Moving on to the next vendors on the show floor, we have upcoming releases from Aoshima and Kotobukiya. Now, I’ll be upfront and say that I’m quite underwhelmed with what Kotobukiya has on display, unless they still have some surprises left like Bandai Spirits has. Most of their teases were Megami Device kits so if you’re building those, then you have a lot to look forward to.
As for me, this is what I’m looking forward to. The Brave Series recently celebrated its 30th anniversary and there are multiple companies who have their license, including Bandai, Good Smile Company, and Kotobukiya. My preference basically leans towards Kotobukiya approach of producing kits with focus on proportions and articulation, and less on transformation and gimmicks. That said, they can’t produce kits in succession because other companies are doing the same thing, in their own approaches. Kotobukiya has so far released kits from Exkiser, J-Decker, and Goldran, with several add-ons slated for this year. We can now add Baan-Gaan to that list as this would be Kotobukiya’s next Brave Series kit.
To those unfamiliar, The Saint of Braves Baan-Gaan is the 10th official entry in the Brave Series that instead got an original character treatment in the game Brave Saga thanks to declining ratings of the previous series. Outside of this upcoming kit, the only figures I know would be the CM’s Corp. releases and we know how the quality of those sets go. Given that Kotobukiya is taking their time with these kits, I could also take my time in building my copies.
Next up is Aoshima who recently released Atlanger, the first kit in their new Gattai line. They are continuing the momentum by announcing the next two releases.
First is Gattai Atlanger Ω which is basically a silver and white version of the original kit, with lots of red accents. It appears in the original Gattai Atlanger comic currently serialized in Dengeki Hobby Web, albeit in Japanese. Personally, this color scheme gives off a stronger impact than the, frankly more toy-etic, color scheme of the first version. In any case, I’ve made several posts about this kit as I’m quite curious about it, but not to the point of actually buying one. That might change though a several hobby bloggers have posted reviews and I would definitely check a few.
Gattai Atlanger Ω
October 2021
The third kit in the line is a totally new mold, Gattai Musashi.
While Atlanger is based on a really old kit, I’m not yet sure of the origins of this one. We’ll just have to wait for more details but based on these images, it does have this battleship aesthetic that kind of reminds me of Kantai Collection. It also continues the gimmick of including a mecha-musume partner kit, with this one named Jinguji Nagisa, or at least how Google translates it. Her looks definitely has that Kantai Collection aesthetic.
These initial images also reveal one of possibly many combinations between Musashi and Jinguji Nagisa, with this one being a captain’s chair of sorts with battleship parts attached. If I find myself convinced of getting Atlanger, then I would totally look forward to getting Musashi as well.
Gattai Musashi
Spring 2022
