Lord Ipsqueek's Adventures: Landal De Schatberg in Sevenum

 Hello followers, it is I again, and I bring a daring tale of exploration and grave illnesses during my latest vacation!

 

We went to Sevenum this year, 20 kilometres from the German border and more importantly, 3 kilometres from Toverland! 

 

 

 

 

And our place of residence?  The Landal Parc De Schatberg, and boy what an awesome park that was.   It had an indoor playgarden, fun bouncing pillows and of course a swimming pool!

  

Our house had this huge playroom for myself, including an own little private slide from one of the beds.  

  

And it also had a playground right in our garden!

  

Now, the park itself also has a nice collection of additional playgrounds all around, and I explored a nice selection of them. And donkeys!

  

On sunday, we went to a local car booth sale, and it was huge.  But not huge enough to prevent my rummaging skills finding me some dinosaurs I didn't have yet in my toycollection! 

 

But I'm distracted, that illness.  Right before we left, I got an earinfection, and while I managed through like the tough guy that I am, on the monday though the fever peaked and I spend all day on the couch unfortunatly.

 

 

So that brought along a bit of a change of plans, and on tuesday as such we went to DippieDoe Park, a small amusement park where there was next to no people that day.  This meant I could ride all the coasters without waiting, and we where allowed to remain seated in a lot of attractions to go one more time, super super.  

 

And I even showed mommy how to jump on a bouncing pillow, and tought both of them how minigolf is played! 

 

I swear though, that old geezer pushed my nose in my icecream!

 

 

On wednesday then we went to Toverland, a park I'm getting familiar with as this is the third time we visited this.  And I am getting to know the inhabitants rather well!

  

Of course, Merlin's Quest was the ride I jumped in the most, but I also conquered my fears and went back into Expedition Zork after skipping it last year.  Because it was nice and warm, and it has a great splash.  

 

Well, for daddy that was, because he came out of every water ride soaked... seems he attracts it. 

 

Thursday, which was our final day as they gave very masty weather in the evening and next morning, I went out to do some more "local playing" at the vacation house.  You know, get those energy levels in check before driving back home after another great fun vacation.

 

Now to just brood on a plan to get back at daddy for that icecream... 

Helsmiths of Hashut Bull Centaurs

 The army of Hashut for the Mortal Realms keeps groing!

 

And this time, we finished the first of a few models of the heavy hitters: the Bull Centaurs.

 

While this unit will become a reinforced unit later down the line, for now that means I have the first base sized unit of them ready to deal some impact mortals!

 

Like in their Old World ancient version, the Bull Centaurs are the fast moving, heavy hitting unit of your force.  But compared to their older version, they are heavier armoured as well and not wielding slow doublehanded weapons.  Instead, they come with two heavy maces.

 

The unit doesn't have a dedicated command group though, so no banners or musicians if you buy these for rank and file systems unless you convert them.

 

But they are pretty awesome and impressive models for sure, ready to bring the fight to the enemy... whom your infantry hopefully have locked up already.

 

Now to the next unit! 

Terra Formars volume 20 - Yu Sasuga and Ken-Ichi Tachibana

 Time for another volume of the excellent Terra Formars series, and I love reading these as we are way beyond the anime in the meantime.

 

And the invasion of Japan has begun!

 

The Terra Formars are on the move, attacking Japan from the sea with whale like beasts and all, and the JDF is hardpressed to keep the casualties low.  But Earth gathers to the defence, as most powers where awear they had gathered on Antartica to gather their strengths.  And the world rallies to the defence of Japan, bringing in augmented soldiers to stop the invasion.

 

In the meantime, our heroes are kept out of the fight to have the first and the second remained safe and under the radar.  To that end, they visit Michelle's mom, as she and her daughter confront the risks of her life and what happened to her father.  But in the meantime, the "Battlemaster", one of the most special agents of Japan with the MO operation of an owl, confronts the Terra Formar leader.  He also comes across the hybrids, but takes those out before going after the Invoker.  The big bug is injured in an explosion as it runs for it's life, but the Battlemaster follows it to the shores, unleashing his full power in the confrontation, which will play out in the next volume.

 

The Battlemaster certainly was a fantastic addition to the series, as he is truly a huge powerhouse that gives the impression that humanity might actually tip the balance to their favour and overcome the alien invasion.  I really look forward to the next book in the series, and will be ready to devour it as well because for me, this remains one of the best manga out there!

 

Highly, highly recommended! 

Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky

 Codenamed A15, this is the animation adaption of the 15th game in the Atelier series (and the actual second in the Dusk one).

 

And on a personal melancholy level, this was the very first game in the Atelier series I ever played, back on the PS3.  Little did I know back then it was part of a huge franchise... 

 

And so I sat down to watch this series that had released "recently"... and recently meaning all the way back in 2014... 

 

Now, the story is your typical fantasy game adaption to be honest: you have your main characters, namely Escha and Logy, both starting out at the Colset Research and Development division.  During their first assignment they learn some more about each other and where they came from, but also that they want to explore the Unexplored Ruins floating above Colset but whom are unreachable by balloon.  This forms the central story of the series, but it has a couple side stories as well (side quests as you can say) including of course the obligatory beach / onsen episode every anime needs to have.

