New updates coming soon!

Sorry for the long time between posts. I have been extremely busy, but I will try to get a new post up this week!

Beast Saga new releases February 9th! BS-36 Argyro, BS-37 Mantarei and BS-38 Gueru!

Just grabbed these guys this afternoon after work at the Yodobashi Camera in Osaka. As you can see on the pics, the retail price there is 105 Yen cheaper than MSRP. Pretty sweet deal, especially if you have the point card and get 10% back in store credit. Anyway, enough about that and on to the toys!
 

BS-36 Argyro is a pretty swell design, a nice balance of that "So ugly it's cute" of a real armadillo and the Battle Beast figure style.

 I am not gonna lie, I was pretty bummed about this one when I opened it. Looking at the prototypes and even in the package, it looked like the round shoulder pads were attached to the body, so you could pop the arms off and it would look like he rolled into a ball. But, no, they are glued to the arm, so no transformation. They really missed an opportunity to make this one a stellar figure. Oh, and with the glued on shoulder pads he can't hold the shield he comes with. It can loosely fit into the hole in the middle of the shoulder pad, but looks really stupid there. Besides that, I still recommend this one. 

 BS-37 Mantarei! One of the characters in the manga I have been dying to get. As one of the higher up members of the Death Heart Pirates, he should be a welcome addition to anyone's collection.

 The figure is gorgeous, with some great detailing and those nice splashes of red really popping from the blue armor.

 This one is a little different from the others in that he looks like a whole animal just resting on top of a suit of armor. All the others actually look like they are wearing their suits, so from the side it is a little funky. It is by no means a deal breaker, and I think this is in my top 5 for the whole series.

 BS-38 Gueru, the grunt soldiers under Aladile in the anime version. I was a little sad they are nameless masses for 2 reasons: the original Battle Beast frog was one of my favorites and he kinda reminded me of Frog from Chrono Trigger.

The sculpt is pretty swell throughout, with nice rivets and plates comprising the armor. The prototypes had a metallic silver for the armor, which I thought looked out of place with the rest of the line, but the production figure is just flat grey. So it fits in well with the others, but individually comes off a little dull. As a rank-and-file foot soldier this is fine, but I still imagine him as a Masamune wielding hero.

This is my first attempt at reviewing the figures, so if it goes well, I may add a bit more of this into the card translations I get to.

BS10 Moreek Beast Saga Card Translation

 

Moreek, Sky Warriors, Middle Wave Soldier

"Someone powerful, yet flexible, is a natural force..."

Special Move: Shadow Sonic. His Psycho Lot appears like the Kamaitachi, an attack delivered by the wind.

Beast Data
Beast Type: Bat
Likes: Just Balance
Dislikes: Sound Sleep
Wins, Losses, Draws: Data Unavailable

"Obedient and Honest" to "Rude and Vulgar", his split personality spontaneously changes on the spot. This guy holds the title "Aide to Home Minister of the Kingdom of Gloria"?!

Owlmighty's note: "He is an excellent aide to Minister Mindrill. More than that, I have nothing else to say..."

Translator's  notes:
This one was a bit of a pain, mostly because I am confused by Moreek's political affiliations. All mentions of his job with Gloria Kingdom are in the present tense, so maybe his split personality holds two jobs, one as a mammal with Gloria and one as a winged animal with the Sky Warriors. Is he torn between these loyalties, or is he a spy? It is vague on the card, but it makes him a more interesting character.
His name is a portmanteau of part of the Japanese word for bat "Kōmori" and "eek" the onomatopoeia for a bats voice. an English translation of that would be something like "Batscreech", not really all that cool sounding. Also, The Kamaitachi are Japanese spirits, Google it and the pictures will tell you all you need to know.
And thanks to the poster Moreek. Since you were the first commenter on my blog I did this one for you. I think I will do Wolfen, my favorite, next!

