One of the more interesting Robot Damashii toys, that of the Zegapain Altair, has finally been released in Japan. Interesting in the sense that this mecha was the titular protagonist in the similarly titled Zegapain and that the series itself was strongly funded by Microsoft in Japan. The plan was to tie in two exclusive Xbox 360 games, Zegapain XOR and NOT, that were very plain ZOE clones alongside the series. Despite the insane amount of product placement in the anime, the most obvious sign of Microsoft’s handiwork was the revolting colour of green they picked for the mecha itself. Despite being a rather innovative mecha design, penned by Rei Nakahara, the saddest thing about the whole thing was that Microsoft hired Cavia to develop the games and it was patently clear their heart wasn’t in it. Though to be honest, who could really blame them when the host work featured a hideously bright green mecha. This then is the testament to the design itself; as this toy is a palpable reminder of when Western intervention in Japanese anime and gaming pop-culture just doesn’t work.