Gunota Headlines
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
SD Gundam Force second ending theme
Sunrise officially announced the new opening and ending themes for SD Gundam Force. The opening, "Love & Peace" by little by little, was reported previously. The newly announced ending theme is "Kokoro Odoru" ("Dancing Heart") by the group nobodyknows+. These will appear starting with the broadcast of the 14th episode on April 7th. Given that SD Gundam Force is slated to be 52 episodes total, it'd seem that, like Gundam SEED, it'll also wind up with 4 opening themes in all.
At least 2 retail sites, AnimateWeb Mail Order and DVDeliver, list a DVD of "Battlefield Of Empty Space" coming out on August 27th.
Monday, March 29, 2004
Gundamofficial.com's Gundam SEED section online
Gundamofficial.com now has their Gundam SEED section up. Note the new official English spellings of the characters' names. Some spoilers for episodes 1 through 11 are present. More is promised once the show begins its broadcast on Cartoon Network.
Posted at Hobby 2chan's bbs, it is rumored that the August MG kit will be Freedom Gundam. However, it did mentioned this kit might be delayed until November depending on the situations.
Sunday, March 28, 2004
Starting in the July issue of Gundam Ace (coming out on May 26), a new manga series done by Akira Yasuda aka Akiman, the character designer of Turn A Gundam series and mecha designer of Overman King Gainer, will appear.
Forgot to include this in the Gundam Ace post.
May issue finally revealed ZAFT's 11th Gundam, Regenerate Gundam. We have scanned the pic and uploaded to an Image Board site. The mecha designer is BEECRAFT's Junichi Akutsu.
The pic can be found here courtesy of the Ranobe.com's uploader.
Please enjoy while it lasts.
Saturday, March 27, 2004
A post on Char Custom classic's Zeta compilation thread mentions, among other things, an ad in Newtype magazine from Bandai and Shochiku (the movie studio that releases all of the Gundam theatrical works). Supposedly, the ad shows the words "Z Gundam in 2004 10 13" along with a silhouette of the Zeta Gundam and Kamille Bidan.
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED won Tokyo International Anime Fair's "Best Animation of the Year" award.
Natsume Maya Goushin Ryu Dojo points out additional awards recipients:
Best TV anime: Astroboy, Gundam Seed, Hagane no Renkinjutsushi (Full Metal Alchemist)
Best movie anime: Tokyo Godfathers, Nasu - Andulusia no Natsu (Eggplant - Andulusian Summer)
Best OVA: Animatrix (special edition), Macross Zero
Best foreign movie anime: Lilo and Stitch
Best director: Satoshi Kon
Best script: Shou Aikawa
Best background art: Nobutaka Ike
Best character design: Hisashi Hirai
Best seiyuu: Romi Paku
Best music: Yoko Kanno
In the Feb 7th news, it was mentioned that ending of Ep50 will be slightly different for the "For Sale" only DVD 13. The following are the modified/added scenes posted originally at the Char Custom 2chan BBS:
1) Seeing Kikuchi's (the pilot seen with Athrun and Cagalli inside Genesis) custom M1 Astray escorting Cagalli.
2) Dearka and Yzak face each other inside the hangar bay briefly.
3) View of Andy as he sees Genesis blow up.
Friday, March 26, 2004
Oricon's daily integrated DVD sales chart shows Gundam SEED Vol. 13 as the #1 selling DVD in Japan for March 25th.
IGN has several reports on upcoming Gundam games for the American market, including confirmation on one previously rumored title:
Gundam Battle Assault 3 (PS2) (plus screenshots)
SD Gundam Force (PS2)
Gundam SEED: Battle Assault (GBA) (plus screenshots)
It should also be noted that in an article about the Gamecube Gundam, IGN states that Bandai has no current plans to bring the game to America.
A report on the Tokyo International Anime Fair 2004 at Softbank Games has, among other things, a pic of a Yumiko Shaku custom Zaku II MSiA from Bandai's booth. The figure will be a Bandai Museum limited edition item in late April.
