Riuva : Research Institute for Unicultural Visual Arts

After 12 Days of wait..

I have finally received a phone call from Kinokuniya on the 12^th day after I have placed my order. Hurray!!! I have reached rank Nirvana and  my “Patient” skill have leveled up. I’ll just post some of the photographs that I have taken. Please tolerate my lousy photography skills as this is my first time snapping around with a digi-cam without the assistance of anyone.

Volume One is missing as I have loaned it to my sensei. I’m trying to "psycho" my sensei into becoming a Claymore fan.

Being a Claymore die-hard, I have decided to brag about my "exciting experiences" around Singapore and the various interesting customer services that I have encountered when I was trying to collect the various volumes for the Claymore manga. As the Claymore anime is still airing in Japan, I will like to point out that Claymore products are indeed low on stock (or has it always been so) in Singapore, for who knows what reason. This guide would reflect the life of a typical fan of Claymore in Singapore or will be reflecting those who haven’t set off on their manga collecting mission yet.

The first mecha Riuva is featuring in the Mecha Madness column is the Dominator!!!! What’s that, you ask? It ’s only the coolest organic robot to have graced the screens of otakus everywhere. For the benefit of the unenlightened, I will briefly explain why I chose it.

Dominator is from Overman King Gainer, the hugely popular (in Japan at least) Tomino series produced in 2002. The mecha from that show are divided into two classes: Overmen and Silhouette Engines. The former are basically much more powerful and come with unique special abilities known as Overskills and the latter are grunts. Dominator is an Overman of course and its Overskill is the ability to form any shape and change its mass and volume at will. How cool is that!!??

Mecha is the general term for robots, especially in an anime context. It takes all shapes and forms, including the grotesque semi-organic beasts from Evangelion, the retro Super Robots like Mazinger, innocent Doraemon and war machines like the Arbalest and Macross Valkyries.

Mecha hold a special place in many fans’ hearts, as it plays to the inherent love for firepower, technology and sci-fi that (almost) all guys and some girls have. In spite of the unrealism and the cliches, there is rarely any action sequence more exhilarating than a good ol’ epic mecha battle.