Gunota Headlines
Thursday, August 31, 2006
September Bandai hobby merchandise
From Bandai's Hobby Site.
Sony Music Online Japan formally announces High And Mighty Color's new single "Enrai ~ Tooku Ni Aru Akari" ("Distant Thunder ~ Distant Light") as the ED theme for the 3rd SEED Destiny Special Edition. It comes out on October 25.
King Records now has a special site on the Mobile Suit Gundam songs,
On Dec 21, King Records will release Mobile Suit Gundam CD-BOX in limited quantities. Priced at 28231 yen, it will contain:
- Songs from 12 albums + 2 BGM CD Collection - "Mobile Suit Gundam Original Soundtrack", "Mobile Suit Gundam Senjou de", "Mobile Suit Gundam III Amuro-yo", "Symphony Gundam", "Mobile Suit Gundam I", "Mobile Suit Gundam II", "Mobile Suit Gundam III", "Soldiers of Sorrow", "Soldiers of Sorror - Drama Edition", "Mobile Suit Gundam III Encounters in Space", "Mobile Suit Gundam III Encounters in Space - Drama Edition", "Best of Gundam Theme Songs Collection", "BGM Collection Part 1", "BGM Collection Part 2"
- 12cm jacket featuring the same LP jacket
- Digital Remastered sounds
- LP size box with Yoshikazu Yasuhiko art
- Bonus feature 1 - "The History of Gundam Music" - 24 page booklet containing release dates of every album, interviews of original staff members and memos.
- Bonus feature 2 - "The Art of Gundam Album"- 36 page booklet containing all cover jackets of Gundam albums, posters.
- Bonus feature 3 - "Gundam Liner Note Archive" - Digital data of all album jackets, liner notes on a CD-ROM.
Before the release of the CD boxset, they will release the CD singles of both the TV and movie theme songs. The TV series will come out on Oct 25 and the movie series will come out on Nov 22. Each CD single is priced at 1000 yen.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
The weekly overall DVD rankings had Zeta III at #1, SEED Destiny Special Edition II at #4, and the final episode of MS IGLOO: Apocalypse 0079 at #9. The weekly anime DVD rankings were Zeta III at #1, SEED Destiny at #3, MS IGLOO at #4, the deluxe pack of the Keroro Gunsou movie at #10, and the standard edition of the Keroro Gunsou movie at #19.
Also available were the weekly singles rankings, with lisa's "tears" at #21 and Satori Negishi's "Stargazer ~Hoshi No Tobira~" at #23.
Edit: Oricon's sales numbers were 34,000 copies for Destiny SE II and 13,000 for Apocalypse 0079 3.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
The Bandai Channel's free promo video page has a preview of the final episode of Wings Of Rean, to be distributed on September 8th.
Additionally, to commemorate the release of the Real Robot Revolution SPT Layzner, they'll be showing the first three episodes of Ryousuke Takahashi's 1985 series free of charge through October 27.
Impress Watch has a report on G Festival, which took place this past Saturday. For the First Gundam event, Toru Furuya, Shuichi Ikeda, and Keiko Han appeared as guests for a talkshow. Besides the talkshow, the process of digitizing the original TV series was shown. For the SEED DESTINY and Stargazer event, Akira Ishida, Soichiro Hoshi, Kenichi Suzumura, Maaya Sakamoto, Fumiko Orikasa, Toshikhoko Seki, Daisuke Ono, Jun Fukuyama, and Lina Sato appeared as guests. The guests were divided up teams and had a quiz battle where the top team won the MSG TV Boxset. Footages of Gundam Evolve../Ω, and new footage for SEED DESTINY Special Editon 4 were shown. The festival ended with live performance by FictionJunction YUUKA.
UPDATED - According to those who attended the festival, the footage shown for the last Special Edition "Cost of Freedom" was an edited version of last part of Final Plus showing Kira in white ZAFT uniform, Athrun in White ORB uniform and Shinn in the red ZAFT uniform as Lacus enters the PLANT Council.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Pam's Homepage
The yet-to-be-seen Gundam Evolve 15 will be centered around First Gundam.
Oricon reports Zeta Gundam III: Love Is The Pulse Of The Stars ranked #1 in the overall weekly DVD sales rankings with 88,000 copies sold. Together with the respective performances of Heirs To The Stars and Lovers, that makes a three-peat for the Zeta movie trilogy's first week DVD sales.
