the protagonist in the fighting program, Brain Burst.


As you would expect, this figure is an accurate representation of the character design from the anime.  It actually packs a bit more detail and at times, better proportions too.


The head is basically a green visor, this is made of cloudy transparent green plastic.


The detailing is impressive, from the silver color to the shoulder guards and chest plate.


All the silver parts are painted in silver, so Silver Crow has a nice shiny metallic look.  The bluish grey parts are matte plastic.


His ankles and feet may seem awkward but they do a decent job of allowing Silver Crow to stand.


As you can see, there is a peg hole on his back for the display stand to plug in.


This allows you to have some more dynamic poses without fear of him falling over.


Which, speaking of poseability, Silver Crow has no problems pulling off some amazing poses.


He has all the joints you would need, including wrists, elbows, shoulders, waist, neck, hips, knees and ankles.


His hands are interchangeable, they're as simple as pulling them out and plugging the next one in.  Although you will need to be careful as they are tight the first time around and the peg seems a bit long and thin, making it a prime candidate for snapping.


The silver pieces on his thighs that sits over the hip joints are made of soft plastic, which allows the full range of articulation offered by the hip joints.


Silver Crow stands at approximately 15.5cm tall.


So the next feature is that you can switch out the forearms and attach the smaller clear pieces for his incarnate attack (or at least the power-up of it).


While it looks cool the pieces don't click in very tightly and are prone to falling off.


He can have this in either arm for some good dual punching poses.


Then to complete the set is the piece that covers his hands.  In order for the plastic cover to go on, you will need to swap in the hand with the fingers all straight.


Again, it doesn't peg in but it stays there well enough.  This is his incarnate attack "Laser Sword".


In order to attach Silver Crow's wings, you will need to pull a piece off his back, revealing two peg holes.


Needless to say, each wing pegs into each hole.  His wings are majestic and fantastic.


Just before we cover off his winged mode, here he is with Black Lotus as a comparison...


...Which also allows you to recreate that iconic scene where he carries Black Lotus into the air as they announce their intent to the Accelerated World.


The wings, coupled with the stands allow you to have some fantastic flight striking poses.


The stand extender also comes into good use here as you will need it for some of the more dynamic shots.


The wings are on joints too so you can have them sitting straight up or sprayed out to the sides, it allows a lot of flexibility.


With that said, the wings seem to be stumpier than the anime's versions, maybe that was a concession that had to be made when creating it in toy form.


One of the great things about Silver Crow is the fact that he feels very much an action figure.  He does not feel fragile and there is low chances of anything snapping off due to their thinness (unlike, say, Black Lotus).


Trying to recreate some of the poses from the series and the box art is actually tougher than it looks.  While the articulation is impressive, there are some things that he still can't pull off such as kneeling and punching the ground at the same time.


The shoulder pads are also on separate pieces which can shift out of the way if you so require.


An amazing figure and one that is heaps of fun to fiddle around with and pose in the way that you like.

OVERALL:


Silver Crow is a great figure.  While the main objective of him was the poseability, he makes for a great action figure and does not feel fragile at all.  The sculpting is good, the paint applications suitable and there are enough accessories to provide play value and feel that he is worth the admission price, if not all.  Considering that his aftermarket prices aren't too bad compared to other figmas, Silver Crow is highly recommended if you are a fan of Accel World.

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For other toy reviews, have a look at this page.

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And now a gallery of unused pictures in the review, hope you enjoy:















Thanks for your time and (hopefully) see you next time!

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