New plamo news

Amazon Japan reports the following:
HG Enact Mass-Production Type - August, 1,050 yen
Real SD Gundam Exia - August, 630 yen

This kit was already made once but for whatever reason (re-release? re-color? new version?), it's also listed for August 2008:
HGUC Rick Dom II - August, 1,575 yen

 

Gundam Battle Universe official site grand opening

The official site opens with more in their Game section and the addition of sections for MS Listings and Movies.

 

Tamashii Web launches English site

The English version of Bandai's high-target toylines website, Tamashii Web, is now up.

 

Bandai June hobby merchandise

From the Bandai Hobby Site and their English Site.

The pull-down menu on the merchandise listings for the month after shows the next HCM-Pro SP will be the RX-78-2.

Edit: The HCM-Pro SP RX-78-2 was removed from the merchandise listing, probably indicating it'll come out some time after July.

 

Gamespot Japan Operation Troy pics

Gamespot Japan has another article up featuring the three recently showcased MS from the Famitsu.com article plus some pics of the first stage of the Feddie and Zeek single player missions.

 

Gundam 00 Another Story Mission-2306 track list

From dot anime:
1) Mission-2306 Briefing Room
2) Setsuna Enters
3) How Do You Do, Tieria?
4) Leader Of The Delinquents
5) Beginning Intervention
6) The Exposed Truth
7) Goodbye, Ham-Sensei
8) Ending Roll ~ Seiyuu Comments
9) CD Drama Extra: "Hallelujah's Day"

 

12th Prize Fair

Banpresto prize items for October through December shown off at the 12th Prize Fair as covered by GA Graphic:
Special Creative Model: G3 & GM - End of November
Special Creative Model GMs
Kibamushaden Real Type Figures Extra Edition: Shingen Gundam & Kenshin Gundam - End of December
Kenshin Gundam
Gundam Seed series Deformania Collection Vol. 1 Lacus Clyne - Middle of October
Gundam Seed series Deformania Collection Vol. 1 Lunamaria Hawke
Gundam Seed series Deformania Collection Vol. 1 Stella Loussier
Gundam 00 DX Heroine Figures 5: Nena Trinity - Middle of November
Gundam 00 DX Heroine Figures 5: Feldt Grace
Gundam Vs. Gundam MS Head Display Collection 1 - Middle of October
Gundam Vs. Gundam MS Head Display Collection 2 - Middle of November
Big Size Sofubi Figure Z'Gok - End of October
Gundam Vs. Gundam MS Head Display Collection 3 - Middle of December
Gundam Vs. Gundam MS Head Display Collection 4 - January
Real Figure Keyholders w/ Coat Of Arms - Middle of November
Impressive Scene Keyholders - Middle of December

Mainichi and DengekiOnline.com also have collections of photos from the show.

 

Gundam 00 Vol. 7 special details

Bandai Visual's site says the final volume of the first season of Gundam 00 (out July 25) will, in addition to episodes 23-25, contain 15-minutes of special video consisting of the following:

- A new SD anime short
- A special second season promo video (Seiji Mizushima interview + a second season newsflash)
- Footage from the first episode preview screenings from September of last year

Also included will be a digital gallery and audio commentary on episode #25 from Mamoru Miyano, Shinichiro Miki, Hiroyuki Yoshino, Hiroshi Kamiya, and Seiji Mizushima.

Though the audio commentary for selected episodes is a regular feature for the Blu-ray edition, it only began being included on the DVD release as well starting with Vol. 5:

Vol. 5, episode 17 - Katsuyuki Konishi, Daisuke Namikawa, Rie Kugimiya, and Seiji Mizushima
Vol. 6, episode 21 - Youko Honna, Ayahi Takagaki, Arise Satou, and Seiji Mizushima

 

Gundam 00 Vol. 5 first week sales

Oricon has the fifth volume of Gundam 00 ranking #7 on the overall DVD charts and #3 on the anime DVD charts. Info from 2ch says it sold 19,863 copies.