 

But while working together, they progress ever further towards this goal, meeting new people along the way who join in their quests and missions, until they manage to build an airship that can actually take them to the ruins.  Here they meet a being called Flameu that wants to stop humanity as it sees them futile in the world, but they manage to convince her by making her remembering her past and she goes to other venues.  After that, Escha and Logy part ways, promising each other they will keep working hard and chase their dreams.

 

So yeah, this is your basic thirteen to a dozen fantasy series, nothing new or spectacular about it, just 12 episodes of "video game adventure" style fantasy anime.  Okay to watch, no loss if you miss it but also no waste of time if you go out and watch it. 

Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These - Stellar War Part 3

 Time for the third and final movie (or, if you watch the series, the 4 final episodes) that makes up the second season of this awesome space anime.

 

And with the political strife reaching climax, both galactic powers have to take care of the aftermath...

 

Once more, the movie has been beautifully animated, the space battles being some of the greatest works out there in the genre, and a strong storyline makes this a truly magnificent epos.

 

On the one side, in the Alliance the coup has begun, and it comes to Yang and his allies to try and contain, and later overthow, this uprising.  The Empire on the other hand is still divided in a civil war with the high nobles.  But as both manage to cull the issues, they also are at the cradle of the renewed and reinstated governments, which results in both of them finding themselves in positions of great responsibility as the dust settles.

 

Truly worth the watch, this is the sort of space opera modern day Star Wars can only dream off to achieve...

Asumi-chan is intrested in Lesbian brothels volume 4 - Kuro Itsuki

 Time for some more ecchi reading with the next manga that I grabbed, and that is the 4th volume of Asumi-chan.

 

And her quest to find her childhood friend and crush continues...

 

While Asumi keeps searching for her friend by booking female escorts, her roommate Nanao get a wrong idea.  Thinking Asumi is a call-girl herself, she books one that turns out to look like Asumi, but isn't her.  Because nanao has a crush on Asumi, and she learns the joys of girl love from this lady.

 

When they go on a day to the beach with Asumi's boss, they get to know each other a bit better, and during a date a few days later they finally confess that they like each other as well.  Telling their feelings and why they are on the look-out, they end up in front of a love hotel themselves, wondering if they should get in...

 

... which we will find out in volume 5.  Once again, even though it has some soft erotica, this series is a fun read.  Misunderstandings, comical situations but also some deep emotions form the backbone of the Asumi story, and I really like it beyond the obvious otaku / hentai reasons.

 

Really a good read to pick up to be honest! 

Call of the Night season 2

 It took far to long before this was made, and scandalously even longer before I watched it, but our favorite vampire Nazuna is back.

 

And "Ko-kun" is still in tow, hoping to become a vampire himself one day by being turned by her.

 

While the attraction between the two of them remains a central part of the story, to enable the tunring to even take place, there is a bigger issue present this season.  "Miss Detective" Anko is hot on the vampires trails to exterminate them.  She knows that every vampire has a sort of memento from their past that makes them vunerable, and chases these to advance her intentions.

 

Nazuna and Kou try to stop her, and try to learn what was the memento that makes Nazuna vunerable.  But during this search, Kou learns Anko was actually the first human friend Nazuna ever had a decade ago.  When it turned out Anko's dad was a vampire after he assaulted her and killed her mother, she swore vengeance on the creatures of the night, including Nazuna.  But slowly, Kou manages to reconcile her and make peace, as she wanted to frame Nazuna in killing her and quieting the night of people to starve vampires out.

 

When the dust settles, they actually become sort of friends again, while Kou is more and more accepted into the Coven even though he still hasn't turned.  But the final moment of the series seems to hint at this finally happening, yet keeps the story still open a bit by only suggesting it.

 

So yeah, this was another great mix of action on the one hand, but also some great humour at the other hand, making it a very enjoyable show to watch and definitly recommended.

 

The animation is once again top notch, and I just LOVE the closing theme (Nemure) of this second season, that might just end up my best music pic for this year... 

 

Mobile Suit Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance

 So, the Netflix CGI made Gundam series, 6 episodes long.

 

And it takes us back to the Universal Century, eleven months into the One Year War.

 

We take the point of view from Zeon in this series though, as a base in eastern Europe has been captured by the Federation, and a force made up of various squads, including Red Wolf Squadron of captain Iria Solari are tasked to retake it.  Because the mobile suit the Federation sends in is not like the Zaku's of Zeon, but the Gundam EX that wrecked her squad when they first encountered it!

 

Now, this whole series, while very well made by CGI, as such feels like a long cutscene from some videogame or the likes instead of the regular drawn Gundam we are used to (but not as bad as the infamous live action movie mind you!), and that takes use to to watch actually.  But storywise, this is a great little series, as it balances Solari against loyalty to Zeon and her own personal convictions against a wartorn backdrop.  Will she prioritise the vengeance over the loss of her husband and friends, or fight to survive to get back to her daughter...

 

A good series for sure, but as I stated, it might take getting used to viewing with the CGI only.