Netflix's Castlevania: Vengeance trailer is here!!

So I woke up this morning to this wonderful trailer from Netflix. I watched and rewatched the trailer a couple of times and first off the music (which is a trademark of Castlevania games) is amazing in the trailer, and definitely sounds Castlevania to me. :D

Next, I LOVE the fact they used the same art style as Vampire Hunter D. That was one of my main concerns for the project when they announced it, and I'm happy to see they aren't screwing the franchise around. :D Kudos to the team! Here's a clip of Vampire Hunter D to those who haven't seen it:

I also love that NES boxart!! And looking at the art, this could probably be the poster for the show? Also, if you look closely, it gives you a sneak peek of how Count Dracula might look like:

Another highlight of the trailer, is a sneak peek of every Castlevania fanboy's (or in this case, fangirl's) dream; Alucard.

Plus points for the team since Alucard is depicted in his Symphony of the Night look (long blond hair) instead of his original NES look (spiky short black hair and fugly all around). I mean just look at the image below:

Another thing to note, Alucard's tomb seems... steampunk-ish? Could this be taking cues as well from the world of Vampire Hunter D?

Speaking of depictions, I'm also glad to see Sypha's look in the trailer

Here, she's sporting a short hair (which makes sense as in the game Trevor and his team thought she's a man) and the blue cloak was a nice throwback to her Symphony of the Night look, as seen below:

Also saw a glimpse of Count Dracula, and he looks just as imposing as he is in-game!!

From the backside, he seems to take his appearance from the game Castlevania: Chronicles with jet black hair and long robes.

Also, if you look closely, the room where Dracula is seen, feels like an homage to the room where you fought Dracula in Super Castlevania IV (SNES), just look at this screenshot:

That said, I do have some slight issues with the trailer.

I am not digging Trevor/Ralph Belmont's look.

While I do like the fact they retained some elements of Ayami Kojima's depiction of him from Castlevania: Curse of Darkness as seen below:

And that nice touch of giving him a cloak, and him standing in front of an altar of sorts, was a clever nod to his intro in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse.

But the scar on his eye makes no sense in the trailer as seen here:

That's because originally he gets that scar from his battle with Dracula (as hinted on the Curse of Darkness prequel manga).

Also, where the hell is Grant Danasty?!

I could barely see anybody looking like a pirate in the trailer! D: I DID see someone throw a ton of knives in the trailer, but he looks similar to Trevor Belmont, so I assumed it was Trevor and not Grant. Oh well, we'll see.

Also, where are Dracula's two Devil Forgemasters; Hector and Isaac?

Those two are referred in Castlevania: Curse of Darkness to have been responsible in the creation of most of Dracula's monsters and demons inside Castlevania. They are also his two closest disciples (similar to Shaft only more powerful and is said to rival the power of Death himself) are also key to unleashing the fabled "Dracula's Curse" in the first place. They should atleast appear in some form in the series, specially if Netflix is thinking of doing a second season of the show, as Castlevania: Curse of Darkness is a direct sequel of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse.

Anyway that aside, looking forward to seeing this in Netflix soon! Castlevania: Vengeance will be arriving on Netflix this July 2017!!

The Huawei Matebook X = The "Macbook Air" Windows users are waiting for?

Are you a PC user who wants a windows laptop as sleek as a Macbook Air at half the price? Then the Huawei Matebook X might be the laptop for you.

This 13-inch, Windows 10 ultraportable laptop, is Huawei's latest foray into laptops and design wise it straight up copies Apple's Macbook Air. 

It features aluminum clamshell design and uses Intel Core i5 and i7 processors, which is great for power-users and artists who might want to consider this laptop.

Speaking of artists, its display is an impressive 13-inch display that offers 3:2 aspect ratio at 2K resolution. The only downsides are the storage options which comes at 256GB or 512GB SSD configurations and RAM which only comes in 4GB and 8GB options. That said, it does have very great battery life that lasts roughly around 9 - 10 hours, which is great for people on the go.

The Matebook X also uses USB type C, and they included a 2,0 dongle port for those who still use older USB ports or video ports. Another interesting feature is that they also partnered with Dolby and brought the Atmos Sound System for this ultraportable delivering amazing listening experience on this laptop.