Sunrise's official site is now running. The cast list for this show:
Keroro - Kumiko Watanabe (Katejina Loos from V Gundam, Fran Doll from Turn A)
Tamama - Etsuko Kozakura (Ryo-Ohki from Tenchi Muyo)
Giroro - George Nakata (Folken from Escaflowne, Arucard from Hellsing)
Fuyuki Hinata - Tomoko Kawakami (Utena from Revolutionary Girl Utena)
Natsumi Hinata - Chiwa Saitou (Anita from R.O.D. The TV)
Aki Hinata - Akiko Hiramatsu (Yukari Tanizaki from Azumanga Daioh)
Momoka Nishizawa - Haruna Ikezawa
Angol Moa - Mamiko Noto
Saburo (623) - Akira Ishida (Athrun Zala from Gundam SEED)
Pooru - Keiji Fujisawa
Over at Hanepen's Anime Diary, the first pics of the Astray Red Frame short film have turned up.
May Issue
Gundam Best 10 (2004 version)
1) RX-78-2 Gundam - 13,654 votes
2) MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam - 7567
3) RX-93 Nu Gundam - 7345
4) XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero - 7087
5) Freedom Gundam - 6765
6) V2 Gundam - 5367
7) Strike Gundam - 4908
8) Gundam Mk-II - 4856
9) Gundam Physalis - 2578
10) ZZ Gundam - 2347
The Origin - Jaburo Section 5 - White Base finally reaches EFF's Jaburo HQ. Gopp briefs Bright and Mirai while Amuro undergoes EFF Newtype Lab's grueling medical checks as a NT mormot. Char Aznable will return in the next issue.
X Astray - Tokita Koichi did 2 parts
1) Option Parts X4 - Short story of Canad Pulse's past on why he is on a mission to kill Kira Yamato.
2) Parts X16 - Dreadnaught vs Hyperion. Dreadnaught reveals its secret weapon called Dragoon System (similar to those wire-guided NT weapons or Incom in UC world).
Space, To the End of Flash - Continuation of the IF-Story mode. Set during Battle of A Baoa Qu, 16th Independent Corps begin their assault. Cameo appearance by Yu Kajima (in GM Command), Johnny Ridden (in HM Gelgoog), Anavel Gato (in Gelgoog), and Karius (in Rick Dom). Ends with G04 and G05 vs Bigro.
C.D.A. - Behind Colonel Enzo, Haman is official elected as Mineva's caretaker in a ceremony. Meanshile, Oksana Boginskaya tries anything to get close to Char. Cameo appearance by Mashymer (giving a rose to her). Kaizes Buyer's (appeared in CCA) name was mentioned. He is officially an elected official of Republic of Zeon while working behind the scenes as Principality of Zeon advocate.
SEED MSV Pilot
Edward Harrelson - Known as "Edward the Ripper". He pilots Sword Calamity and Raider.
Mikhail Coast - Known as the "Doctor" by his allies and enemies. 25years old and former doctor before the outbreak of the war. He pilots High Mobility GINN. Appeared in X Astray.
Jan Carry - Known as "Glittering Evil Star". 41 years old and engineer professor. At the start of war, he left PLANT and joined Earth Alliance. He pilots his custom Long Dagger. Appeared in Astray R.
Product News
Gundam Network Operation 2 - Coming this fall for PC Windows system.
Char Custom Portable DVD Player - Now available for 62790 yen
Gundam Fix Figuration 20 - RX-78-5/RX-78-6 priced at 4179 yen. Coming end of May.
MSiA FA-78-1 - Availabe in mid-April priced at 1500 yen.
This magazine has gone bi-monthly now.
Midnight re-run of Gundam SEED placed 8th place in the "Top 10 Late Night Program Average Ratings" for the month of Feb.
SD Gundam G Generation SEED came in 5th place for the "Top 10 Game Sales" for Feb.
SEED DVD 11 came in 2nd and SEED DVD 12 came in 5th for DVD Sales between Jan 19 and March 8). "Stitch the Movie" came in 1st. At the same time, total SEED DVD sales (Vol 1 through 12) have surpassed 1,200,000 mark.
Results of the Nikkei Characters! Char poll!