Victor Entertainment Animation Network put up a page for "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED ~ SEED Destiny: The Bridge, Across The Songs From Gundam SEED & SEED Destiny". As the title implies, it's a collection of theme, insert, and character songs from the two shows. Price is 4,200 yen, release date is November 22.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
MSN-Mainichi Interactive
Robo Addict's Diary-like Thing
Nikkeibp.jp Digital Arena
A point brought up in the Digital Arena article is that this year, unlike with last year's SEED Destiny and the Zeta movies, there's a seeming relative lack of support for Gunpla from new productions. Bandai confirms that while they don't have a movie or new TV series this year, they can keep up Gunpla marketing momentum using tie-in's with things like Stargazer, MS IGLOO, & videogames and holding all sorts of events.
Also to be seen in the Digital Arena link is the Gunpla display with the J-League's Kawasaki Frontale football team colors. The entire team & staff choose their favorite Gunpla and they were painted and displayed at their home stadium. Bandai Hobby's Kawasaki Frontale Meets Gunpla site says that after their final home match on November 26th, each player will present their plamodel to a supporting fan in a planned ceremony.
For a while, we used to post fan rankings for male/female characters and MS listed in Gundam Ace. Starting with the October issue, they now carry rankings for songs. Figured it would be note-worthy listing what the Japanese fans think of various Gundam songs. For old time sakes, we'll mention the top 5 for characters and MS as well.
Top 30 OP Gundam Songs
1) Tobe! Gundam (MSG)
2) Mizu no Hoshi e Ai wo Komete (Zeta 2nd OP)
3) Arashi no Naka de Kagayaite (08th MS Team OP)
4) ignited (SEED DESTINY 1st OP)
5) Z Toki wo Koete (Zeta 1st OP)
6) Invoke (SEED 1st OP)
7) Wings of Words (SEED DESTINY 4th OP)
8) Anime Janai (ZZ 1st OP)
9) Bokutachi no Yukue (SEED DESTINY 3rd OP)
10) Silent Voice (ZZ 2nd OP)
11) Pride (SEED DESTINY 2nd OP)
12) Believe (SEED 3rd OP)
13) Stand Up to the Victory (V 1st OP)
14) DREAMS (Gundam X 1st OP)
15) Realize (SEED 4th OP)
16) Eternal Wind (F91)
17) Vestige (SEED DESTINY)
18) Rhythm Emotion (Wing 2nd OP)
19) Just Communication (Wing 1st OP)
20) Resolution (Gundam X 2nd OP)
21) Turn A Turn (Turn A Gundam 1st OP)
22) moment (SEED 2nd OP)
23) Men of Destiny (0083 2nd OP)
24) Flying in the Sky (G Gundam 1st OP)
25) Trust You Forever (G Gundam 2nd OP)
26) Metamorphoze (Zeta Gundam: Heirs to the Stars)
27) Itsuka Sora ni Todoite (0080)
28) Century Color (Turn A Gundam 2nd OP)
29) Beyond the Time (Char's Counterattack)
30) The Winner (0083 1st OP)
Male Characters
1) Kira Yamato
2) Char Aznable
3) Amuro Ray
4) Athrun Zala
5) Quattro Bageena
Female Characters
1) Lacus Clyne
2) Sayla Mass
3) Haman Karn
4) Cagalli Yula Atha
5) Lunamaria Hawke
MS
1) Strike Freedom Gundam
2) Zeta Gundam
3) Gundam
4) Akatsuki
5) Sazabi
Friday, August 25, 2006
Latest Gundam Ace issue mentions Gundam Evolve ../A DVD will come out on Jan 26, 2007 containing Evolve 11-15.
PS3 Gundam gets another name
IGN reports that the US title of the game will be Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire.
Sunrise put up a press release stating Mamoru Miyano will be the new voice of Shams Couza in episode 3 streaming and the DVD release. The original voice by Hiroshi Kamiya is currently hospitalized for injuries suffered in an automobile accident.
From Amiami:
MSiA Methuss & Mega Bazooka Launcher
MSiA Gaza C (standard version)
Game Watch has many screenshots: a partial listing of playable MS, which includes the Hajime Katoki-designed Zaku I Sniper, and a new Side 7 map used for the beginner's tutorial. The game will be out by the end of the year.
Bandai Visual's page for the DVD reveals that it will also come with the Astray Red Frame and Blue Frame SEED MSV anime shorts.
Bandai Visual now has a page up. DVD is coming out on Nov 24 and the 3rd special edition will cover up to Stellar's death.