 

Upcoming merchandise pics

From Hobbynet:
EMSiA Gelgoog Mass Production Type
MSiA Zudah Unit 2
MSiA Zudah Backup Unit

 

Gundam 00 Voice Actor Single series

Sunrise makes another Gundam 00-related CD announcement: a series of character CDs based around the concept of being a message to the character from the cast member who plays them. The first of these, "Mamoru Miyano come across Setsuna F. Seiei" featuring a song written by the band Skoop On Somebody, comes out August 13 and comes with a "character & cast collaborate card".

 

New figure news

Aoi Model Shop lists the following previously unannounced Gundam merchandise coming in September:
Kahen Senshi Zeta Gundam 2008 Edition - 6,825 yen
MSiA Zudah - unit 2, 1,680 yen
MSiA Zudah - backup unit, 1,680 yen
EMSiA Gelgoog - mass production type, 2,100 yen

Edit: Bigbe elaborates that the new Kahen Senshi Z Gundam features new coloring and transforms without parts swapping. In addition to the Chobham armor and frame system, the GFF Alex is a new mold with new armaments. The MSiA Nadleeh comes with GN beam rifle, GN beam saber, GN shield, and GN cannons.

 

Gundam painting sells for $600,000

As pointed out by Sankaku Complex, Bloomberg reports Hisashi Tenmyouya's "RX-78-2 Kabuki-mono 2005 Version" sold for approximately $600,000 in a Christie's Hong Kong auction of contemporary Asian art held on Saturday. The painting was one of the works on display during the Gundam: Generating Futures art exhibition.

 

Gundam Vs. Gundam MS Head Display Collection

Yahoo's Toy Shop Akism site has pics of a series of Banpresto merchandise coming out beginning in October: the Gundam Vs. Gundam MS Head Display Collection, a set of 4 heads representing Gundams from the game with adjustable height display pedestals. The first set has the RX-78-2, Wing Gundam Zero, Impulse Gundam, and Gundam X. Each month thereafter, another set of 4 heads will be released for a total of 16. The second features the Z Gundam, God Gundam, Alex, and V Gundam while the third comes with the Nu Gundam, Gundam Unit 3, ZZ Gundam, and Turn A Gundam.

 

Gundam Operation Troy pics

Famitsu.com posted pics of the game featuring three MS: GM Sniper Custom, Zaku II Kai, and Zock.

 

Upcoming merchandise pics

The Gundam Base updated with pics of:
BB Senshi Sangokuden Kanpei Gundam
MG Shin Musha Gundam
HGUC Sazabi
HG al-Saachez's AEU Enact Custom Agrissa Type

 

MS IGLOO 2 promo video

The first MS IGLOO 2 promo video is up at the Japanese dot-anime site in two versions: regular and U.C. Hard Graph (the difference is pretty much limited to the overlaying text). The official MS IGLOO 2 site also has a downloadable 2-sided flyer.

 

Gundam supports Olympic marathoner

Mainichi's English site has a write-up about a 4-meter tall Gundam statue being used to display a good luck message to Olympic gold medalist Mizuki Noguchi.

 

Bandai Visual USA to be asorbed into Bandai Ent.

As reported by ANN and Anime On DVD, it was announced today that Bandai Visual USA is to be liquidated and its assets transferred to Bandai Entertainment. More details at the two links above.

 

Upcoming merchandise pics

From GA Graphic:
HCM-Pro Tallgeese

From Hobbyist Inc.:
1/100 Tieren Ground Type
BB Senshi Sangokuden Kanpei Gundam
HG al-Saachez's AEU Enact Custom Agrissa Type

From Digitamin:
1/100 Gundam Astraea Type F
1/100 Tieren Ground Type
BB Senshi Sangokuden Kanpei Gundam

 

Gundam 00 prequel drama CD announced

Sunrise gives news of a Gundam 00 drama CD called "Mission-2306 -Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Another Story-" to be released on July 23. Scripted by Yousuke Kuroda and supervised by Seiji Mizushima, the story as given on the site:

"Celestial Being...a private armed organization that conducts military operations without regard to race, country, or religion to rid the world of strife. A new mission is given to a Gundam Meister from Celestial Being, Setsuna F. Seiei: to prevent the assassination of Barry Halevy, the leader of a fossil fuel export regulation watchdog group. As part of the mission, he's responsible for guard & surveillance to ensure no harm comes to Halevy's beloved daughter, Louise, from terrorist organizations. But there are people in high school with one or two peculiarities beyond Setsuna's imagining. A love triangle?! And a perverted teacher?! Can Setsuna safely guard this important individual while dealing with these...??"

Cast: Setsuna F. Seiei, Lockon Stratos, Allelujah/Hallelujah Haptism, Tieria Erde, Sumeragi Lee Noriega, Graham Aker, Billy Katagiri, Saji Crossroad, Louise Halevy, and narrator (Toru Furuya).

Edit: Yes, it's possible the story is more of a parody than a straight prequel. Commentary from posters on 2ch reveals Japanese fans aren't all that sure either...

 

New SEED MG for Fall

An announcement at the end of the Phase-Impulse MG Edition video says a new Gundam SEED MG kit will be coming in the Fall. Though the actual MS name isn't given, the background color scheme of the announcement strongly suggests one of Athrun's MS, with the frontrunner on Japanese boards being the Infinite Justice Gundam.

 

Technodream

The University Of Tokyo will be holding Technodream, a series of events bringing together department faculty and SF creators to discuss the future of engineering. The guest invited for the first such gathering on June 14 will be Yoshiyuki Tomino. The primary catalyst for Technodream is the modern trend of Japanese students shying away from engineering & technology-related fields.

 

Gundam Battle Universe site update

The official site posted a Game page with some screenshots.

 

This month's hobby mag news

HGUC Kämpfer - August
HCM-Pro Gundam Sandrock - July, 2,940 yen
HCM-Pro Tallgeese - price & date not set (another source says August for 2,940 yen)
GFF Gundam Alex - w/ Chobham armor and frame system, September, 4,725 yen

 

Toshihiko Seki for AX 2008

Anime Expo announced as a guest of honor Toshihiko Seki, who played Duo Maxwell in Gundam Wing, Rau Le Creuset in Gundam SEED, and Rey Za Burrel in Gundam SEED Destiny.

 

You Only Shizuoka Twice

Extensive picage of the always creative custom models from the Modeller's Club at the Shizuoka Hobby Show finally turned up:
Japan K.K.S. Association
Yoshimu's Blog 1
Yoshimu's Blog 2
Yoshimu's Blog 3

 

Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Shizuoka Hobby Show

Aoi Model Shop
Hobby Shop Pit-In
Diary Of A Gunota
Gunota Junior High School Student's Useless Diary

The last link has a description of the MS IGLOO 2 promo video, taking pictures or videos of which was strictly prohibited: After the title logo, sounds of gunfire can be heard. One after the other, Zeon forces descend to the Earth. Wappas and Zakus emerge from the HLVs. Kycilia Zabi gives a speech. Earth Federation foot soldiers fire handguns & rifles. An Earth Fed battalion clashes with the Zeon.

Commentary by the writer of the report says they got goosebumps watching it. The scale was different from the first IGLOO, with a considerably large battlefield in a vast plain area. You could get a sense of the hugeness of the Zakus as they were depicted being looked up at from below. Though they didn't stand out, Type 61 tanks could be seen.

 

Anime Central Bandai Entertainment panel report

Some Gundam-related tidbits to be found at a geek by any other name.

