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MiG-21 Balalaika "Schwarzesmarken"

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12 comments posted
this is an awesome design! I

this is an awesome design! I would love to see model kits of these!

Leonardo

Showapop's picture
Posted by Showapop on 2 March, 2012 - 11:54
Kotobukiya has made several

Kotobukiya has made several of the main hero units. I think they may have announced some of the non-Japanese TSF designs at some point.

VF5SS's picture
Posted by VF5SS on 2 March, 2012 - 12:00
Thanks!

Thanks!

Showapop's picture
Posted by Showapop on 2 March, 2012 - 12:45
Is anyone enough of a fanboy

Is anyone enough of a fanboy to explain to me why this thing is called "Schwarzesmarken"? I mean, yeah, the "666" on its shoulder is technically a "black mark", but that seems an awfully banal description. Given that "number of the beast" emblem they could be calling it the MiG-21 Hail Satan or the MiG-21 Death Metal Special or something (except, y'know, in German).

recognizer's picture
Posted by recognizer on 2 March, 2012 - 14:33
The black cross style mark on

The black cross style mark on the left shoulder runs down the entire arm. Note that the shield mount is also black to complete the image.

VF5SS's picture
Posted by VF5SS on 2 March, 2012 - 14:36
Oh, cool.

Oh, cool. I didn't even notice that that was a marking - I assumed that it was just black detailing indicating "inner" or "mechanical" parts like the joints. I definitely like extended markings like this that line up across segments of a robot, it just didn't visually register for me here.

still want a Death Metal Special, though.

recognizer's picture
Posted by recognizer on 2 March, 2012 - 14:57
What's Schwarzesmarken mean?

Remember in THE YOUNG ONES, when Vyvian wanted to watch his favorite TV show "Bastard Squad"? Well, they're kind of like that. Some members are Polish and East German ex-political prisoners, and others are their secret police ("Stazi") handlers, while almost all of them are just total bastards - even the incredibly hot ones. Black Sheep, so to speak.

This takes place in the 1980s, as Europe & Eurasia were in the beginning phases of being utterly over-run and depopulated by the BETAs. Chances are all the Schwarzesmarken characters are dead by the time the primary Muv Luv Unlimited/Alternative storyline takes place...

Ah, Cold War nostalgia...

Can't wait for the upcoming Su-37 Terminator "Scarlet Twins" Revoltech!

AcroRay's picture
Posted by AcroRay on 2 March, 2012 - 16:58
Sounds awesome!

This is one of the visual novels, yes? There's no anime yet? Too bad, because this sounds like a great place to jump on.

recognizer's picture
Posted by recognizer on 2 March, 2012 - 18:53
Not a VN

It's not so much a visual novel, but a print media side story. Short text stories and illustrations run in Tech Gian, and short stories with model dioramas in Hobby Japan, and also a series of light novels by (as I understand it) mainstream military adventure author Uchida Hiroki. All of those entries present different elements of the overall story. The HJ & TG portions are reprinted in the most recent couple of TSFIA mooks by Enterbrain/Hobby Japan. I don't believe there is any electronic media produced for it, although there might be an audio drama included in one of the Chronicles volumes, or in a Tech Gian DVD supplement. While one backstory chapter features the unfortunate gang rape of one of the characters (and her subsequent battlefield freak out and slaughter-by-mecha of her attackers), the official publications seem to be non-eroge. [That's not to say the illustrators involved in the series may or may not publish H doujin content for sale at Comiket, as often happens.)

The official website is here:

http://schwarzesmarken.jp/index.html

AcroRay's picture
Posted by AcroRay on 2 March, 2012 - 19:19
Heh. It's the inverse of the usual pattern

I mean, doesn't the violent porn usually come out after the family-friendly version? Could this be a new paradigm?

RobotBastard's picture
Posted by RobotBastard on 3 March, 2012 - 02:56
I think the Fate Stay/Night

I think the Fate Stay/Night property established a pattern of capitalizing on a secure die-hard otaku market share by releasing adult versions of the product first, then breaking the property out into an expansive general market catalog of products. AGE has followed this model for Muv Luv, after having had similar success with KimiNozo before that. Interestingly, Muv Luv Alternative pulls in characters from all of their different games at one point or another. (And they've even taken to satirizing other mainstream characters now, as in the case of a parody of LeLouche from Code Geass as the central character of Muv Luv: Adoration.)

It's such a broad property with a wide range of appealing elements. My favorite is that the Muv Luv Alternative series seems to more often than not be an homage to the things I loved about the 1980s mecha-operas. I comfortably seat the property in my own mental library right in with titles like Macross, Gundam, Dougram, Ideon - much more easily than other current mecha-related series.

AcroRay's picture
Posted by AcroRay on 3 March, 2012 - 07:52
Ive never seen the series the

Ive never seen the series the mechs are from but I totally got into the designs and have bought and preordered nearly all of the revoltech figures including the mig which I own and it like all the figures are even better in hand. I highly recommend the revoltech line to any mech fan.

nomad16's picture
Posted by nomad16 on 2 March, 2012 - 20:34