People at Bandai and Sunrise went nuts and updated bunch of sites.
Official MSG DVD site - Gundam Head DVD info
U.C. Hardgraph site - frontpage, details of Zeon units, Chara Hobby 2006 report, Review of recon units
Delta Astray site - 3rd manga preview, Isaac custom Kerberos BuCUE Hound
Gundam Quiz DX site - PSP strategy section
Wings of Rean site - ep6 screenshots, Nanajin product info
Following are combined information gathered from Dengeki Hobby Magazine and Hobby Japan.
Mecha
"White Zeta" (Zeta Gundam 3A Type) - 3rd Zeta unit which was seen in the Prospellor Incident (Green Divers story). Part of it is modified and now known as 3A. While equipped with add-on boosters, it can be launched into space during wave-rider mode enabling attacks on enemy from Space. The pilot's codename is "White Unicorn".
"Grey Zeta" (Zeta Gundam 3B Type) - 3rd Zeta unit modified with additional firepower. It was originally going to be painted white requested by "Grey Wolf". However, the color was changed to yellow due to the anti-beam coating. "Grey Wolf" now calls it "Buster Gundam". Equipped with beam launchers, beam machine gun, and internal sub unit, the unit now specializes in assault combat.
"Red Zeta" (Zeta Gundam P2/3C Type) - 3rd Zeta unit specializing in high maneuver combat and modified as newtype-use unit. The cockpit system is totally different from other unit. Originally intended for a different pilot, but Red Snake now pilots due to various circumstances.
Mobile Armor - Unknown MA suddenly appears in satellite orbit. It houses 8 unmanned MS, known as "Hasta". With them the MA is capable of all-range attacks. The MA is also equipped with 64 beam cannons, 28 mega particle cannons, and hyper mega particle cannon. It can re-enter the Earth's atomsphere alone and can transform into a MS.
Character - All 3 are designed/redesigned by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
"White Unicorn" - Ace pilot that joined Karaba in North America. Rumored to be the strongest newtype and the legendary hero of the One Year War. (Amuro Ray)
"Grey Wolf" - From Side 3 and former ace pilot of Principality of Zeon. He is not a newtype but possess excellent piloting skills. He was called to the Chakra Research Center. He is not fond of the yellowish appearance of "Buster Gundam". (By the looks, he is Shin Matsunaga)
"Red Snake" - She replaced Johnny as the pilot of "Red Zeta". Possessing strong newtype skills, she can feel the enemy through Zeta's biosensor. (probably the main character of Evolve 9)
The overall DVD daily rankings for Aug 24 are up at Oricon with Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam III coming in at #1. Animation did well as they took the top 3 spot and 7 of the top 10 spots. Keroro the Movie came in at #11 overall. The Top 5 are:
1) Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam III
2) The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi (Limited Edition)
3) Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY Special Edition II
4) Underworld 2 Evolution Collector's Editon
5) Moblile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO Apocalypse 0079 3
Thursday, August 24, 2006
The official site re-presents the streaming commercials for Evolves 6, 7, 8, and 10 and updated the Evolve 9 page:
Red Zeta
"A remodelling of the 3rd Zeta Gundam unit type with changes to Newtype-use specifications and an added 'psyco neutralizer' to the original unit design."
TMF/A-802W2 Kerberos BuCUE Hound
"A 3-headed unit derived from ZAFT's four-legged model mobile suit, the TMF/A-802 BuCUE. Compared to the existing BuCUE, its been given enhanced offensive ability for close quarters mobile combat. The attachment bolted on to the back's turret system implements a shared armament with ZAFT's two-legged model Zaku series, conforming with the Wizard standard. Use of the Wizard system as well as existing backpack weapons is possible, considerably expanding the choice of practical firepower for the BuCUE series and largely mitigating the burden of logistics.
The head unit, converted from existing models, was developed at the same time to link with the Kerberos Wizard. What appears to be the jaw at first glance is a retractable guard that stores the main sensor. Together with the Wizard's two heads, these units have a beam fang system that shows its might in melee combat. One beam cannon each is stored in the retractable sections of the Wizard's head units."
According to Plamoya-san's Useless Diary Ex-S, with the exception of those designated as Ver. Ka, the design of future Master Grades will be primarily by Beecraft. It's uncertain how this might affect the HGUC line. The webmaster also writes that since he isn't sure of the particulars, the news isn't definite.