Takara Tomy Beast Saga Q&A English Translation part 1

To go along with the rules translation, here is the first half of the Ver.1.5 Q&A that came in the BS-21 Goldar Deck. If there is still anything unclear on these points, feel free to comment and I will try to address them.

1. What is a Dice Battle? A battle between two players using a Deck.
2. What is a Deck? 3 Beast figures, their corresponding cards and Battle Lots and the appropriate number of Magic Lot are a Deck.
3. What is a Battle Lot? The Die with the Beast's characteristic emblem. The emblem corresponds to one specific Beast only.  
4. What is a Magic Lot? Dice with various magical effects. They are used to affect the values of the Battle Lots. All Beasts can use any Magic Lot.
5. What is the Beast Card? It is the Beast's characteristic card. it has Battle Lot value, available Magic Lot value and various intelligence data printed on back.
6. In the dice battle, how do you determine winner and loser? The player that defeats all 3 of their opponent's Beasts after repeated turns is the overall winner.
7. Is it ok to freely choose Beasts for a Deck? Yes. Please make a Deck with any Beasts you like.
8. Can I use 2 of the same Beast in a Deck? Yes, you are free to make any Deck you like. .
9. Can I use a Beast and a different version of the same Beast in a Deck? Yes, but in this situation the combination of Battle Lot and Beast Card must be used with corresponding Beast figures.
10. Can I use multiple of the same Magic Lot in a Deck? Yes. Add the Magic Lot values on the 3 Beast Cards and you may choose any Magic Lot up to that total.
11. When a Beast is placed in the Drop Area is the Deck's Magic Lot total reduced? No. Once you finish set-up and start battle the Magic Lot Total does not change.
12. What is a "Special Ability?" The Special power some Beasts have, denoted by extra rules printed on the card face.
13. When can I use a Special Ability? In the Target Phase. Tap applicable cards to the right to activate.
14. How many times in a Dice Battle can a Special Ability be used? Each beast with a Special Ability can use it one time per Dice Battle.

Step by Step Takara Tomy English Beast Saga Rules Translation

This is a step by step translation of the rules included in the starter sets.

Before the Dice Battle

Deck Construction- Select 3 Beasts from your own Beast army!
   Choose 3 Beast figures with their corresponding cards and Battle Lots (Emblem Dice)
   Add the total of the 3 Beasts' Magic Lot values from the face of the cards. Select a number of Magic Lot  Dice equal to the total.

Setting the Field- 1. Place the Battle Lot into the corresponding Beast and place Beast figures in the marked "Beast Area" on the Battle Mat.
2. Place Magic Lot into the "Magic Lot area" on the Battle Mat.
3. Place all cards in the "Card Area" on the Battle Mat in an upright position.

How to Play

Decide who attacks first- After setting up the Dice Battle Area, play Rock, Scissors, Paper to decide the first attacker.
Target Phase
-Choose a Beast from your side as the attacker and tap the card.
-A left tap is a normal attack, a right tap uses the Beast's Special Ability (where applicable)
*Full details of Special Attacks are printed at the bottom of the cards.
-Next, choose which of your opponent's beasts is the target of your attack.
*Opponent taps corresponding Beast Card.

Battle Lot Phase
-Place the Beasts in the Battle Area, count down "3,2,1 BEAST FIGHT!" and shoot the Battle Lot at the same time.
-Compare Battle Lot values.
*If it is a tie, shoot again.
-Confirm Battle Lot value and place it in the "B" area on the Battle Mat.

Magic Lot Phase
-The player with the lower Battle Lot value chooses 1 Magic Lot from their "Magic Lot Area" and shoots.
-If it lands with an emblem facing up it is a success, if there is no emblem it is a failure.
*In these situations look carefully to choose the most effective Magic Lot!
-Confirm the magic Lot value and place it in the "M" area on the battle Mat.
-Next the player with the higher Battle Lot value chooses 1 Magic Lot from their "Magic Lot Area" and shoots.
-If it lands with an emblem facing up it is a success, if there is no emblem it is a failure.
*In these situations look carefully to choose the most effective Magic Lot!
-Confirm the magic Lot value and place it in the "M" area on the battle Mat.
-The player with the higher combined Battle Lot  and Magic Lot value is the winner!
-If the Beast's Emblem appears, that player wins!
*However, if the opponent uses the Magic Lot "mirror", the attack is returned and the opponent wins!