Your Favorite Character in Mobile Suit Gundam? (# of people)
1) Char Aznable - 1880
2) Ramba Ral - 988
3) Amuro Ray - 936
4) Sayla Mass - 844
5) Sleggar Lowe - 504
6) Bright Noah - 360
Favorite Series/Movie in which Char Appears?
1) Mobile Suit Gundam - 60.4%
2) Zeta Gundam - 23.3%
3) Char's Counterattack - 15.6%
4) Did Not Answer - 0.7%
Reason Why You Like Char? (# of people)
1) I like his lines - 1369
2) His ability as an ace pilot and strategist - 853
3) His seiyuu, Shuichi Ikeda - 594
4) Likable antagonist - 516
5) Nihilistic character yet pure - 448
6) His looks - 214
Nikkei Characters! did contain a Tomino interview in which Tomino condemned the current "Gundam-brand" marketing strategy especially about the Char Custom goods. He emphasized how they should focus on making a high quality product instead of making an average product with the word "Gundam" attached to it. His words were "If you're going to name it 'Char Custom', then it must be high quality."
Thursday, March 25, 2004
Since the next MG has been announced, Pam's Homepage put up the results of their "What would you like as the next MG?" poll. 6,434 votes were counted. The top five were...
1) Gundam Double X - 1,040
2) The O - 956
3) Freedom Gundam - 891
4) Turn A Gundam - 422
5) V2 Assault Buster Gundam - 277
The Rick Dias was 7th (217 votes).
IGN now has 6 videoclips of "Senshitachi No Kiseki" up.
As mentioned a short while back, in the Bandai booth at the Tokyo International Anime Fair 2004, Sunrise's site says they're showing a 5-minute "Gundam SEED MSV Astray" promo short film from March 25 - 28.
A post on 2ch reports the following as the voice cast of the Red Frame promo:
Lowe Guele - Masaya Onosaka (Vash The Stampede from Trigun)
Kisato Yamabuki - Masayo Kurata
Liam Garfield - Shou Hayami (Ginias Sahalin from 08th MS Team, Max Jenius from Macross)
Professor - Ai Orikasa (Fara Griffon from V Gundam, Quatre from Gundam Wing)
8 (Hachi) - Rikako Aikawa and others
In other happenings, the official Astray site updated, separating the various Astray spinoffs into their own sections and putting characters and mecha into more convenient faction groupings.
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Credit goes to "Chaos" on Gundam Watch's forums for pointing this out. It seems that Bandai is releasing a new fighting game simply called "Battle Assault 3" for the PS2 with a release date of September 7th. A simple web search shows that a game by that description is indeed listed by Electronics Boutique. While this title wasn't specifically mentioned on Bandai's list of 2004 releases from December, it's possible this might fall into the "Mobile Suit Gundam Seed (GBA, Other Unknown Consoles)" category.
As reported on Animeondvd.com, a press release the other day announced that the first 6 episodes of Ryosuke Takahashi's Armored Trooper VOTOMS are going to available via streaming video on the web for free on Sputnik7. They'll only be up for a limited time. Check the press release for details.
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Scans from the latest hobby magazines are up at Mokei.net:
MG Rick Dias, 2
Direct links don't work on Mokei@2ch BBS Gundam SEED Thread Support Page's imgboard but copy and paste the following URL's for pics.
HG Strike Rouge IWSP (note the name change, as listed in the specs box, to conform with the Rouge color scheme)
http://gun-seed.hp.infoseek.co.jp/cgi-bin/img-box/img20040323165610.jpg
1/100 Gundam Astray Red Frame (plus a not-so-good view of the 1/100 Providence Gundam in the corner)
http://gun-seed.hp.infoseek.co.jp/cgi-bin/img-box/img20040323165731.jpg
Cleaned-up lineart of the Hobby Japan SEED mecha design contest winner, the Lightning Strike
http://gun-seed.hp.infoseek.co.jp/cgi-bin/img-box/img20040323165654.jpg
The latest SEED MSV, the Verune 35A/MPFM Multi Purpose Flight Module.
http://gun-seed.hp.infoseek.co.jp/cgi-bin/img-box/img20040323165529.jpg
Posted in the Zeta Compilation thread at the Char Custom 2chan BBS, an essay written by Toshio Furukawa, VA of Kai Shiden in MSG and Zeta, mentioned he recently lent his voice as Kai for the upcoming Zeta compilation. The essay appeared in Shimotsuke Shinbun, a local newspaper in Tochigi Prefecture. Toshio Furukawa regularly writes essays for this newspaper.
