Gundam Evolve ../Ω first week sales
Oricon shows Gundam Evolve ../Ω ranking #3 on the overall weekly DVD chart and #2 on the weekly anime DVD chart.

 

Upcoming merchandise pics
Mostly single promo shots for the following from Amiami:
HG Stargazer
HGUC Zaku I Sniper
HCM-Pro Sazabi Special Painted
Gundam Collection Neo 5
MG GM Sniper
EX Model White Base
Keroro Gunsou Plamo Collection Giroro Robo
HGUC GM Striker

 

Bandai HCM-Pro questionnaire
Gundam Perfect Web has an HCM-Pro questionnaire up today. In addition to expected assortment of questions, they ask about things people want to see in the line, with answer choices including "separately sold stands", "fully-painted versions", "introduction of new materials such as metal parts, etc.", "1/100 or 1/144-sized merchandise", and "merchandise of characters other than Gundam". In a separate question expanding on that last choice, the selections listed are "Macross", "Evangelion", "VOTOMS", "L-Gaim", "Patlabor", "Dunbine", "Cyber Formula", and a write-in "other" category.

10 people who fill out the questionnaire get an HCM-Pro Special Painted Sazabi but don't expect to be among the winners unless you're living in Japan...

 

Bonds Of The Battlefield news
DengekiOnline.com put up images of 6 units in the game: the GM Light Armor, GM Command, Ground-Type Gundam (GM head), Gouf, Zaku Desert Type, and Z'Gok. Also shown is the RX-78-2, Char's Zaku II, and an overhead map of the New Yark level.

 

Upcoming MSiA, FIX
From Hobbynet:
MSiA Zudah (Unit No. 1, end of January, 1,575 yen)
MSiA TR-1 Hazel (end of February, 2,520 yen)
MSiA Akatsuki (w/ Oowashi unit, end of March, 1,680 yen)
GFF GP-03 (end of March, 7,140 yen)
Gundam Fix Metal Edition G-Armor Ver. Ka (end of February, 12,390 yen) - 1/100 scaled-up Fix with ABS & diecast

 

Crossbone Gundam: Seven Of Steel news
Kadokawa's site has the first collected volume of the latest Crossbone serial manga going on sale December 26.

 

Plamo Radiocon III: The Sorcerer
The Gundam Base.Side 1 - part 1
The Gundam Base.Side 1 - part 2
The Gundam Base.Side 1 - part 3

 

Gundam Evolve../Ω press release
A couple of sales details according to Bandai Visual's press release: the limited release Gundam Evolve +, available only at Lawson convenience stores in Japan in September of 2003, sold more than 60,000 copies. And, referring to it as a big hit, the Zeta Gundam: A New Translation trilogy has sold over 680,000 copies on DVD.

 

SEED/Destiny The Bridge details
Victor Entertainment put up pics of the first-run items that come with the double album: a box with Hisashi Hirai illustrations, 150-page hardcover booklet, and reproductions of the Suit CD jackets. Additionally, songs recorded for the first time on this release are FictionJunction Yuuka's "Akatsuki No Kuruma piano supplement version", See-Saw's "Anna Ni Issho Datta No Ni 2006", Shinn Asuka's "Primal Innocence ~Bridge Version", and the original sound effect track "Memory".

 

Mobile Suit Gundam UC
This month's Gundam Ace revealed the very brief info regarding Harutoshi Fukui's Gundam novel.

Title: Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn
Author: Harutoshi Fukui
Supervisor: Shinichiro Inoue
Mecha Designer: Hajime Katoki

The story takes place in the Universal Century timeline. The next issue will have details on the characters.

 

Stargazer DVD news
Few days ago, Sunrise mentioned additional new footage will be included in the Stargazer DVD version.

 

Plamo Radiocon Show: Dead Man's Chest UPDATED
GA Graphic
Jbook
Moe Yo! Akibajin
MS In Action!! Syndrome (gallery link on top page, the webmaster requests not to repost gallery images or to direct link)
Hobby.co.jp (Gundam stuff begins on Plamodel page 8)

 

Evolve 15 news
Bandai Visual's Evolve Alpha page reveals Gundam Evolve 15 will be a retelling of the story in Mobile Suit Gundam ep 39 ("Newtype Challia Bull") done with 3D CGI.

 

SD Gundam Scad Hammers pre-site open
For now, the official site only features an Okawara SD illustration.

 

Plamo Radiocon Show 2006 news UPDATED
From Run Chicken S and Hobby Shop Midori:
HGUC Gaplant TR-5 - 2,520 yen, December
R3 L-Gaim Mark-II
EX Model Hildolfr

HSM reports the MG Strike Freedom special option includes DRAGOON effect parts, gold-plated joint parts, and a custom stand.