End Phase
-The Winner replaces the Battle Lot and the Beast to the "Beast Area" and untaps the card. Used Magic Lot are placed into the "Drop Area" on the Battle Mat.
-The Loser places Battle Lot, Beast figure, Card, and used Magic Lot into the "Drop Area" of the Battle Mat.
*The Winning Beast can continue in battling, the Losing Beast cannot.

Turn End
-It is the opponent's turn. Repeat all steps.

Repeat until one player defeats all the opponent's Beasts!

Translation Notes- I tried to follow the flow of the rules as close as possible. I did flavor the text a bit to accommodate elements of the accompanying artwork and I cut any of the direct mentions of the sample battle shown. I may be able to answer some questions in the comments and I am working on translating the Q&A Ver. 1.5, which should have about everything. Again, if I see some interest I will try to do full card texts. Also, as usual, all material is copyright of Takara Tomy. This is purely for fun and to help other dorks like myself enjoy these little plastic beasties. Thanks for reading!  

Beast Saga set names

There have been some interesting takes on the names of the starter sets, some pretty close and some WAY off. Figured I would clean some of them up.

BS-01 Earth Kingdom Gloria- Lioger, Big Serow and Geedam
BS-02  Sea Army Death Heart- Killer Shark, Coelence and Pirazon
BS-03 Sky Warriors Holy Nation of Soara- Captain Eagle, Falcan and Bundotto
BS-20 Earth, Sea and Sky Deluxe Starter Set- Wolfin, Leoparmint, Don Whale, Olrich, Owlmighty and Rainbow Sam
BS-21 Goldar, Worthy Rival of Earth- Goldar, Jyan Jyan and Shianbi

In the manga, the Death Heart are pirates and Goldar, longtime rival and friend of King Lioger, has betrayed his king and made a deal with Killer Shark. I love that even within the groupings of earth, sea and sky there are different factions and rivalries. If this blog ever gets any traffic I may do some translations.

Thoughts on Beast Saga name translations part one

I know there are myriad English translations of the names for the Beast Saga characters floating around, and I figured I would toss in my two cents on some of it. A ton of sites have huge errors in the readings of katakana, making the used version WAY off base. Not sure why, but I can't get this blog to display the Japanese, so bear with me on that.

Lioger- The Japanese pronunciation has the full vowel host from lion in the lio- and the tail  -ger from tiger. Many of the auto-translation programs immediately want to interpret the long 'o' as an 'or', hence many of the sites listing things like 'Liorgre'. So the best translation of sound is " lie- oh- ger", a bit for English speakers to get their mouths around, but perfectly fine for Japanese speakers that are used to vowel combos like these.

Bunicus- This is the one that catches me most. A proper reading would be "ba-ni-ki-su"The usual I have seen in 'Panikusu', and there are clearly some reading errors. The diacritics on the first are the dakuten, giving a 'b' value, not the handakuten that would give the 'p' value. This may be from attempts at reading a poor scan of the Japanese writing. Also, the third katakana is 'ki', not a 'ku'. I kinda like the slightly Roman sound to it so I have done the spelling accordingly.

Dolphan, Falcan- both of these are pretty simple vowel swaps. To get close to the Japanese version of the names really over enunciate the new vowels.

Aladile- another mash up of English words with more vowels present that online translators want to give. I have seen Aldile a few times, but without any vowel sound between the 'l'and 'd' the mix of Alligator and crocodile is a little lost.

These are just a few of my thoughts, maybe if I see some interest I will go through more. I am just a white dude from the boondocks living in Japan, but I figured I would try to get some closer translations in case these never get an American release.