He is the 3rd person to make an announcement about working on the Zeta compilation (Toru Furuya and Shigeaki Saegusa being the others) . Is this a sign that Sunrise is close to making an official announcement?
Monday, March 22, 2004
A new Mitsuo Fukuda interview was posted at SEED Club (requires an ID to view). He was interviewed by Megumi Toyoguchi, VA of Miriallia Haww of SEED.
Miri = Miriallia Haww aka Megumi Toyoguchi
Miri: The much-awaited SEED compilation is about to air. I've come here to chat as a representive for the anticipating SEED fans. Hello.
Fukuda: Yes, yes. Hello.
Miri: First off, please tell us how the compilation started?
Fukuda: I do have a memory of a conversation with a TV producer about wanting to watch a movie-sized compilation of all 50 episodes. I guess that would be the start.
Miri: Was there an offer from the TV network about doing a compilation?
Fukuda: From everywhere. Like the TV network or Sunrise... Because Gundam is a certain side "project".
Miri: When did the production start?
Fukuda: This 'format' was finalized shortly after the end of the series. Umm, later I turned in a proposal. I think I wrote it myself.
Miri: Around that period, were today's broadcast details finalized?
Fukuda: The big picture was. After talking with the staff, we narrowed down the details. The difficult part was which footage to use since the series had twice the footage.
Miri: Besides the normal TV footage, I heard there are new parts...?
Fukuda: There are. We have the equivalent of one episode's worth of new footage.
Miri: That many! Does this mean there are never before seen/heard scenes or lines?
Fukuda: Of course (laughs). If it didn't, what's the point of the new footage?
Miri: Right.
Fukuda: New parts like never before seen footage, re-editing a certain shot with new backgrounds and effects or tweaking the screen results. In other words, there are 2 types of new footage.
Miri: After you say that, I want to ask "Where is the new footage at?"
Fukuda: Hmm. Where do you see the first new scene, line, and what parts were edited?... For that you have to watch it.
Miri: Heh, had a feeling you would say that...
Fukuda: There are some subtle changes so I would like the viewers to carefully check. Hmm, to strongly suggest, characters that didn't appear in the series.
Miri: What?! Who is that?
Fukuda: Like a ZAFT soldier that was with Athrun... The rest is secret. (We at Gunota think Fukuda is talking about Rusty)
Miri: Yay. People that weren't seen are appearing as new characters. Who could that be...!?
Fukuda: As for the rest, please look forward to the music. Nishikawa's (aka TM Revolution) "Zips" will be in it.
Miri: Is it being used as the opening?
Fukuda: No, it's inserted into the compilation. I made this thinking in terms of a movie format so there's a high possibility of it being used during a battle scene. Well, that's all I can say. The footage itself isn't finished yet (laughs).
Miri: I see. Thank you for your time during your busy schedule.
Fukuda: I can answer the small details once the film is completed.
Oricon's daily ranking for March 17 shows T.M. Revolution's latest album, Seventh Heaven, coming in at #5 on the charts.
Nishiota News points out a short, streaming promo movie has been made available on DoCommerce's site for the "T.M. Revolution x Gundam SEED / Zips" DVD featuring animation of Miguel Aiman's custom GINN. Windows Media format.
Game Online has a list of the best selling games in Japan through Monday (3/22). In this ranking, the Gamecube's "Mobile Suit Gundam: Senshitachi No Kiseki" comes in at #7 with 50,898 copies sold. The top 10:
1) Shin Sangoku Musou 3 Empires (PS2) - 166,218
2) Armored Core Nexus (PS2) - 81,925
3) Prince Of Tennis 2004: Glorious Gold/Silver (GBA) - 62,762
4) Legend Of Zelda: The Four Swords (GC) - 55,170
5) Sakura Taisen Tale: Mysterious Paris (PS2) - 54.894
6) Monster Hunter (PS2) - 51,166
7) Mobile Suit Gundam: Senshitachi No Kiseki (GC) - 50,898
8) Popolocrois: Tsuki No Okite No Bouken (PS2) - 35,150
9) Pokemon: Fire Red/Leaf Green (GBA) - 34,025
10) Katamari Damashii (PS2) - 32,138
As mentioned by Natsume Maya Goushin Ryu Dojo, a new, 104-page Hiroyuki Kitazume artbook entitled Hiroyuki Kitazume Art Collection: Characters Of Gundam is due to be released on May 25th. Price is 2,800 yen.