It's still unclear though whether or not Huawei will bring this ultraportable here in the Philippines. Hopefully they announce it soon.

Mega Size 1/48 and Real Grade 1/144 scale Unicorn Gundam kits announced at 56th Shizuoka Hobby Show!!

Announced earlier, during the 56th Shizuoka Hobby Show in Japan, are the Mega Size 1/48 scale and the Real Grade 1/144 scale Unicorn Gundam kits from the series Mobile Suit Gundam: Unicorn!! For fans of the series, the Real Grade or RG version of the Unicorn Gundam was already teased (and personally I actually expected it, since they released a RG kit of the Sinanju) and personally it looks amazing in both Unicorn and NT-D mode!!

(photo credit: Gundam.Info.en site)

(photo credit: Gundam Kits Collection)

(photo credit: Gundam Kits Collection)

Looking at the kit, I'm assuming this kit would actually transform and not do any parts swapping like most HG kits. This is backed up by the fact that this has an innerframe (like most RG kits) that has Psycho frames all over it.

(photo credit: Gundam Kits Collection)

(photo credit: Gundam.Info.en site)

Just looking at the inner frame, I can tell that this thing will be a beauty in person. That said, it makes me worried for the overall stability of the kit and how durable it is, considering so many moving parts and a transformation gimmick for NT-D mode. I'm sure most fans would simply not bother with the gimmick and just display it in NT-D mode (like me). It would be a waste to keep the Psycho frames hidden in Unicorn mode to be honest.

That said, what caught everyone by surprise at the Shizuoka Hobby Show, was the reveal of the Mega Size 1/48 Unicorn Gundam kit. 

(photo credit: Gundam Kits Collection)

Look at the size of that thing! He's almost half the size of the guy on his back!! It's THAT BIG!! Here's a more detail comparison scale of the said Mega Size Unicorn Gundam kit.

(photo credit: Gundam.Info.en site)

Looking at the scale on the right of the figure, the Perfect Grade 1/60 scale kit is roughly only as tall as the Mega Size kit's shoulder/chest. 

(photo credit: Gundam Kits Collection)

The Mega Size kit, is one of the rarest grades Bandai has ever produced. So far only a couple of kits were made under the Mega Size line namely:

• RX-78-2 Gundam
• MS-06 Zaku-II
• MS-06S Zaku-II Char Custom
• AGE-01 Normal
• AGE-02 Normal

Thought to be discontinued, the Mega Size line is similar to a High Grade kit, being easy to assemble and very durable, but more huge than a Perfect Grade kit. Also, they are far more affordable at roughly 1/3 the price of a Perfect Grade kit. The only issue with Mega Size kits are they don't have inner frames and details are not as good as Perfect Grade kits. But if you want durability and a bigger figure for cheap, then the Mega Size is definitely the kit for you.

Personally, between the RG and the Mega Size kits, I highly prefer the Mega Size, due to the huge size and durability. Also, having had atleast 2 Mega Size kits myself, I find them much more impressive on my display than 1/144 kits. :D

What are your thoughts about the RG and Mega Size Unicorn Gundam kits? Sound off below! :D

Get ready for RAGE ART!! The Tekken 7 Philippine Launch Tournament!!

To Filipino Tekken fans, this upcoming event is for you!!

Bandai Namco has recently partnered with the eSports brand TEAM SPOOKY, along with X-Split and Playbook to organize the launch of Tekken 7 in the Philippines by having a local tournament called "RAGE ART"

The event will be taking place at Playbook Circuit Makati on June 3, 2017 and has a PHP25,000 prize pool thanks to XSplit, Player.me and Challonge.

To ensure a top quality event RAGE ART has partnered with Rappler, GG Network, Sports Illustrated, Back2Gaming, Reimarufiles, Fanboyseo, Gadget Pilipinas and Unifiltekken to help provide coverage of this event and share with  the world the Philippines love for gaming. Fatboys Pizza, will also be supporting the event, by providing snacks to those who are participating and Grab, the event’s preferred transport service will also be providing a special code to attendees on June 3-4, 2017. 

For more information about this event, please visit their official Facebook Event Page.