The Opening of the Super Robot War OG: Divine Wars anime.Song is ‘Break Out’ by Jam Project

Go here to see the original: Super Robot Wars OG:Divine Wars OP

Carl Macek: Robotech's pioneer

Bad news…..

Received this difficult news feed about one of the pioneer founders of Robotech stories, Carl Macek, was found dead due to a heart attack he suffered at home.

Carl Macek was responsible in redubbing Macross series, along the other two giant robot anime shows that gave us one of the longer running anime franchise series of today known as Robotech (see picture below) in the early 80s.  Besides this project, he’s also responsible for dubbing other anime project as well such as Captain Haylock and the Queen of Thousand Years, and the more recent Bleach and Naruto.  He also does other types of art direction works that are non-anime related as well such as the Heavy Metal series.

Even though, up to this point of my life, I never favour Robotech series a lot as I used to during my teenage years – this goes the same for others in anime forums.  However, because of what he’s done so much to create such a successful American-brand anime franchise, a lot of anime fans in many parts of the world would not have existed.  And perhaps their exposure to anime wouldn’t be as big as it is now.

Robotech Series by Carl Macek

So without further ado, here’s Youtube video footage, paying great tribute to Carl Mazek.

R.I.P Carl.

Source: Animenewsnetwork.com, Animenation.net

And no, he will certainly not be giving many of today’s manga artists any praises if they have any thing related with child pornography.  Especially, it’s expressed too much in a very graphic way.

There’s been a recent uproar on the public system legalising the practice of placing child pornography content onto manga medium content, which is not right at a hindsight

Many respectable manga artists like Go Nagai etc are placing their support in banning the online child porn bill, which really sickens me to death.  Good on him for making him stance clear.  This is coming from a fact that Cutie Honey was one of this best works during the 70’s, which I understand it’s a manga whose focuses around the women characters, who barely shed anything off other than their ripped tees across their chests!!

Here’s another news publication (written in Spanish) on Go Nagai’s (and other authors’) thoughts on the crackdown on the crackdown of child pornography used in comic books.

Here’s the translations of the source.

The Assembly has hit Tokyo’s manga artists in its attempt to reduce the sexual content of comic books. Authors such as Go Nagai (Mazinger Z) and Fujiko Fujio (Doraemon) have signed a statement criticizing a law prohibiting the eroticism of child-like characters, which punishes the artists with fines of up to 300,000 yen (2,400 euros).

This protest has led the authors that the legislation, which should have been voted on Friday, stay for the time being in dry dock. According to Nagai said this week, this law is against freedom of expression for artists, but also undermines the manga industry, considered a strong source of revenue for Japan. For Nagai, regulation is also very vague, especially under the definition of fiction.

The legal language prohibiting any manga or anime character that could be perceived as minor in age, clothing, accessories, grade level, the scenario where you are, the age of other characters or his voice.
Project worrying

After learning this content of the law, Carlos Santamaria, director at the Comic and Manga de Barcelona, gives reason to Japanese artists: “It is a project of considerable concern, as well as being very vague, contains the sensor element and can anyone give power to ban a cartoon. ” For others such as Josep Maria Berenguer, editor of The Dome, the law is a contradiction, as “childlike features are typical of Japanese comics. They are part of their culture.”

It is not the first time that parliaments seek to regulate the eroticism in comics from veto to pornography with minors. In March 2009, a clause in a bill against child pornography UK Government drew the ire of artists.

This clause prohibiting “the possession of any images of sexual activity with children.” For the group Comic Shop Voice, this text could lead to censorship of graphic novels such as Lost Girls, Alan Moore. Finally, this law was passed last November, although to date there is no evidence of any comic book censorship.
Censorship in Philippines

In April 2009, the House of Representatives of the Philippines also banned the sale of those manga that show erotic scenes with characters from children’s appearance.

“This type of controversy is part of the general rightward shift caused by the crisis which we live. We have entered a political correctness that is limiting the cultural world”, adds Berenguer. Santamaria says, for its part, the dire consequences of putting everything in the bag of child pornography: “It should be clear that child pornography is a crime. But another thing is that it shows the romance of some high school kids. If that happens in real life, why they will not be able to read? “.

• Source: Kotaku.com, Publico.es

While the new Votoms trailer release is under way, let us give ourselves a recap on Votoms TV series.

It’s a strange fact. But…

I never actually get to watch the series during the 80s. They must have been broadcasted in other countries but never in my back to my home country of Malaysia…. Or perhaps it never occurred to me that it was broadcasted for a long while and I wasn’t even aware of it.