Posted at Hobby 2chan bbs and mentioned on Char Blog, rumors about Limited Edition Ultimate Operation Hyaku Shiki appearing in December at theatres to celebrate the Zeta Compilation have surfaced. Only 2000 will be available.
On a semi-related note, Char Gelgoog Ultimate Operation will come out in mid-August available only at Bandai Museum.
Saturday, March 20, 2004
And for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, IGN has the opening video up in streaming Windows Media format.
Game Online once again has the first day sales figures of the latest Gundam game. On March 18th, "Senshitachi No Kiseki" sold 26,488 copies, making it the 5th highest selling game overall. While this is not anywhere near as much as other high profile Gundam titles sold in each of their first days of release, those other titles were on the PS2, which has a much larger user base.
For the English readers, Magic Box also has the the top 10 up.
Friday, March 19, 2004
Scans up at Mokei.net confirm the following for May:
MG Rick Dias (black) - 3,500 yen
HGUC GM Command - 800 yen
1/144 SEED HG Meteor - 8,000 yen
1/100 Providence Gundam - 2,500 yen
1/144 SEED HG Strike Gundam IWSP - 1,500 yen
(Prices clarified by G-Goods.net)
There's also pics of the HGUC Gelgoog J.
As mentioned by Anime Nation, on the website of the Middle Tennesse Anime Convention, it's shown that a 1/2 scale bust of the Gundam Deathscythe has been in construction for the past 14 months at a cost of about $1,000. The final results will be revealed at the convention, which is being held April 2-4.
Sunrise's SEED Club mentions that the role of Aisha in the Gundam SEED Special Edition will be passed from Vivian Hsu to Fumi Hirano, best known to anime fans as the voice of Lum from Urusei Yatsura.
Thursday, March 18, 2004
The Char Custom Blog has scans from Famitsu of the Gundam SEED GBA game, entitled "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Tomo To Kimi To Koko De" (the title means something like "Here With You And My Friends In The Battlefield" though it doesn't translate all that smoothly):
1 2 3
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Bandai's Tamashii Web has entries up in the MSiA index for the Aile Strike Gundam and the two Astrays due out in May.
Posted at various 2chan BBS in Japan, first details of Gundam SEED game for Game Boy Advance have appeared based on the early release of Weekly Famitsu magazine.
- May 13 release priced at 4800yen
- Adventure game where you play as Kira. You will able to see daily routine of Kira and his friends not seen in the anime.
- Freely move around in Archangel
- Possible "IF Scenaro" based on the path you take.
- 14 musical piece (bgm) from the series
- Action-packed MS animation
- Battle mode is unknown. Either SLG or Action.
- 90% complete
Bandai Japan's online shopping site, LaLabit Market, mentioned last minute changes for the upcoming Gundam Historica books. Volume 1 will cover episode 1 - 4 instead of the initial report of 1 - 5. Same with Volume 2 as well. It will cover episode 5-8 instead of the initial report of 6-10. Both volume are scheduled to come out on April 9th.
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Hadn't thought to search Houston newspaper sites for coverage of the Tomino lecture until today. And, sure enough, The University Of Houston's student newspaper, The Daily Cougar, had a small article covering the event up at the beginning of the month.
Posted at Char Custom 2chan BBS, Shigeaki Saegusa is currently working on a music for a Gundam movie. Shigeaki Saegusa talked about this when he appeared as guest in Tuesday's edition of a show called "Hanamaru Market", which airs Monday through Friday, 8:30am-10:30am on TBS. Shigeaki Saegusa in the past has worked on numerous Gundam soundtracks which include Char's Counterattack, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, and Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ.
