Gundam Cafe in Akihabara

A new Gundam theme cafe has just opened in Akihabara on Saturday, which is fittingly called Gundam Cafe :o


A brief summary of what Gundam Cafe is about quoted from Ngee Khiong from his post:

Gundam Cafe welcomes beginners as well as avid Gundam fans. It will a place for entertainment, as well as information center on latest Gundam products and work. The cafe has an area of 144.2 square meter, and has 60 seats.

The specialty of the store is "Jaburo Coffee", brewed from South American coffee, and "Gunpla Ware", with motif of the first 1/144 scale Gundam RX-78-2 plamo, only released as take away item.

Vendor machine of Gunpla-Yaki, which I think is a taiyaki molded in a 1/144 scale RX-78-2 Gundam model. They are for takeaway only.


A picture of Gunpla-Yaki. Comes in two flavours: Ogura jam from Hokkaido for 190 Yen, Bacon mayonnaise for 220 Yen, or 1 of each for 400 Yen.



Goods and souvenirs can be purchased in the cafe. This ranges from food like cakes and coffee beans to ashtrays and coffee coasters.


And yes, of course, the food. Each dish will be named after a character or have some reference to Gundam. There are desserts, drinks (cocktails), and hot dishes. I must say that I really like the little carved out signs of Federation and Zeon logos there ^^



Gundam Cafe as seen on its opening day. As one can see there are two queues there - one on the left is to go into the actual cafe area, while the one on the right is for the Gunpla-Yaki!


Another shot of the Gundam Cafe with the queues from ちびトロ, who is known for making a lot of custom figmas. On a side note he has stated that he has watched the Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi movie for the tenth time recently. o_O


Logo of the Gundam Cafe as seen at night, again taken by ちびトロ


Location of Gundam Cafe will be in front of Electric Town exit at JR Akihabara Station as seen on the map. It should be pretty easy to spot I believe.


Opening times

CAFE TIME
Mon - Fri: 10:00 - 17:00
Weekend: 8：30 - 17：00

BAR TIME
Mon - Fri: 17：00 - 23：00
Weekend: 17：00 - 23：00
Closes at 21:30 for holidays (I think)

GUNPLA-YAKI
Mon - Fri: 11:00 - 21:00
Weekend: 9:30 - 21:00


More pictures can be seen from Ngee Khiong right here and here.

Interesting, very interesting. Would love to check it out even just for the atmosphere, and I would like to try out the Gunpla-Yaki for sure! Definitely going to be on my to-go list on my next trip to Tokyo~


Official site in Japanese:
http://g-cafe.jp/index.html

Official site in English (coming soon):
http://g-cafe.jp/english/index.html

Pictures from GUNDAM.INFO, Moeyo, GA Graphics, Gundam Cafe official site, and ちびトロ's blog 地球座日記
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MG Wing Zero Gundam Custom Pearl Gloss version

I didn't get one for myself, but I thought this particular MG gunpla is worth a mention - the MG Wing Zero Custom Pearl Gloss version. Together with the "limited" HGUC Unicorn Gundams + Head Display Base bundles (which I did buy), this is probably released around the beginning of April, with no promotion or information known before its release whatsoever. I only noticed them pop up in some local shops one day when I was still in Hong Kong 3 weeks ago.

Runners are as followed:



According to what the people have observed on ToysDaily forum, there are some similarities to the MG Wing Zero Custom Pearl Mirror Coating version, which is a Chara Hobby 2005 event limited item.

First off, there are no plated parts for the newer release. Many parts are in pearl gloss plastic (which kinda reminds me of the HG Trans-Am gunplas), but the smaller feather parts will still be in white, which can look odd with the rest of the pearl colour wings as we will see later. Base is clear instead of dark gray.


For the assembled model, a straight build is spotted in Ruli PlaModel:

Front view


Back view


Wings closed up


Wings open up


Box art pose - here we can see the smaller feathers in white kinda sticking out like a sore thumb in contrast to the rest of the pearl glossy wings


Slightly closer up look at the Wing Zero Custom with Twin Buster Rifles.