Whatever the reason was, I’m glad to know it’s available for Generation Mech fans like us to get use to remembering what the series ever looked like actually….

So here’s the video footage of the series for those who wish to recap…

The original opening.

Whilst I went online reading more about this, I encountered this detailed info from online American otaku site.

In U.S. anime fandom, many point to Mobile Suit Gundam (whichever incarnation may be currently available) as the premiere series combining politics and mecha combat. However, for nearly as long, though not quite as popular, there has been a franchise in Japan that is very extensive and more focused on the ground aspects of mecha combat, while often telling pretty good stories to boot. That franchise is Armor Trooper Votoms, which originally started as a 52 episode TV series and has since spun off into several side stories. Although the primary focus of the Import Report section is meant to look at new shows not released in America, the current show in question is geared towards long-time followers, so we’ll take a look at the original series which has been released here as a primer for the current installment.

Armored Trooper Votoms

The series takes place in the distant future, when humanity has spread to various parts of the galaxy. The story begins at the tail end of a hundred year-long war between the Gilgamesh and Balarant star systems which has devastated population and resources. The emergence of robotic suits called VOTOMs (Vertical One-man Tank for Offense and Maneuvers) changed the course of the war and an uneasy cease fire was eventually reached.

It is at this point we are shown a group of Gilgamesh soldiers in Votoms breaking into a military space station. One of them, Sgt. Chirico Cuvie, is following orders to the best of his ability having just transferred to this particular unit. Chirico is a bit horrified to discover the station belongs to HIS OWN army, but he continues to follow orders. When he asks about the true objective of the mission, the rest of the squad simply tells him to stand guard after the initial break-in, and cut off his frequency. Through a series of mishaps, Chirico winds up in an empty chamber where a single capsule is stored. The capsule opens to reveal a strange glow surrounding a nude female, who instantly turns to stare at Chirico. It’s at this point the rest of the squad appears, saying the capsule is their true objective. Chirico is ordered back outside, but just as he leaves, one of the squad leaves a bomb in his path and the resulting explosion knocks him out.

Chirico wakes up in an interrogation chamber where he’s being repeatedly tortured and asked about the break in, as well as something called “The Prototype.” He tells all he knows about the squad’s activities, but can’t convince the inquisitor that he knows nothing more. The inquisitor, Captain Rochina, decides to take the prisoner back to his homeworld Melkia for further interrogation. Chirico is less than happy to be there since ¾ of the population has been wiped out and the dejected survivors have crowded in a place called Voodo City.

Chirico endures all manners of suspicion, betrayal, and recaptures over the course of this story arc. He eventually gains a small set of friends but not without emotional and physical cost, having to deal with enslavement in a labor camp, arena mech combat, and a large bounty offered for his capture or death, not to mention former squadron members who’d like to silence him forever.

This struggle is part of the reason I’ve grown to like Armored Trooper Votoms. They don’t make mech shows like this anymore. Hell, they didn’t even make them much in the 80’s when this was made. Many of them followed the plot model of Mobile Suit Gundam, focusing on teens who were finding themselves and trying to get better or more powerful as the series progressed. Chirico though is an established soldier who demonstrates skill and resourcefulness right from the start. He’s a bit fallible but fights through his troubles with conviction. As I experienced this story, I really wanted to see him get to the bottom of the conspiracy around him and get revenge. Chirico doesn’t have time to do the angsty whining bit; he’s too busy kicking ass. Casual viewers might dismiss Votoms as just another big robots anime, but focus and development of the main character instead of his weapons is what makes this a compelling show.

I also liked how the mech combat is done differently than many similar series of that decade. In works like Aura Battler Dunbine and Heavy Metal L-Gaim, pilots would battle each other and become practically invincible in their special suits, absorbing all kinds of damage with not much consequence. Votoms works completely the opposite way in that ground soldiers will simply see a mech as just one big target they can destroy with 3 or 4 well placed shots, and a suit’s longevity will depend on the skill of its pilot. Outside of Mobile Police Patlabor, I can’t think of any other anime which treats combat mecha in this way, as this adds an element of vulnerability to the harsh world series creator Ryosuke Takahashi (SPT Layzner, Gasaraki, Hi No Tori) put together here.