Monday, March 15, 2004
Now that it's more or less served its purpose, a note on the front page of V Gundam Web states that the site will be shutting down on March 31st.
Pam's HP has nicely summarized Bandai's March Gunpla releases, which includes new and old kits.
March 10 - MG Kits: Zeta GUndam, Char Gelgoog, Gelgoog Cannon, GM, Black Trinary's Zaku I, Rick Dom, Full Armor Zeta, FAZZ, Gundam ver Ka
March 17 - HG SEED kits: Aile Strike, Duel Gundam, Aegis Gundam, Buster Gundam, Blitz Gundam, Freedom Gundam, Justice Gundam, Astray Red Frame, Astray Blue Frame
- 1/100 Freedom, Blitz Gundam
- 1/60 Strike Gundam
March 18 - HGUC Kits: Guncannon, Qubeley, Hyaku Shiki, Guntank, Gogg, Char Z'gok, GM, Gundam, MkII Titans, Char Zaku II, Super Gundam, Zaku II, Zeta Gundam, MP Guncannon
March 22 - MG Kits: Dom, Gundam ver 1.5, Kampher, Gouf Custom, GM Kai (both version), S Gundam, Aile Strike, Char Z'gok
March 23 - 1/144 Wing OVA series: Wing Gundam Zero Custom, Gundam Heavyarms Custom, Tallgeese III, Serpent Custom, Gundam Deathscythe H Custom, Gundam Sandrock Custom, Gundam Nataku
- 1/100 Wing OVA series: Gundam Nataku, Wing Gundam Zero Custom, Tallgeese III, Gundam Heavy Arms Custom, Gundam Deathscythe H Custom, Gundam Sandrock Custom, Serpent Custom
March 25 - PG RX-78-2 Gundam
Saturday, March 13, 2004
Recording Insustry Association of Japan's press release listed the winners of the 18th Annual Japan Gold Disc Awards. SEED COMPLETE BEST CD won the "Animation Album of the Year" category. Nami Tamaki also won the "New Artist of the Year" award as well.
Game Online reports that a Gundam SEED game for GBA platform will come out on May 21. No details of this game has been revealed at this moment.
I'll point out that way back in December, a Gundam SEED GBA game was listed as being one of Bandai's American releases so this news just backs that up.
HobbyShop Kasare's site lists the next MG as the Rick Dias. An image with an announcement to that effect popped up on an HK messageboard. Something that may or may not be significant is that while the image shows the red version, Hobbyshop Kasare's site lists the MG as the black one.
Friday, March 12, 2004
Thanks to Char Custom Portal for pointing this out. In his personal net radio show, Toru Furuya (voice of Amuro) has mentioned some info about the Zeta Gundam compilation. At the end of his show he said, "I'm sure most of you know because the rumor is spreading. About the compilation of 'Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam', I'm guessing it's going to premiere sometime early next year. I can't really say the exact details though."
Ryosuke Takahashi (director of Fang Of The Sun Dougram, Armored Trooper VOTOMS, Blue Comet SPT Layzner, Panzer World Galient, and Gasaraki) and Sunrise producer Eiji Sashida are coming to Atlanta, Georgia on March 15 to give a lecture. Details can be seen on a flyer at the site of the Consulate General of Japan in Atlanta.
Gundam & Sunrise Festival in Hong Kong
Sunrise's official site announces the Gundam & Sunrise Festival, to be held April 10-11 in Hong Kong. Making appearances will be Nami Tamaki, Infix ("Winners Forvever", V Gundam's first end theme), Yumi Kakazu (Gundam X's Sara Tyrell), and HK singer Andy Fong.
Thursday, March 11, 2004
The official Gundam SEED site updates with an MSV development genealogy chart for both the Alliance/Orb and ZAFT. A number of new mystery suits are pictured in silhouette, such as the Stealth DINN, the Buster Dagger, and an "East Asia" Gundam. It's mentioned in the news update that this MSV page will be updated with info like specs from now on.
NTT DoCoMo's "DoCommerce", an online payments service, is giving away 10,000 "T.M. Revolution x Gundam SEED / Zips" limited promo DVD's to subscribers until March 24th. Images from the DVD can be seen here.