 

The Mummy: Tomb Of The Shizuoka Hobby Show

Pam's Homepage (full gallery)
Yoshimu's Blog
Ura Suruga Denryoku/Imouto No Sukumizu.jp (Bandai Hobby Center Public Viewing)
Mainichi.jp (Bandai Hobby Center Public Viewing)

 

Shizuoka II: The Golden Army

Gundam Collection Shop
Hobby Stock
Happinet Online
Ascii.jp
Mycom Journal

Hobby Shop Midori updated its gallery with pics of Sangokuden merchandise for Asia, including effects parts, potato chips for Singapore, and orange juice for Hong Kong and Korea. Summer will also see another Japanese Sangokuden promo campaign which will involve a rare item given out via random drawing.

 

Gundam 00 Blu-rays get audio commentary

The official site's Blu-ray page under its Products section was updated to reveal they will come with cast and staff audio commentaries. Episode 1 on Volume 1 will have cast commentary by Mamoru Miyano, Shinichiro Miki, and Seiji Mizushima and staff commentary by Seiji Mizushima, Yousuke Kuroda, Shin Sasaki, and Hiroomi Iketani. Episode 5 on Volume 2 will have cast commentary by Miyu Irino, Chiwa Saito, and Seiji Mizushima and yet-to-be-announced staff commentary.

Though rare for Gundam releases, audio commentaries have been included for the first & final episodes on the Gundam X DVD Memorial Box, one episode of the 08th MS Team 5.1 ch DVD Box, two episodes of the Gundam 0083 5.1 ch DVD Box, and the Region 1 Gundam F91 Special Edition DVD.

 

Gundam 00 Vol. 6 DVD cover

From Amazon Japan.

 

47th Shizuoka Hobby Show

The show doesn't officially start for another 15 minutes but, as in the past couple of years, Run Chicken S is already posting the news first:
MG RX-78-2 Ver. 2.0, 2 - July, 4,410 yen
MG G Armor
MG Guntank, 2 - with moving power gimmick and bombardment recoil
HGUC Kämpfer - Summer
MG Zaku Cannon - August
MG Zaku Tank (exhibit only)
1/100 Gundam Nadleeh (exhibit only)
HG GN Arms Type-D (exhibit only)
HG Gundam Kyrios Missle Container Specs. (exhibit only)
BB Senshi Sangokuden Chouun Gundam + Hieisen - Gundam + horse, July, 1,050 yen
BB Senshi Sangokuden Ryomou Dijeh - August, 1,500 yen
BB Senshi Sangokuden Ryomou Dijeh / Kannei Kämpfer Gou Assault Marines - ship that transforms into 6 combat forms + two commanders set, August, 1,860 yen
BB Senshi Sangokuden Shuusou Doven Wolf - Fall, 630 yen
BB Senshi Sangokuden Shuuyu Hyaku Shiki - Fall, 630 yen
BB Senshi Sangokuden Chouryou Gelgoog - Fall, 630 yen
MSiA Gundam Nadleeh - September, 2,625 yen
HCM-Pro Shenlong Gundam - Later this year, 2,940 yen
HCM-Pro Gundam Sandrock - Summer, 2,940 yen
HCM-Pro Gundam Ground Type (exhibit only) - GM colors
HCM-Pro SP Gundam Ez8 (exhibit only)
SHCM-Pro Zaku II - mass-production type, July, 8,190 yen
SHCM-Pro Gundam Alex (exhibit only)
SHCM-Pro Zaku II Kai (exhibit only)
U.C. Hard Graph Earth Federation Forces Semovente Corps Set (exhibit only)

Shots of previously announced 00 kits:
1/100 Tieren Ground Type
1/100 Avalanche Exia
HG Saachez custom AEU Enact Custom
HG GN-X

MG Zaku II Ver. 2.0 (Katsumi Kawaguchi-produced color) - second in the Bandai Hobby Pro-Shop series, July, 3,625 yen

More pics:
Gunpla Secret Factory
Pam's Homepage
Shizuoka Broadcasting System (video)
The Gundam Base
Hobby Shop Midori (each pic has its own gallery)
Tsukurikake Mokei Dojo
GA Graphic
Hobby Stock 1
Hobby.co.jp
Hobby Shop Convoy

 

Gundam Musou worldwide sales

An ITmedia News story on Koei that mentions sales figures for various games released by the company says the multiplatform Gundam Musou has sold 600,000 copies in Japan (880,000 total worldwide). Stateside, the PS3 version sold 100,000 copies while the XBox 360 version moved another 200,000. In February of last year, not long after the title was first announced for the PS3, Bandai Namco's Shin Unozawa stated the goal for Gundam Musou was to sell 1 million copies worldwide.