Equipped with beam sabres

Posing with the Twin Buster Rifles. The glossy surface is quite shiny against the light, which some people may not like I think.


This Pearl Gloss version seems to be another international-only release (at least in Asia but outside Japan), as there are no mention of it on Japanese sites or blogs about it. Prices I saw seem to be around the retail price of normal MG Wing Zero Custom, i.e. around 3800 Yen.

Another unexpected release, which got a lot of people to wonder whether it's new stuff or not when it suddenly popped up in shops. The gloss look on the wings look nice to me, but the fact that the smaller feathers stickiing out in solid white can be a bit odd as mentioned above. Having the same glossy look on the rest of the frame, especially on the head, looks particularly strange for me - maybe it'd have been better if those were to stay with solid white for me IMHO.


On the other hand, somebody on ToysDaily forum has added lighting effects into one of these Wing Zero Custom. As one can see here the glossy plastics seem to be translucent to some extend as they allow quite a lot of light to go through.


The whole head is glowing green rather than just the eyes themselves ^^; But the lighting on the chest orb does look pretty cool.


Well, are people really missing out much for this particular special version of the Wing Zero Custom? Probably not, unless you really like the pearl gloss surface as seen in the pictures here. Otherwise you can just go with the normal release for the same price. No huge deal, at least nothing compared to the Unicorn bundles which would enrage quite a lot of fans I assume (I would too if I have bought the regular releases and strive for the head display bases from the magazines)... These international limited gunplas sure are odd and they just appear all of a sudden without a notice.

"My feeling exactly about those international limited Gunplas. They just seemingly popped out of nowhere. ^^;"
- Ngee Khiong

Images from ToysDaily forum and Ruli PlaModel
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Robot Damashii M9D Falke

My first Robot Damashii (Robot Spirits) action figure - the M9D Falke from Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid. Have been wanting to get this and/or the M9E Gernsback since I saw reviews in forums, but the Gernsbacks are rather pricey so I got myself a Falke instead while I was in Hong Kong 2 weeks ago.


Robot Damashii is an action figure line under Bandai for various mecha, this includes the Gundam franchise (Gundams and other mobile suits), as well as (but not limited to) mechas from Code Geass (Knightmare Frames) and Full Metal Panic! (Arm Slave). Robot Damashii action figures are designed with the aid of CAD, and use a number of different materials for the external and internal parts for better resistance against wear & tear while highly presentable as a well painted toy.

As mentioned above, the M9D Falke belongs to the second season of Full Metal Panic! i.e. The Second Raid or TSR. According to the lore it was originally developed by the private military organisation Mithril as a testbed for the Lamda Driver unit, which the protagonist unit ARX-7 Arbalest has. However the development was halted, and 2 were made. One was eventually used by Mithril's new Special Response Team leader Belfangan Clouseau as his personal. As one can see, the number of accessories for it is quite small, even for a Robot Damashii toy: Rifle + detachable magazine, monomolecular cutter + scabbard, part swapping rifle rack for the back, and a set of hands.


M9D Falke comes with 11 hands in total - 6 left hands and 5 left hands as seen in the photo. The only pair of hands that I don't find of much use are actually the "holding hands", as the Falke does not use these to hold the rifle or the blade. Maybe they're there for you to let it hold other things that you may think it is compatible with (random example would be the figma accessories)?



Part swapping for the rack to hold the rifle at the back. The folded rack not holding the rifle fits snuggly in the hole, but can be a little hard to get out. The rack holding the rifle can be a bit loose though, at least on my Falke.



Front and back view of the Falke with all accessories equipped (i.e. the rifle and the cutter). Simple colour scheme (perhaps considered dull for some), but the dark colour has given it a slick look to it, which I like~


The scabbard for the monomolecular cutter has a peg on it, and it can be plugged onto either sideskirts of the Falke.



Knee armour moves seperately from the legs.




Due to the shape of the blade itself, the monomolecular cutter stays inside the scabbard quite well and does not fall off easily. A special right hand is needed to hold the blade itself.



