Pop Culture Central of Europe, the best place for any Geek/Nerd to visit while in London, I visit there on every trip I take to London and there is always something different to see or something that really excites me. Movie memorabilia of every kind, Comics, games and anime collectibles that you only see online, every Star Wars & Harry Potter fan would go nuts there. Still I never get tired of it, I could spend hours there, there is always something that I want to purchase but these days I am lacking space so I always choose items that fit or that make me think “MUST HAVE IT”

One section that people forget about is there HUGE comic and graphic novel collection down stairs, I picked up all of the novels by the comedian Kevin Smith, read a few pages and they are pretty funny and he is a funny guy so decided to take all his books. Then there is the Transformers section which have all the stuff dating back to the 80s up to the new things from IDW in 2012. They sold some fake weaponry which looked really cool but I didn’t want to risk taking that on a plane with me. When walking around upstairs I honestly don’t know what to pick up, I tell myself not to go overboard, I never have enough space in my bags but then I don’t reason well with myself and pick up a few things that I end up walking out with a smile, if your wondering what they are its the items in the last picture in this post.

Superman’s effectiveness as a super hero comes into question when a new group of super powerful crusaders, known as “The Elite” appear on the scene, led by British public identity hero Manchester Black. As super heroes, the Elite know no bounds, and are more than willing to kill, even on a massive scale, to stop villainy—putting them on a collision course with the ever-ethical and decidedly non-lethal Man of Steel.

This movie just didn’t click with me the wait I want it to. Seems like it had some good and interesting ideas in it but overall it does a bad job at handling and developing them in the story. But if you are into Superman or just superhero stories in general, this animated movie is still well worth checking out. It still has plenty of superhero action in it, as well as some other familiar genre aspects. But the villans in it just felt weak, there was no major development for them, but I liked the action towards the end, made it more exciting to see Superman in this way. The main idea is questioning where the world needs a hero with morals like Superman or one that would do whatever needs to be done and more like The Elites. If you like animated superhero movies, then this is worth watching.

Link: IMDB
Rating:

It should be noted that I can’t leave an Anime store, especially one that brings back memories like The Animation Station, so I ended up buying the heads of Grendizer & Mazinger Z. Both would look very good on my desk and honestly these are very well made version, and to my surprise they turned out to be Coin Banks. I don’t think I will be using them for coins any time soon since I really like the way they look and they fit very nicely on my shelf. They are made from nice soft/hardened vinyl so they feel good when you hold them, high quality items and it just reminds me of the cartoons when looking at them.

While I was unboxing these I started playing the Grenzider opening, the original Japanese one, you can watch it here (YouTube). Honestly Duke Fleed was very cool, so when I saw these two I just had to have them. There were a few more things that I wanted to pick up but thats for a later visit, for now these satisfied me very much and it feels good seeing them on my desk.

I’m always interested about new Anime & Comic stores opening up in Kuwait, this one concentrates on a lot of old school shows like Grendizer, Getter Robo, Sanshiro, and a lot of other cool stuff. Its like an open Kiosk/Shop on the first floor in Discovery Mall, just behind you on the right as you go up the escalator.

Whats very cool is you can tell these guys are passionate about it, there was a lot of cool Grendizer stuff, and I had to pick up something while I was there, also I have to keep in mind that I don’t have much space to put stuff on any more, still they had a Ken Resin Statue which I haven’t seen in a while. They also had the Fewture Sanshiro – Jamaro model that I have which you don’t see often and I’m assuming it will fly off their shelves soon enough. If you have a chance its very much worth it to pass by the store, the pictures don’t do it justice, lots of fun stuff.

Watching an episode at anytime I have and right now there are so many good anime shows that I haven’t seen and a few of the new shows that I am adding to the list. All different kinds of Anime in this list, there are a few that I am missing and adding any more to the list I will be lost with which episode I am watching, happened to me a few times before. Right now Bleach & Naruto are on hold for a bit, but I’m gonna catch up with them at a later date, binging on Bleach & Naruto sounds good for a later date.

Watching:

• Inu X Boku Secret Service – A Surprising Anime Indeed
• Mobile Suit Gundam Age – Enjoying It
• Ozma – Very Cool First Few Episodes
• Sengoku Collection – An interesting Twist on Sengoku Basara
• Stiens Gate – Trippy To Watch
• Zetman – Loving It! Bad Ass!

