AmiAmi updated their catalog yesterday with a new release by Movic, a pre-painted PVC version of POLYGONIA's 1/5 scale Yoko formerly released at Wonder Festival 2007 Summer as a garage kit (made of poly-resin) and seen again in resin kit form at Wonder Festival 2008 Winter, both releases retailing for 13,650円. Movic's Yoko PVC is scheduled for a release this October at a retail price of 6,300円.
Yet another Yoko PVC joining the ranks of Konami's, Enterbrain's, Wave's, and Sol International's. All pictures released so far seem to be of a painted version of POLYGONIA's resin kit but from what I've seen so far, this piece certainly looks promising. All the more so if Movic can come through on production with reasonably fidelity to POLYGONIA's sculpt. I was surprised at first to see that this kit was getting the PVC treatment; a seductive, sultry pose of a seemingly more mature Yoko who doesn't quite fit her anime counterpart on a design aspect. And that departure from the original design lends itself to the garage-kit-feeling this piece exuberates. Something that's always welcome in my opinion.
Arriving in tandem with Kotobukiya's Holo PVC was the Queen's Blade Collection Card Gum, a series of Queen's Blade trading cards packed with little squares of tooth-decaying epoxy known ubiquitously as bubble gum.
The series features a total of 30 glossy trading cards segregated into three categories: Character Cards, Original Illustration Cards, and Special Cards. Character cards (10 pictured above) feature character names, bios, artwork from their QB gamebook, and a pentagonal graph showing each's fighting prowess. Orignial Illustration cards display artwork of multiple characters in groups. Special cards (2 pictured below) feature original art by each character's respective designer. With every pack, you receive a random card, a card check-list, and a piece of bubble gum.
I bought a vendor release box from HLJ that contains 20 packs, guaranteeing you'll need to buy 2 to complete the series (something I should have thought about beforehand). I've only opened half so far but the packs seem to be organized by card type. All the character cards each box contains seem to be found only on the right slot (example). This could be beneficial for those looking to complete the series without purchasing another box.
Character Name: Holo/Horo (ホロ) Original Character Designer:Ju Ayakura(Light Novel) Sculptor:Shoukaku Kitaike (北池衝角) Source Material:Spice and Wolf (Light Novel, Manga, Anime series) Scale: 1/8 (195mm/7.68 inch tall) Base: Custom, PVC+ABS, raised, circular, black with plastic imitation wheat Necessary Removable Parts: None Removable Parts/Accessories: Tail Castoffability: Bottom half of dress to reveal pantaloons Materials: PVC Packaging:Windowed Box, 2 Plastic Interlocking Molds Extras/Pack-ins: Illustrated backdrop for in-box display Release Date: Early-to-Mid July, 2008 Manufacturing/Production:Kotobukiya Retail Price: 6090円 ≈ $56.66 Current Availability:Hobby Search, Ami Ami, KidNemo Related PVCs:Taki Corp.'s 1/6 scale Holo, Cospa's 1/7 scale Holo
Review coming soon.
A full-scale shot. The display insert seemed too good to not use as a backdrop.
Something notable about this rendition of Holo: She looks stunning from all angles.
Some close-up on Holo's face. If the picture quality wasn't as grainy, you'd be able to distinguish the real fabric string used for her necklace from this distance.
Obligatory low-angle. A shame her pantaloons aren't castoffable.
Character Name: Novia (ノービア) Original Character Designer: Mine Yoshizaki Sculptor:NS.Gun (Cerberus Project) Source Material:Taisen Hot Gimmick 3 (Strip Mahjong Video Game Series) Scale: 1/7 (15 cm/5.9 inch tall) Base: ABS, Circular, raised ( ≈ 1 inch ), white with text:"HG3" Necessary Removable Parts: None Removable Parts/Accessories: Floating Mahjong tiles Castoffability: Green and red breast buttons, Mahjong helmet, Helmet wires Materials: PVC and ABS Packaging:Windowed Box, 2 Plastic Interlocking Molds Extras/Pack-ins: None Release Date: January 14th, 2008 Manufacturing/Production:Art Storm (Lilics series) Retail Price: 6,800円 ≈ $63 Current Availability:HLJ Related PVCs:1/7 scale Novia (Original Ver.)