The rifle itself can be held by either trigger hands. Magazine is detachable and one rifle round can be seen painted on top. A special left open palm can be used to support the front of the rifle in firing position, and surprisingly it can hold the magazine quite well.


Legs have fairly good articulations, and with the seperate knee armour articulation it can kneel down easily.



As seen in some promotional pictures, the Falke can do quite a high kick there :o


Size comparison with my 1/144 HGUC Zaku II F2 EFSF colours from previous post. The two are not in the same scale (Falke is much shorter), but here they are pretty much in same height, and that's about the same height with figmas and Revoltechs (excluding Fräulein) too.




Random pictures to finish things off.


Before I forget, the M9D Falke is sold for 3500 Yen, and is still in stock at Hobby Search and HLJ as at this time when I am writing this post.

For my first Robot Damashii the Falke does not disappoint me in terms of the overall quality. Nice articulations and joints don't feel fragile at all (this is inherited from the Mobile Suit in Action or MSiA line which it has sort of suceeded), nor do I have the worry of breaking the hands like those for figmas. With only a rifle and a blade for accessories there are not too much stuff to play around with, compared to the Arbalest, Kurz's regular Grensback or Melissa Mao's Gernsback (all for the same retail price). The main reason as for why I got the Falke over the Gernsbacks was that I managed to find one in a local shop sold for the price of a typical figma, while the Gernsback are low on stock and the price is going up... But I am still happy with my Falke nonetheless, especially for the price I paid with.

I haven't found an English review for the Falke yet, but for another reference a Japanese review from はっちゃか (Hacchaka) can be found here.

On the other hand, I have not been in top shape ever since I got back to the UK last Sunday, so I ended fairly inactive while trying to recover as much as possible this week. Will try and catch up with things as soon as possible!
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Recent purchases

Bought a few stuff while I am back in Hong Kong briefly. Some of these are unexpected purchases, while 2 are in my to-buy list mentioned last month.


First off - HGUC 1/144 Unicorn Gundam, Unicorn mode and Destroy mode, each with a 1/48 Head Display Base. Both are listed as "limited" models. More information on them can be found via Ngee Khiong.

I have asked Ngee Khiong whether he knows anything about this set of limited gunpla since there are no official information to be found on them so far. The only thing we can conclude from them so far is that they are probably released for regions outside Japan since we have not got information about them, and we haven't found any Japanese sites or blogs mentioned them either. This is probably why I can get it at reasonable prices for them (only a tad more expensive than the normal releases due to the extra base in the kit), and I can see them in several shops here and there.

If these are really international only limited items, then these Unicorn Gundam set are not the only ones to be so so far; some of the clear colour SEED gunpla I have spotted in a Gundam event in SOGO last year are probably international release too, as well as the MG Aile Strike Gundam bundled with a bazooka that was originally a price item given out by some Japanese stores back then.


... And I have bought one for myself last September without even knowing how it came about - it just appeared in local shops one day as if it's a new release or something.


Built the HGUC Zaku II F2 EFSF colour straight away, which I have decided to equip with Federation weapons rather than the Zaku's own weapons. Goes well with the GM Commands I have bought last summer, especially with the colour scheme~


My first Robot Damashii on the right next to my recently built Zaku II F2 - the M9D Falke. Have watched Full Metal Panic! recently and I have always liked the mecha design for the M9 series (Gernsback and Falke). The Falke's dark appearance with slick designs really drew me in. Accessories are only limited to one blade and a rifle, which is kinda pitiful compared to the other Arm Slaves in the Robot Damashii line. Will probably do a review of it before I leave Hong Kong this coming Saturday.

That's pretty much it for now. I have also pre-ordered a figma Black ★ Rock Shooter in a local shop, so I will be looking forward to see that coming in this summer.

On the other hand, I (finally) got dragged by a friend of mine into this world of Twitter. You can follow me on Twitter right here, but I still don't know whether I will use it indefinitely. Well, we shall see.
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