He also prophecizes the 2nd kit in the RRR series will be the L-Gaim Mk II and the 3rd will be another Layzner but isn't sure if it'll be the Mk II or the New Layzner.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
In commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Japan Media Arts Festival, a set of top 100 polls is being conducted over the web. The polls will cover the same four categories the Festival judges every year: art, entertainment, animation, and manga. Voters select 10 works in each category with voting ending on August 31. The results will be up on Japan Media Arts Plaza's website on or after mid-September. To date, 27,189 votes have already been submitted.
Director Yoshiyuki Tomino, the head judge in the Festival's animation division for the past 2 years, had his choices listed for the animation category. He explains his intent was to choose epoch-making productions and expresses his regret at not having room for "Hakujaden", Japan's first feature-length color cartoon film.
1) Tetsuwan Atom - Osamu Tezuka and others
2) Ashita No Joe - Osamu Dezaki
3) Heidi, A Girl Of The Alps - Isao Takahata
4) Mobile Suit Gundam - Yoshiyuki Tomino
5) Candy Candy - Tetsuo Imasawa
6) Manga Nippon Mukashi Banashi - Tsutomu Shibayama, Rin Taro, Gisaburo Sugii
7) Night On The Galactic Railroad - Gisaburo Sugii
8) My Neighbor Totoro - Hayao Miyazaki
9) Urusei Yatsura - Mamoru Oshii, Kazuo Yamazaki
10) Mt. Head - Koji Yamamura
A Bandai Visual press release promoting the 3rd film on DVD states, among other previously known accomplishments, that the first two Zeta films combined have sold more than 450,000 copies on DVD.
GA Graphic Novel has a report on Gunpla Expo opening.
Edit: Mycom Journal also covered the event. Bandai president Kazunori Ueno and the ever-present Toru Furuya attended the opening ceremony with Sotsu Agency president Akihiro Yuasa and Sunrise president Takayuki Yoshii joining in for the ribbon-cutting. Bandai's Katsumi Kawaguchi and actor Jin Katagiri were on hand for the plamo building corner. In addition to the historical exhibits and dioramas, Gunpla done by celebrities like Gackt, idol Kato Natsuki, and drummer Yoshitomo Akamatsu were also on display.
Early release of this week's Famitsu magazine reveals Banpresto will be releasing first ever Super Robot Wars series for Xbox platform. The game is scheduled to come out on Nov 30 priced at 7329 yen. The game is port over of Super Robot Wars GC for Nintendo Gamecube with additonal units/scenarios/events, improved graphics, and compatible with Xbox Live.
Participating series:
Mobile Suit Gundam
Mobile Suit Gundam The 08th MS Team
Mobile Suit Gundam 0080
Zeta Gundam
Gundam ZZ
Char's Counterattack
L-Gaim
Layzner
Dragonar
Dancougar
Braiger
Baxingar
Sasuraiger
Rajin-Oh
Trider G7
Daiohja
Daltanias
Mazinger OVA
Shin Getta Robo vs Neo Getta Robo
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
News from 2ch is that Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny: Alliance Vs. ZAFT II Plus is coming to the PS2 on December 7th. Features Plus Mode (the greatest missions from CE history), Challenge Mode, and Gallery Mode. Net play is not supported.
MG GAT-X105 Strike Gundam IWSP - w/ Grand Slam, October, 4,410 yen
HGUC Char's Gelgoog - October, 1,575 yen
HCM-Pro Nu Gundam - October, 2,940 yen
Destiny MSV
MBF-P01-Re2Gundam Astray Gold Frame Amatu Mina (Okitsunokagami equipment type) - Offense/defense beam shield equipment.
Ashika Blog
Livedoor Anime News
Kansaitei
e-flick.net
Minus 46°C
Also finally decent pics for the upcoming Gundam Mega Bloks from the Moe Yo! Akibajin blog:
RX-78
Char's Zaku II
White Base (exhibit only)
A short ad for the MS Gundam DVD Box set is now up at Digital Beat's promo movie corner.
Gamewatch has the latest report and images of couple boss units (3rd Pegasus class ship and Proto Gundam). The game includes 4 stage (Jaburo, Newyark, Solomon, A Baoas Qua) where players fight against Earth Federation Force az Zaku pilots. The 44th Amusement Show (held during Sept 14-16) will have a playable version. The arcade game will come out in December.
The Bandai Channel put up a notice saying that the 3rd episode of Stargazer will be delayed until September 29th.