I got to reading a bit more about that world in the extras section of the disc, where PDF files on the DVD-ROM section were placed. Combined with the informative director’s commentary on, I was satisfied with the background materials this set provided (Thank you, Tim Eldred!), though I would’ve liked to have seen clean opening and closing sequences on here such as other importers have placed on their classic anime collections. This is honestly a minor quibble though.
I also liked the video and subtitle quality of the episodes. It’s especially nice when you consider the first time Central Park Media released Votoms on DVD (with assistance from Image Entertainment), they placed 3-4 episodes per disc, the video quality (though decent) had no real enhancement, and the subtitles were larger and hard coded on the picture. This re-mastered version you are reading about places 13 episodes on 2 DVDs, but with bolder picture coloring and removable subs. The audio remains the same, but this is good in my view because of late, when audio has been redone on classic anime such as Mobile Suit Gundam and Robotech, the foley have been completely changed to weak-as-hell modern effects completely different from the 80’s originals. So in terms of overall presentation, I have to say CPM did some pretty nice work with this set.

Source: Otaku US Magazine

Was watching this video clip this morning after tweaking my Twitter settings.

Even though this video was many months old (timestamped on 9th July 2009), I still find it relevant on the fact that Japanese subculture is gaining traction (steadily) in many places around the world, even including Australia and New Zealand. I’ve seen a few around in Auckland for the past few years despite our incredible low ratio of 3000:1.

Have a look and you’ll be amazed. Especially how the otaku specialist said something about otaku gained a bad image after a psychopath killer went on a rampage to kidnap young girls. And then killed and dumped them into a river. The killer was an otaku fanatic…. 0.0.

Also, check out the massive Gundam cosplay video at 5:19!!^o^

Source: Youtube

Just read exciting news!

Sunrise is going to bring back one of the great 80s classic mecha anime show back into this modern century.

Armored Trooper Votoms is here! THEY’RE BACK!

A new promotional video of this classic series is out!

And after a while, I was browsing for it on Youtube yesterday…  And lo and behold, I found it!

This is fantastic! And with only less than 30 days to go, it’s going to be one heck of an exciting ride to relive the essence of 80s great anime classics!!^^

Source: ANN.com, Youtube.com

Just followed this tweet in my Twitter account. The link says something about what’s coming to expect within the upcoming decade for the anime industry and where it’s heading towards…

Moe is a trend in anime towards the use of underage, often barely-clad heroines with no unique character traits.

One of the biggest anime of 2009, maybe even of the decade in Japan if we’re talking merchandise and media sales, was a little slice-of-life show by the name of K-ON. Animated impeccably by Kyoto Animation (home to other otaku favorites like the The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya series, Lucky Star and just about every good dating sim adaption,) it was a wildly successful in Japan, just as one would expect given it’s linage. Like previous Kyoto titles, its characters quickly shot to the top of favorite character surveys in Japanese magazines and on Japanese websites, otaku not only bought the usual swath of official figurines and unofficial doujinishi, but they bought replicas of the character’s musical instruments, even though they may never actually play them. Otaku in Japan even traveled to other parts of country so they could watch the broadcast in real-time just that much sooner.

However, six months later, this wildly popular show sits unlicensed in North America (yeah, I know the cycle is slower these days, but this was the big title of the season for otaku,) and even in Japan, K-ON is sliding down the character and TV series surveys in favor of the next moe-blob anime (a term coined to describe the rounded and almost nondescript design of many current otaku favorites.) Rather than a lasting Beatlemania-like popularity, K-ON’s reign feels more like the Monkees’ or maybe more tellingly Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ (or for our younger readers, K-ON’s success maybe more like Hanson than Green Day.)

Now, don’t get me wrong – I think K-ON’s a fun show, and when compared to other recent Kyoto adaptions of the slice-of-life-comedy genre, namely Lucky Star and the most recent season of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (both of which had direction issues,) it’s one of their better titles. Solid animation, solid pacing and generally enjoyable, with little references for the music fans paying close attention. I’m actually hoping someone grabs it for a US release.

However, K-ON and it’s ilk can’t be the driving force of the anime industry, not even in Japan, let alone internationally.

Why? Because the otaku-oriented moe style doesn’t seem to work outside of otakudom. Within that fandom, it yields tenuous popularity at best (a corollary exists with the bishonen-driven style marketed to fujoshi [girl otaku] but considering they’re marketed to sparingly relative to otaku, it’s not an immediate concern to the anime medium.) You certainly can’t take titles like that to the broadcast outlets anime currently has in the US, and it’s TV exposure that changed anime in America from the niche hobby of nerdy college-age males, to something mainstream enough that manga like Fruits Basket and Naruto took Top 20 spots in the USA Today book sales charts. None of that was built on the back of being purely otaku oriented though, and some of the best titles from moe realm have ultimately not panned out, leading one to question the overall direction of the industry.