 

Upcoming and not-so upcoming merchandise pics

The Gundam Base's New Products page updated with galleries of the following:
HCM-Pro Gundam Heavyarms
HCM-Pro Wing Gundam
BB Senshi Sangokuden Kakouen Dalas
HCM-Pro Gundam Deathscythe
HCM-Pro Tieren Space Type Set
HG Tieren Space Commander Type
HGUC Zaku II Kai
1/100 Over Flag
1/35 Mechanic Collection Vincent

 

MS IGLOO 2 DVD and Blu-ray release details

Bandai Visual's site put out a PDF press release announcing the release date of Volume 1 of the MS IGLOO 2 OVA as October 24. Both Blu-ray and DVD formats will be on sale the same day, a first for Gundam. Volume 1 will contain one episode, "Destroy The God Of Death!", and both versions will come with a box. Volume 2 will be out January 23 and Volume 3 on April 24. A bit of info from the brief story description on Bandai Visual's site says the focus will be on Odessa.

 

MSiA Gundam Throne Eins pics

From Happinet Online: 1 2

 

HCM-Pro Deathscythe 360 degree look

Gundam.Info features the HCM-Pro Gundam Deathscythe in the Gunpla Guruguru Flash VR viewer.

 

Upcoming merchandise pics

From Hobby Shop Midori:
MG Shin Musha Gundam
BB Senshi Sangokuden Kanpei Gundam

 

SD Gundam Force Collection Box

After lying dormant for a long time, the official Japanese SD Gundam Force site updates to announce a DVD box set of the series will finally be released in Japan on September 26 (Previously, the series had only been available there as a rental). As virtually every other Gundam series, OVA, and movie has hit DVD, this makes it the last Gundam production of significance to be released on the format in Region 2. The DVD Box will be a 14 disc set: 13 covering the 52 episode TV series plus a special Zako Zako Disc featuring the video from the "SD Gundam Force: Destructive Daishogun Appears!! Zako?" theme park attraction, the "Zako Zako Zako Hour", a Dimensional Pirates De Scall video, and the little seen Musha Paraku 1 & 2 CG animations. The DVD Collection Box also comes with a 24-page Soul Drive Memories booklet which includes an interview with the director and 4-koma drawn by Kouji Yokoi.

Sunrise also launched We Love SD Gundam, an SD Gundam portal site.

 

Phase-Impulse vid distribution details

BB Watch reports the "Phase-Impulse" SEED Destiny video will be available online July 9th for 420 yen. As a collaboration with Sony Music Entertainment, this will apparently differ from the Phase-Impulse MG Edition version in that it will feature T.M. Revolution's "ignited" and include a compilation of scenes from the anime. The MG Edition video can be viewed when you buy the MG Force Impulse Gundam, on sale May 24.

Edit: Gundam.Info reiterates the above info and says some of the MG Edition will be shown at the Shizuoka Hobby Show next week.

 

Namco Bandai Holdings 2008 financial results

Namco Bandai Holdings' English site posted their fiscal 2008 financial highlights (PDF). Mobile Suit Gundam was responsible for 50.9 billion yen in sales (Bandai Namco Group total), just ahead of what was forecast back in March, with 18.8 billion yen alone from Toys and Hobby. Bandai expects Gundam to bring in 45 billion yen (17 billion yen from Toys and Hobby) in the coming fiscal year.