Items on exhibit:
1/100 R3 Walker Gallier
HCM-Pro Gelgoog (Kuspen version from MS IGLOO)
HCM-Pro Hyaku-Shiki (coating version)
HCM-Pro Qubeley
HCM-Pro Jegan

Edit: Pam's Homepage has their gallery up.

Hobby Shop Midori put up a more formal gallery. Many pics lead to a mini-gallery with several more so be sure to click on each.

Tsukurikake Mokei Dojo joins the fray.

 

Bandai Hobby goes English
Bandai Hobby reveals its new English site.

 

British Museum features anime art
TV Asahi's ANN news features a video report (also linked to at Yahoo! Japan) about the newly reopened Japanese Galleries at London's British Museum. The news report shows artwork of Tetsuwan Atom and the Gundam Mk II on exhibit.

 

Alliance Vs. ZAFT II Plus cover
From Amazon Japan.

 

Upcoming merchandise pics
From The Gundam Base.Side 1
MG Strike Gundam IWSP
HG Saviour Gundam
HGUC Char's Gelgoog
HCM-Pro Nu Gundam
Keroro Gunsou Plamo Collection Kururu Robo
U.C. Hardgraph Principality Of Zeon Ramba Ral Autonomous Commando Unit Set

 

PS3 Target in Sight OST
Animate Online lists OST CD of the upcoming PS3 Gundam game. It will be released on Nov 22 priced at 3045 yen.

 

US Zeta trilogy premiere audio
Mike Dent from R5 Central dropped us a line to mention his latest podcast, a 2-parter featuring his Zeta Gundam: A New Translation premiere experiences. Tomino's introductions to the second and third movies can be heard in the first part and the Q&A with Tomino is in the second part, which starts at about 2:12 in and ends at the 25 minute mark.

 

Updated DESTINY section
It's not much, but few days ago folks at Gundam Official decided to update the DESTINY site. Thanks to Chris for the heads up.

 

Zeonography Kämpfer pics
From Amiami.

 

Battle Royale first week sales
According to Media Create, Gundam Battle Royale for the PSP sold 64,986 copies, making it #4 for the week.

 

Upcoming merchandise pics
From Gundam World Web:
MG Strike Gundam IWSP
HG Saviour Gundam

 

C.E. 73 Stargazer DVD cover
From Bandai Visual's site. In addition, Sunrise announced that the DVD will contain newly done ED video.

 

SD Gundam Skud Hammers
Wii game from Bandai gets an official name now. The game is released on Dec 2 priced at 5800 yen.

Edit: That name could as be interpreted as "SD Gundam Squad Hammers".

 

R & G Campaign
Bandai Namco unveils the R & G Campaign to promote the release of Ridge Racer 7 and Gundam: Target In Sight, both hitting the PS3 on November 11. With applications enclosed in each game, up to three "courses" can be chosen, between which a total of 1111 winners will be announced:

R Course - HT-SL800W wireless home theater system (10 winners), 1/43 Kamata RC410 special handmade minicar (111 winners)
G Course - Mobile Suit Gundam DVD Box with RX-78-2 head case (5 winners), HGUC GM Striker original color version (955 winners)
R & G Course - KDL-20S2000 digital HDTV (10 winners), MDR-DS6000 digital sound headphone system (20 winners)

 

3 years of Gunota
Yes, lo and behold, the first post on this blog was made three years ago. Once again, a thank you to the Gundam otaku from the four corners of the globe who have come here. Be you the frequent reader from North America, the lone hit we got from Myanmar, or that one guy from the US Department Of Defense who visited the site on April 7th of last year for some reason, all are very welcome. We hope to continue onward.

 

Destiny SE III DVD cover
From Bandai Visual's site.

 

US Zeta premiere report
Major thanks to Jason Reynolds of the Gundam Mailing List for making this available to the blog. Unmarked spoilers for Zeta & Turn A are included:

The EVENT

I ran into Tomino on the way into the auditorium and bowed to him. He was taller then I expected. Very cool guy.

There were 5 Cosplayers there. Kamille Bidan, Schwarz Bruder, 2 girls wearing identical costumes I couldn't identify, and a female Zeon officer.

Going in I wasn't sure if the movies would be in Raw Japanese, Dubbed, or Subbed. Luckily they were subbed.

Tomino gave introductions to each of the movies through a translator. His introduction to the first movie focused a lot on the technical problems with making the movie due to the graininess, and the aspect ration, of the old footage. When Tomino introduced the second movie he said that he felt the narrative flow of the first movie was too complex and hard to follow so he made a point of simplifying the storylines for the following movies. He talked about how the second film in a trilogy is always a little slower because it is setting up stuff for the following movie. For a second I thought he was channeling George Lucas. He said the second film was his favorite. I don't remember what he said before the third film.