Take for example the first season of Haruhi – it was incredibly well-received in Japan and internationally, at least if forum discussion and merchandise sales are any indicator of success. Even with that initial positive reception, we now see the US limited edition release on clearance at RightStuf for a fraction of what the volumes initially went for, and even less than original standard edition singles. Lucky Star is even more problematic: it’s limited edition volumes were canceled due to slow sales.

Now, to be fair, the whole anime industry was moving away from singles, and towards the high-end limited editions that many fans demanded (yet not many purchased as time went on) were caught in that shift. More pressingly, moe is probably here to stay – unless a huge shift or backlash in otaku tastes occurs in Japan, that market seems constantly ravenous for new, somewhat generic 2d-idols that you can make figurines and pillow cases out of. However, the notable issues with moe titles that seemed like such sure-fire successes makes it clear that the purchasing habits of Akihabara can’t dominate where the industry goes if you want shows to work internationally. Well, actually, maybe it can, but it’s going to require some give and take.

Time is Money

Plenty of American distributors have been candid about the problems they’ve had getting Japanese distributors to realize their niche title wasn’t worth the kind of money Pokemon, Naruto or Dragon Ball Z command. The pressure to get studios to more accurately gauge the value of their series upfront is more critical than ever with the move to box sets. To be fair, a lot of studios have gotten the message, and even on series that were very popular in Japan, they’ve begun to recognize that America isn’t the same country (with the retail price of box sets beginning to shift from the $120-$200 to $40-$70 dollar range.) But that’s only half the battle, maybe even less.

After all, you start with the fact that not every company in Japan seems to have gotten the memo that the anime bubble has burst. In spite of seeing some of their contemporaries and American partners go bankrupt, some Japanese studios and distributors don’t yet understand that the US market is very different from Japan. In fact, they’ve gone in the exact opposite direction necessary. While US releases are becoming inexpensive (some recent boxset MSRPs are similar to that of a Hong Kong bootleg,) major titles in Japan are still often at best 3 episodes per disc, and often runs between $70-100 a disc. Amazingly, 10,000 copies or more will move in first week sales with many Japanese otaku buying multiple copies of a disc at outrageous prices. Yet, some Japanese studios and distributors, even after the direct failure of Japanese-style marketing in the US (as seen with Bandai Visual USA,) don’t get it, and want too much for a title with limited marketability. This results in various titles of all sorts sitting on the side lines, losing their market value (as the longer it’s unlicensed, the less hype it has surrounding it, and thus the less likely it is to sell well) while the US company tries to hammer out a deal that will allow them to turn some kind of profit given the projected sales for that title.

Now, if moe is going to be an on-going and often dominant part of anime, then the price points have to give because you’re never going to get any crossover into the mainstream with these titles, and you simply can’t charge the consumer the same amount for this type of show. In fact, everything that’s not DragonBall Z, Naruto or Pokemon, even if it’s a really brilliant, unique niche title, has to cost less than it used to now. That makes things difficult because a lot of anime studios used to use the upfront payments and royalties from US firms to get themselves into the black on titles. Now, at the very least it’s going to be mostly on royalties (upfront advances just won’t cut it,) and those profit points might be out there for an uncomfortably long time in an industry already notorious for underpaying most of the talent involved. However, that’s the direction in which it has to head, and really, the Japanese studios need to understand that it’s better to get some money for a show than nothing. The longer things drag out, the higher the probability that they’ll get nothing for a title. For the studios in Japan with libraries of content that stretch back decades, the only way those classics will turn up is if the upfront cost is very low and the same can be said of a new but niche title (regardless of why it’s niche.)

There is a way for anime companies to get good money from US companies again, and diversify their offerings in the process. They might even reverse loss of talent (both in the US and Japan) to the video game industry. But the hardcore fandom might be a bit adverse to this, and it’s a big risk for everyone involved…

If there is a future, it’s not in isolation: co-produce or stagnate.

Co-productions. The idea has produced some amazing work that probably wouldn’t have been half good without upfront capital from multiple international companies. The Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series and films, Samurai Champloo and Afro-Samurai just to name a few owe their existence or at the very least their excellent quality to a combination US and Japanese companies putting up money from the get go. Now, it’s not always panned out – ADV’s Lady Death was roundly panned by critics, Eureka Seven was not the explosive success Bandai Entertainment hoped for and IGPX managed to be one of the most beautiful flops ever animated. Shame too, because at least IGPX and Eureka Seven were quite good and certainly fun.