 

Chihiro Yonekura anime cover album

Excite Anime News reports Chihiro Yonekura, best known to Gundam fans for her 08th MS Team themes, is releasing an anime cover album titled "Ever After" on June 25. Orchestral & acoustic arrangements of the songs are featured. The track list:
"Cruel Angel's Thesis" - Neon Genesis Evangelion
"Mizu No Hoshi E Ai Wo Komete" - Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
"Angel's Rest" - Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko
"Give A Reason" - Slayers Next
"Trust You Forever" - Mobile Fighter G Gundam
"You Get To Burning" - Martian Successor Nadesico
"Distant Memory" - Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War In The Pocket
"Arashi No Naka De Kagayaite" - Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team (self cover)
"Friends" - Soul Hunter (self cover)
"Yakusoku No Basho E" - Kaleido Star (self cover)

 

Emblem Of Gundam first week sales ranking

iNSIDE's Media Create ranking has Emblem Of Gundam for the Nintendo DS at #12.

 

Gundam Vs. Gundam hidden element #2

Info from 2ch shows the game now includes selection of Hard Mode routes in the CPU battles.

 

Upcoming merchandise pics

From Happinet Online:
HGUC Sazabi
HG Saachez Custom AEU Enact Custom
1/100 Over Flag

 

The International Gundam Society

As part of Hiroshima Animation Biennale 2008, taking place August 7 through 26, the International Gundam Society will be held, presenting a socioeconomic view into the future using Mobile Suit Gundam as a thematic motif. The Society will examine the various issues a futuristic city would face as raised in Gundam, the continuing popularity of the series, and present a debate about the culture industry. Participants include Professor Shinya Hashizume, Dr. Etsuko Yamaguchi, and lecturer Mikio Sugiura.

Subjects to be touched on:
The feasibility of the Universal Century (the possibility of space emigration due to overpopulation)
Human conflict on Earth and in space (a historical look at elitism)
The social psychology of spacenoids (the emergence of the Newtype)
Love of the Earth and home (the praxiology of being away from one's hometown)
The Zeon revolution (concerning the perpetuity of fascism)
The politics of the technocrat (Earth Federation)
The possibility of reforming human consciousness in the battlefield
The international spread and economic effect of Gundam

400,000 people are expected to take part in the various Biennale events, the main program for which is the Robot Anime Expo.

 

Gundam Battle Universe pics

From Amazon Japan and Happinet Online.

 

Upcoming merchandise pics

The Gundam Base's New Products page has pics from Bandai's June Hobby Sales Manual as well as promo shots for the limited edition Gunpla on sale at Gunpla Expo.

Edit: Hobby Shop Midori has larger versions.

Amazon Japan also has galleries of the following...
HGUC Sazabi
HG Saachez Custom AEU Enact Custom
1/100 Over Flag

 

Gundam Battle Universe details

Game Star writes in addition to the over 200 missions, the game will have more than 200 playable MS as well. Existing missions will have substantial updates. You can individualize your pilots and MS with the Customize, Skill System, and Instruction System and use save data from the previous Gundam Battle Chronicle. Collaborative play through the campaigns is enabled as well as up to 4 players in Versus mode.

 

Upcoming merchandise solicits

From Hobby Search:
MG Shin Musha Gundam
1/100 Gundam Astraea Type F
1/100 Tieren Ground Type
BB Senshi Sangokuden Kanpei Gundam

 

Gundam 00 Vol. 4 first week sales

Oricon has the 4th volume of Gundam 00 ranking #5 on the overall weekly DVD chart and #2 on the weekly anime DVD chart. Reports from 2ch say it sold 21,760 copies.

 

Bandai Hobby Center public viewing

During the Shizuoka Hobby Show on May 17-18, the Bandai Hobby Center will be open to the public. A Keroro Gunsou stage appearance, Gundam 00 seiyuu talk show, and outdoors Gunpla class are scheduled. On sale will be original merchandise such as a line of HGUC "Ecopla" (made from recycled materials), T-shirts, and a Bandai work apron. Admission is free.

 

New Emblem Of Gundam pics

Gpara has new screenshots for the Nintendo DS game being released in Japan today. Endings conforming to both the Zeta Gundam movies and TV series versions are included.