The one thing that drove EVERYONE crazy was that the people running the event decided to turn the house lights up during the credits, bring Tomino on the stage, and then stop the movie during the credits. We got them to restart the movie but they didn't turn off the house lights and they had spotlights on Tomino so we DID NOT see the Hyakushiki. It might have been there but we couldn't tell. They definitely negated Double Zeta with how they handled Axis, and they might've eliminated Char's Counterattack because he might have actually died this time out. It really ticked off everyone in the audience. Someone asked Tomino what was up with the Hyakushiki during the Q & A but all he would say is he would leave it up to the viewer's interpretation.

Q & A Session

I am trying to type all of these by memory so please forgive me if I forgot a question or misrepresent one. During the Q & A the following questions were brought up:


QUESTION: Would the events of Double Zeta still happen now that they redid the ending of Zeta?

TOMINO: At first he appeared to indicate that it wasn't going to happen by his reaction which I could only describe as disgust. He then said that he didn't plan to do it because he wanted to go do something more challenging. (Career challenges were a big theme with him in the Q & A.)


My questions: Who did we have to bribe to get Turn A Gundam released in America? Were Queen Dianna and Loran Cehack a romantically married couple, or platonic, at the end of Turn A Gundam?

TOMINO: I am not in the business so talk to Bandai/Sunrise about Turn A Gundam. As far as Loran and Dianna the nice thing is that I don't have to be in control of every character's destiny. I can leave it up to the viewers to decide for themselves.


QUESTION: Did Char survive the end of Zeta?

TOMINO: I just answered that (in reference to the viewer has to decide for themselves)


QUESTION: Are you considering redoing Char's Counterattack?

TOMINO: I am not in the business so that is all up to Sunrise.


QUESTION: Do you retain creative control or does Sunrise control the movies.

TOMINO: I do control every frame of the movie and I edit it myself.


QUESTION: How do I get a job at Sunrise:

TOMINO: You need to be in the right place at the right time.


QUESTION: How do you feel about the AU series such as Wing, Seed, etc.

TOMINO: I don't know. I never watched them.


QUESTION: How was it integrating the new animation with the old animation for the Zeta trilogy?

TOMINO: It was an exciting challenge. We had to work on cleaning up the old animation and modifying it to flow with the new animation. This is the first time that something has been done like this in an animated work. In a conventional film you can't bring back the actors 20 years later and have them fit in with their old footage. With animation you are able to bring back the voice actors luckily.


QUESTION: Why didn't you reanimate the whole thing?

TOMINO: We didn't have the budget to be able to redo all the animation. I also felt that there was a certain emotional quality to the original footage that should still be there. ( I am not 100% of this last part so I am paraphrasing from memory)


QUESTION: How do you feel about the American audience's reaction to the Gundam series? (I think in reference to how it has started to deteriorate)

TOMINO: I haven't really been aware of their reaction.


QUESTION: What do you want us to take away from the viewing of this trilogy?

TOMINO: The strength and depth of the human spirit.


QUESTION: What made you decide to change the story so much for this New Translation of Zeta Gundam?

TOMINO: When I created the story 20 years ago I was trying to make a dark story. 20 years later I think it is better to put a happier ending to the story. I also was excited by the challenge of integrating the new footage with the old footage to make something new.


QUESTION: Did you have any particular scenes that you had to cut out of Zeta for the trilogy that you really missed:

TOMINO: I don't have the time to go into it in detail because it could go on all night. I don't have any off the top of my head.


QUESTION: Was it hard to come back to the old characters after such a long time and get back into their world/headspace?

TOMINO: That would take too long to explain.


After the Q & A Tomino was presented with a lifetime career achievement award. He was very grateful to be able to share the movie with us and be in Chicago. He was grateful to the American fans as they were what enabled him to receive the award. They then brought down 4 of the Cosplayers (The Zeon officer didn't come down) to take pictures with Tomino. In conclusion he was a very nice guy. Very funny. It was a treat to see him and these movies! I would definitely recommend getting them if they are released in America. I know I will.

 

Stargazer site update
The official site added info to its GSX-401FW Stargazer profile:
"The back-equipped Voiture Lumiere is an interplanetary thruster and a revolutionary propulsion system the Stargazer, developed with the intent of forging through vast solar system regions, is equipped with to make voyages into interplanetary space unaided. Named after 'radiant bearer' in French (note: the exact English wording of this is very debateable), from the ring-shaped structure, which freely transforms by means of a variable arm mechanism, the system generates thrust with high amounts of g's for long periods of time, accompanied by a vivid luminescent phenomenon."