Monday, August 21, 2006
CNN reports that Daisuke Enomoto failed a medical test and will not be able to fly to space on September 14. Enomoto, a noted Gundam fan, was to cosplay as Char Aznable and build Gunpla on board the international space station.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
GA Graphic
Romman-Room's R Diary 1
Romman-Room's R Diary 2
Yahoo! Japan Auctions: Gundam merchandise
Ichicat
Toycan 1
Toycan 2
Toycan 3
HK-DMZ PLUS.com
Anime News International
Pam's Homepage
Anime Focus' site regarding the US premiere of Zeta Gundam: A New Translation has scheduling and more event information:
- The screenings of the MS Gundam trilogy will take place on separate days, apart from the Zeta movie trilogy showing
- Yoshiyuki Tomino will participate in a panel discussion on anime's socio-economic impact alongside Gainax co-founder Hiroaki Inoue, associate professor of anthropology Laura Miller, and assistant professor of Japanese cinema Michael Raine on October 6th at 3 pm
- The Zeta movies will be shown back-to-back on October 7th with Tomino giving an introduction before each film and a Q&A session after each as well
Saturday, August 19, 2006
An official site was put up to announce the release of Armor Hunter Mellowlink on DVD. The box will feature art by character designer Moriyasu Taniguchi and the digipacks will include work by Takahiro Kimura. The DVD box will contain all 12 episodes, a limited edition Takara-Tomy Mellowlink Arity 10 cm Microman figure (included with the first run, 37 points of articulation, comes with anti-AT rifle), and a 48-page booklet. Release date is December 6th.
Additionally, Sunrise revamped VOTOMS.net.
Info from this year's show so far:
HGUC Zaku I Sniper Type (currently planned)
HGUC RGM-79FP GM Striker (currently planned)
In addition to these two, it seems that at least 3 other original MS will also be forthcoming.
1/100 Saviour Gundam - October
The November issue of Dengeki Hobby will come with new Hazel enhancement parts.
The Strike Noir is revealed as a hidden MS in Alliance Vs. ZAFT II.
Animate TV reports that at the VOTOMS talk show, the new VOTOMS series was formally announced for 2007. While details weren't mentioned, Ryousuke Takahashi was quoted as saying they were currently contacting prominent staff who worked on past productions.
Edit: GUNPLA-CUSTOM Ver.Blog
Sono Manma Plamo
Ichicat
Mimibukuro Diary
Ryutaro's Modeler Life
Bousou Suru Chiba No Saru
Pam's Homepage
Moe Yo! Akibajin Blog
GFF Maniax
Friday, August 18, 2006
Bandai Visual's Digital Beat section updated with a guide to Region 2 Gundam DVD's.
The official site has pics of Rean One Coin Grande Figures, more of Tomino's storyboards, and screenshots of episode 5.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Some more screenshots from Amazon Japan, Famitsu.com, and Rakuten's E-Net Japan site.
Game Watch has a gallery of promo pics for the PS3 game.
Friday, August 11, 2006
The main site mentions a DVD release is now official. It presumely will contain Evolve 11-15.
Bandai Visual's Digital Beat site has pics of a limited edition 1/12 RX-78 head DVD box case. The head portion is polystyrene while the pedestal portion is constructed from ABS. It emits 15 different kinds of sound FX (start-up, vulcans, etc.) and the main camera, camera eyes, and vulcans all light up. Each case is serial numbered and comes with a remote control. The set, which is comprised of the case, the 2 MSG TV series DVD boxes, and the 1/200 RX-78-2 figure, is a net mail-order exclusive that goes for 99,800 yen. Reservations take place from September 1st through the 11th and, in the event that demand exceeds the production numbers, orders will be selected via random drawing rather than on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Media Create has SD Gundam G Generation Portable as the #1 game for the week of July 31 through August 6th, selling 155,634 copies. According to DengekiOnline.com, even with their slightly lower estimate of 151,000 copies sold, it exceeds Monster Hunter Portable, which initially sold 129,000 copies, as the highest first week sales of any PSP title to date.
The official site for the upcoming PSP game is now available.
Screenshots for the XBox 360 game are up on the official site.
Moonphase reports a new Gundam series is under consideration for Oct 2007 directed by Seiji Mizushima, director of Full Metal Alchemist. If true, it will occupy the Saturday 6pm slot on TBS. Currently Blood+ occupies this slot with Aykashi Ayashi taking over this Fall. This info is based on leaked internal source so take it with grain of salt.