Foreword:
The fruits of my first and only haul from Play-Asia's Summer Sale, I've been looking at this re-release of Novia for quite awhile on HLJ but a discount was what it finely took for me to take the plunge. Novia hails from Taisen Hot Gimmick 3 , the third game of the popular Mahjong strip game series. While Mahjong strip games are older than time itself, the Hot Gimmick series has seperated itself from the pack by offering up original characters designed by some of the best in the business; namely Mine Yoshizaki, Jun Tsukasa, Mogudan, Zen Yasumori, and Ugetsu Hakua . The first game of the series was released for arcades in 1997 on PSIKYO SH2 hardware. Since then, there have been a total of 8 editions, most having been originally released for the arcade, the more recent on Taito's Type X board. Two THG games have been ported to the PS2: Taisen Hot Gimmick Cosplay and Taisen Hot Gimmick: AXES-JONG, their adult content left fully moderately intact. But to the figure at hand: this is the alternate version (Winking Version) of NS.Gun's original Novia with a new pink color palette.
Sculpt:
Above average sculpt coming from a member of Cerberus Project yet again. At a glance, everything is nicely shaped and proportioned in a very alluring and sensual pose. This is topped off by a futuristic feel onset by Novia's bulbous Mahjong helmet with stringing wires and 4 colorfully lucid "buttons" that line her body. The intricacies of Mine's designs are well solidified, notably the eyes and general shape of the face. But what makes this figure unique are the elaborate details that are not readily apparent. For example: on both the wires leading off her helmet and the top of her thigh-highs a "dissolving" effect, the likes of which I have never seen in a figure, is shown. It looks as though these parts of the sculpt are literally being "downloaded" away, something to this effect: (lol spoilers). Also, a beautiful porous effect is used on her scarf and pom-poms at her ankles. While these little surprises don't make or break the sculpt, they do show the great attention to detail that NS. Gun put into Novia and make the figure that much more appealing.
Another plus to the sculpt is it's ease of castoffability. No disassebmling, removal of clothing, or heart-pounding moments "where you fear you'll compromise the figure just to see some tits" here. Novia's nipples act as a means to keep the buttons attached to her breasts making castoffibilty effortless (considering there wasn't much to castoff in the first place). The nipples are slightly more protrusive than your average pair and fit into the grooves of their respetive bubbles. While this certainly is a creative idea, the bubbles do not attach as firmly as I would like; a good shaking can pop them off. I don't really know why you would prefer your figures shaken not stirred but just something to keep in mind.
The only negatives I could come up with are just a tad superficial. Her right eye is raised, emphasizing the fact that it is closed, not missing. Under the right (or more accurately: wrong) light, Novia's winking eye can look overly engorged, like she lost a fight to a swarm of bees. But this isn't that significant. Another factor has to do with the floating mahjong tiles that accompany Novia. They fit into a groove on her right lock of hair but aren't exactly a "snug fit". While this might be considered more of a production problem, the tiles don't quite fit right and, over time, may fail to do so if the groove suffers from ware.
An angle shot highlighting all of Novia's form.
Novia as seen placed among some of the other Mine-design based figures of my collection. She may not look like a 1/7 scale figure but, comparably, she's quite large.
Taken with natural (ie:bad) lighting . Her mahjong tiles can easily block her face, even touch it directly, without some manual readjustment.