 

Alliance Vs. ZAFT II Plus' P.L.U.S. mode
Famitsu.com put up a page with details about the game's P.L.U.S. mode: Playing as Shinn, you cooperate with and face off against various characters. In addition to following the anime's storyline, there are game original missions. When choosing characters, the indicator on the upper part of the screen shows missions related to that character. If you decide on a mission, you also choose a character & unit to fly together with. At first, only Lunamaria is selectable as a partner but clearing her mission unlocks Rey and completing more missions makes more characters available and meeting mission parameters unlocks further mobile suits.

 

MSG DVD Box 2 extras
Bandai Visual's info for the 2nd MS Gundam TV series DVD Box now lists a 60-page handbook (featuring conversations with the cast and interviews with Yoshiyuki Tomino & Yoshikazu Yasuhiko) and a 30-page complete document book (digest version) as additional items that come with the set.

 

Zeonic pants
On sale in December: two varieties of MS series jeans. While both the nonwashed (15,750 yen) & washed (26,250 yen) versions feature Zeon insignia buttons, a Zaku patch, and a monoeye design on the back, the latter also comes with "Sieg Zeon!" print and have been damage-treated with real laser beams.

 

Tomino Birthday Special
Celebrating Tomino's birthday on Nov 5, all 6 episodes of Wings of Rean will be available for free at Bandai Channel.

 

Gundam Evolve../Ω promo
Digital Beat's TV commercial & promo vid page has a 15-second cm featuring footage entirely from Gundam Evolve 9.

 

Upcoming merchandise pics UPDATED
From Hobby Shop Midori, including the MG Strike Freedom, MG GM Sniper, MG F91 Harrison custom, and HGUC GM Striker.

BB Senshi Strike Noir - November, 630 yen
HCM-Pro Jet Stream Attack set - December, 7,140 yen. Dom-use accessories: "heat saber & effects", giant bazooka, giant bazooka firing effects, atmospheric effects stand (also useable for "jump version"), Ortega-custom hammer hands, battle damage parts. Gundam-use accessories: damaged shield, image display stand (simple version), Dom shoulder parts for stepping on.

HCM-Pro Special Attack Campaign. By sending in two application tickets from the HCM-Pro Nu Gundam and other figures, people can choose one of three special items: 1,000 people will get a Gundam x Char's Zaku extra paint set, another 1,000 will an Axis stand + beam saber effect parts for the Nu Gundam and Sazabi, and 5,000 people will get an RGZ dummy balloon. Winners are chosen at random.

Stargazer Series Application Campaign. 2,000 people sending in 2 application marks from Stargazer merchandise instruction manuals will get some kind of limited edition kit.

Specially-designed packages of One Year War-related HGUC kits will come with with one of 8 special items.

 

MG Strike Freedom UPDATED
MG Strike Freedom is set to come out in December. It will be priced at 4800 yen.

Bandai will be releasing 2 version for the first batch. The Special Option Ver. will contain an original booklet, special option, and the MG kit. It will be priced at 7000 yen.

 

Gundam Magazine returns
Bon Bon Island put up info about the October 5th relaunch of Gundam Magazine. Manga to be included are Yuuichi Hasegawa's "MSV Senki: Johnny Ridden", Naoto Tsushima's "Amuro's 10th Duel", Hitoshi Matsumoto's "Explode! Gundamman", Shinji Nishikawa's "Below Space", and Mizuho Takayama's "Mobile Suit Gundam Alive: Episode 0". Also featured will be "Respect Gundam", a "super original Gundam world" from Tamakoshi Hiroyuki, Kenki Fujioka, Tooru Fujisawa, Hiro Mashima, and Minoru Sugiyama.

Commemorating the occasion, one person will win a 1/12 Hyper Hybrid Model RX-78 Gundam. Also presented for a limited time is a Hiro Mashima Knight Gundam wallpaper (available until the 13th).

Originally launched in the early 90's, Gundam Magazine was a manga anthology featuring real and SD stories that lasted a total of six issues. Kodansha is reissuing them in a Complete Box set along with Comic Bon Bon's 1983-1984 "Gundam MSV Ace Pilot Biographies". The price is 8,400 yen with the Box coming out on December 15 and the reservation cutoff deadline a month earlier.

 

Meer for Alliance Vs. ZAFT II
Gpara.com and Game Watch report on the appearance of the Zaku Warrior Live Concert version as a playable unit in the arcade Alliance Vs. ZAFT II starting today. The MS appeared as an enemy unit last month but is now enabled for players, complete with Meer Campbell in the role of operator.