Going To Watch:

• Fate Zero
• Darker Then Black
• Gai Rei Zero
• Guilty Crown
• Giant Killing

The first time around I loved having the Senshiro Jomaro model from Fewture, then while skimming Ebay I found this other Sanshiro model, it isn’t made out of metal but Vinyl. I went on a bidding war for it, the first time around I lost, the guy big over $1500 for it, but the second time around I got it for about $430 so in comparison I got a much better deal. I started checking out old school episodes to find Mad Hurricane, he is the bad guy in the anime and got a few pics of the Jumaro and Mad Hurricane together, very cool addition to the collection.

Plot Summary: A year before the battle of Sekigahara that ended the Sengoku Period, the ninja Saizou Kirigakure meets the miko Nami Isa as she’s attacked by assassins. Her shrine was destroyed by Tokugawa Ieyasu for siding with Yukimura Sanada. Meanwhile, Sanada has been gathering ten warriors known as Sanada’s Brave 10, who have the power to change history. As they gather one by one, Nami’s own mysterious power awakens.

Ninjas, Samurais, thrown into a political battle of lords, and 10 different fighters who somehow end up in Yukimura Sanada’s camp. The story is pretty good with a good amount of comedy and suspense thrown into the mix, and who doesn’t like when Ninja’s and Samurai start fighting. Isanami is one of the more interesting characters and her power’s seem to be showing themselves as things get worse for the 10. Its a fun anime that started off great but lacked a bit of substance, still it was a lot of fun to watch, I hope this story gets another season.

Link: AnimeNewsNetwork
Rating:

The latest installment of one of the most popular Anime series around the world. Above Japan waits Remuria, a colossal floating islandleftover from the last world war. It s a lawless wasteland of robot super-weapons from a forgotten age of military might. Receiving word that the unstable island s reactors might explode and vaporize Japan at any time, the Japanese government awakens the most destructive force ever devised MazinKaiser!

This 3 episode OVA is AWESOME, no other words can describe it. The story of this OVA is very weak and there’s barely any character development, but what this OVA lacks in story and character development, it makes up for with probably the Most Awesome Mecha fight scenes that are almost as amazing as the mecha fight scenes in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. The story here is really just an excuse to show these Awesome fight scenes and that alone is enough to overlook the OVA’s flaws and consider it to be one of the best OVAs I have seen in a while.. Now if you want a mecha show that has a deep story with strong character development and where the Mech’s have a more significant meaning to the show’s story, then this OVA is not for you, but if you want some Hardcore Mech fight scenes, than this OVA is definitely for you. Now I remember why I loved Mazinger Z, Mazinkaiser, and Grendaizer as a kid, these amazing fights make me want to jump right into the robot. Lets hope they come up with a continuation or more episodes.

Link: AnimeNewsNetwork
Rating:

Now I remember why I went on a short Anime break, its addicting, I’m loving a lot of shows that I have saved up and I’m watching them almost one shot. I’m watching the list below all at the same time depending on my mood since they are all pretty good and different. I recently finished a few and added to the list below, and recently I heard some news which shocked me, Bleach has come to an end. Its a bit shocking because that is the anime that got me into downloading torrents, before I used to buy the DVDs and wait months or years to watch them in the US but then I discovered Bleach towards my last year in the US and loved it. I stopped watching it at episode 189 and now it has ended on 366 which I heard is an epic Battle, so when I start Bleach I won’t stop.

• Brave 10 – Loving Every Piece Of It
• Inu X Boku Secret Service – A Surprising Anime Indeed
• Mazinkaiser SKL – All Action Loving It
• Mobile Suit Gundam Age – Enjoying It
• Stiens Gate – Trippy To Watch

Going To Watch:

• Fate Zero
• Darker Then Black
• Guilty Crown

Every once in a while I see a Gundam model build that is so insane that it looks real, I couldn’t tell if it was a digital image, a model, or a real giant robot. This is a Bandai 1/60 Strike Gundam custom built to look like this with amazing paint work, I wish I had this skill to make some of mine to look this good. If only they looked this good when you buy them then you just mount them right up, because doing the work to get them this good takes a lot of time.