Not even a day after it's release, Wave's Dream Tech Non-scale Kagami and Tsukasa Limited Edition PVC Diorama has completely sold out on HobbyLink Japan, subsequently being listed as discontinued on the trusted hobby site. HLJ, after having sold all allocations, will often list an item as backordered until restock can be confirmed. A discountinued listing on such short notice is to be expected as the diomara set was classified as limited edtion, but is not good news for those who didn't pre-order back when the set was announced months ago. Play-Asia has both limited edition diorama's (Shrine Ver. and Yaki-Imo Ver.) still listed as unreleased but all allocations have been presold for the Shrine version. For those who did not pre-order, fear not: Individiual PVC figures are also available (Kagamin and Tsukasa). Strangely enough, it is actually cheaper to buy the indiviual PVCs as opposed to the diorama, go figure (pun not intended).
Luckily, I managed to snag mine just in time, as well as Aoshima's Petra PVC, and Yuujin's Shugo Chara trading figure set...for good measure.
Figure industry giant, Kotobukiya, updated their WonFes '08 Summer Special page on what is now yesterday (7/23/2008) with new details and specs on their upcoming, event-only releases. Specifically their Nekomiya Nono (Yotsunoha), and Kawazoe Tamaki (Bamboo Blade). Specs such as retail price estimate, scale, and sculptor are all available at the provided links.
Also deserving of honorable mention are the Art of Shunya Yamashita Busts and Scale figures that will be present both at WonFes '08 and available as net-only releases from Kotobukiya's online shop. Not straying to far from Shunya fever, Kotobukiya will also being releasing the first volume of Hobino( a hobby publication devoted to manga, figures, and entertainment) completely gratis and with a Shunya-designed CoCoNa look-alike gracing its pilot volume.
The Main Branch of Gamers, the Broccoli-owned retail super store chain, had their grand opening on July 22nd, after a brief sneek-peek pre-opening on the 15th. According to AniBro, it was announced during October 2007 that a complete revamping of the Main Branch, located in the otaku-mecca of Akihabara, would take place. An additional building (Anime Branch Entrance) and basement were in the remodeling plans. And oh, the remodeling they did:
The layout of the Main Branch features reorganized floor plans, each devoted to one or two facets of the otaku lifestyle:
Floor 8: Event Space
Floor 7: Hobby (Plastic Models)/ Trading Card+Duel Space
Floor 6: Hobby (Figures)/Character Goods
Floor 5: (looks to be an autograph/event/distribution floor)
Floor 4: Manga
Floor 3: Video Games (Sony [PS3, PS2, PSP])/CD+DVD
Floor 2: Video Games (Nintendo, Xbox360)/CD+DVD
Floor 1: Video Games (?)/?
Basement 1: PC games, Specific Manga, etc.
(this is as far as my limited moonrunes skills go, feel free to fix errors)
In effort to acquaint myself further with the Kannagi series and in anticipation of the anime airing this October, I've begun reading the manga. Illustrated and authored by Eri Takenashi (a relative newcomer to the manga scene; Kannagi being her first foray into the territory), Kannagi was first serialized in Comic Rex, beginning it's run in the shonen publication on December 9th, 2005. There are currently 4 individual volumes of Kannagi released, the 5th volume scheduled for release next month. Kannagi's genres and themes include: drama, romantic comedy, harem, mahou shoujo, supernatural, and school life. Moe archetypes included: Osananjimi, Fushigi Shoujo, Senpai, Iincho, Meganekko, Miko, Mahou Shoujo, and possibly some tsundere. TEA's scanalations are up to Volume 2, chapter 10 and some extras. Volume 1 is available here from NyaaTorrents.
I've finished the first volume and have just started the second, chapter 7. As to the quality, in some regards it's possible to tell that this is the author's first shot at a manga. But in others, Eri Takenashi comes off as a mildly seasoned veteran of the art. The premise of the story is vaguely familiar to Oh My Goddess!, replacing a misdirected call to a pizza parlor with a sculpt of a goddess carved from an ancient holy tree, and you have the basic set-up. That's about where the similiarties end (Nagi != Belldandy). The overall story is wonderful though; the rich Japanese religion of Shintoism serves as a theme and background to some elements of the story (impurrities, okubo, etc.). The primary story follows Jin (the male lead) and Nagi (Goddess of the Land/pictured) as they seek out "impurrities", life forms that resulted from the relocation of the town's ancient guardian tree, and dispel them using quasi-mahou shoujo means (no transformation sequences here). Art and design is an A+ too. Takenashi tends to have a very "thin" style at times, there isn't much line, shadow, or heaviness to much of the art. The main aversion some people will face is the pacing. This manga moves quickly. It acts like a fast-paced gag manga mixed with the kind of drama that needs time to develop in reader's minds. But if you can read slowly, and take time to appreciate each frame and piece of dialouge, you'll come out with a more rewarding experience.
The September issue of Kodansha'sNakayoshi magazine is scheduled to reveal on August 2nd that a second season to the popular anime adaptation of Peach-Pit's mahou shoujo manga, Shugo Chara, has been green-lit for production. No further information exists at this time.
Shugo Chara has been airing since the Fall season of 2007. 41 episodes have aired thus far with a projected 51 episode run. Formula Subs, Shugo Chara's primary subber, released a statement that they currently have no plans on following the series past its first season, stating (among other things) that the probability of the series being licensed is a deterrent.
Anyone that watches Shugo Chara and has access to the internet has probably already heard this news. The Formula announcement just does more to propagate fansub drama. I enjoy the quality of Formula's releases and would like for them to keep up the good work (especially those 576p HQ releases) but really, if they truly do not want to continue subbing SC, then they should stop. The internet as a whole would be better off not having suffered through their angst. There is high-demand for SC subs, and another group will pick it up. [Cool and Spicy] as well as [chibi] have already proven that much. In the end, we need less drama, more subs. SC S2 should be celebrated, not used as an effigy.
My Nia Portraits Artbook and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Volume 1 Special Edition came today in some strange, double-dose act of GL parcel delivery.
The Nia Portraits book is from HLJ, though it seems to have fallen out of stock. Play-Asia still has inventory, albeit at almost twice HLJ's rate. The second volume of what can be called the Gurren Lagann "Portraits" series has Nia Teppelin as its focus. Where the Yoko's Portraits Artbook skimped on emotion to deliver service in some aspects, Nia's brought unlimited amounts of moe to the table (not to say Yoko doesn't have her own unique moe, just that Nia's, as exemplified in her Portrait Artbook, is of a more accessible variety). The artbook is divided into 10 chapters, or sections, each focused on communicating the many shades that make up Nia's colorful character in a different and unique way. The chapters are as follows:
Gallery (Original, Official, and Fan art)
Interview(Nia's personal interpretation of each piece of artwork)
Guest Comment (Members of the GL cast comment on Nia; from Simon to the Anti-Spiral
Nia Style Check (An in-depth look at Nia's design aspects)
Nia's Animal Cooking (Looks at [the lack of] Nia's cooking skills by showing 4 dishes she prepared)
Messenger Nia's [Unknown kanji] (Messenger Nia from the Spiral Nemesis judges whether characters of GL are fit for extermination)
Nia Interview 20Q&A (Similiar the "interview" chapter, except in a Q&A format)
Album of Memories (Chronicles Nia's role in GL from introduction to departure)
Nia [Unkown Kanji] (Text set up similiar to a traditional Japanese newspaper)
Goods Catalog (Showcases various Nia related merchandise, from figures to dakimakura)
GL vol 1. Special Edition is from cd Universe, where it too has fallen out of stock. Volume 1 contains episodes 1-9, subtitle only, 2.0 Stereo audio, textless openings and endings. The Special Edition comes with a limited release CD containing GL's first OP, Sorario Days, by Shoko Nakagawa, or Shokotan.
AmiAmi updated their catalog yesterday with a new release by Movic, a pre-painted PVC version of POLYGONIA's 1/5 scale Yoko formerly released at Wonder Festival 2007 Summer as a garage kit (made of poly-resin) and seen again in resin kit form at Wonder Festival 2008 Winter, both releases retailing for 13,650円. Movic's Yoko PVC is scheduled for a release this October at a retail price of 6,300円.
Posts