Still, that money ensured diversity because by and large it wasn’t American co-pro dollars or even pre-license dollars going to bland moe titles – they can support themselves in Japan for the most part. No, it was going to the kind of shows that tend aimed for something fresh and unique while also shooting for a wide, crossover audience. If that influence disappears, anime viewers the world over will be lucky if there are two unique series a season, and of that handful, maybe one classic a year. Add to that the fact that outside of Fuji TV’s Noitamina block, a block explicitly created to have anime that’s outside of the typical demographics, there are not a lot of shows these days that are really trying to break new ground, and that can in part be chalked up to a lack of co-production creating an incentive to be different.

In fact, if you took Noitamina out of play, the past few seasons in Japan would’ve been pretty dry for titles that aren’t moe fodder or kids shows or both. You’d have Michiko to Hatchin, Darker Than Black and uh… hmm. There aren’t even good number of shoujo anime titles, especially borderline josei-titles like Honey And Clover, Nodame Cantabile and Kimi no Todoke without that one block. Anime’s diversity shouldn’t hinge on so little because it’s too easy for that to dissappear with one management change (much as Cartoon Network’s programming diversity shouldn’t have hinged on essentially Toonami.)

Now, with Funimation announcing a head of original development, that might be exactly what is needed to keep things diverse, high-quality and therefore more viable, but it’s got to be original development. It’s going to take hard work, a commitment to working with people may not give a care about executive notes, and the courage to soldier on inspite of the occasional dud. It’s certainly not going to work if the game plan is to just license some generic US teen literature series or some random manga, and then throw that at any old studio and director with a bag of money. I don’t think they’ll do that either – they supposedly insisted Akitaro Daichi return for any Fruits Basket continuation they put their money behind, and upon hearing that Natsuki Takuya, Fruits Basket’s manga-ka, wouldn’t support that, they dropped because they knew a shift in staff wouldn’t work. However, that same stringent standard will be essential in making sure they make good, marketable work.

Part 4: So what if the industry stays moe and overpriced?

Somehow, in spite of the fact that a lot of the old generation of the anime fandom has dropped out from attending cons constantly, and even a notable percentage of the anime boom era fandom seems to be cutting back on con attendance and spending (to put it another way, I’m a boom era fan and many of the friends I made through anime don’t care about it much any more,) anime cons keep getting greater attendance from coast to coast, and it begs the question whether diversity really matters. Maybe everything can be reverse harems, yaoi and shota for the girls, regular harems, yuri and lolis for the guys and slice-of-life high school anime for everyone. Shoot, even with those restrictions, it not like some good shows aren’t made – shows like Gunslinger Girl, Ouran High School Host Club and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya all have their explicit target demographics, but they are all also wonderfully done shows with great characters, fantastic settings and all the technical points locked down. However, I think if you want to get any of the old generation or even a lot of the anime boom generation interested again, it’s not going to be with the easy otaku and fujoshi plays, even the really fantastic ones with spot-on technical skill. Too many long time fans have been their and done that, and they came to anime because it was doing something bold and new, not holding to tropes in lock step. I think even the newer fans will burn out on it if their isn’t a commitment to being smart and emotionally complex as well, and well, that growth will level off if not reverse.

Even in Japan, various artists have ranted about how empty the scene seems right now. Some might argue it’s been that way for a while – Hayao Miyazaki bemoaned that anime was too focused on objectifying the characters rather than developing them for decades, and he probably still does to this day. The difference is, when Miyazaki started his complaints, a whole generation of brilliant auteurs seemed to take that as a challenge and frankly proved him wrong about the medium falling towards emptiness. Yes, the fandom would and always will objectify the characters, but the directors could use that tendency to get people not only to watch series and movies that were vastly more brilliant than they may have initially made clear, but get them to love that work for having pushed those boundaries. However, no one seems up to the challenge of building on the legacy that directors like Hideki Anno, Kazuya Tsuramaki, Shinichiro Watanabe, Satashi Kon and others from that mid-1990s-to-mid-2000s era have left. There are new geniuses out there to be sure – Masaaki Yuasa, Makoto Shinkai, Saya Yamamoto and so on, but they can’t be geniuses lauded for their brilliance and then left on the edges of the industry. If anime is ever going to have another boom, if talent is going to stay at companies and deal with the mediocre pay, horrific hours and outright poverty that tends to come with being an animator or even often with being a VA in Japan, the crazy geniuses have to be running things, not the accountants happy to market yet another toyetic moe series in a bid to sell otaku 10 copies of the same blu-ray disc with different postcard pack-ins. After the global recession, outside of the truly obsessed that marketing tactic won’t work anymore, and so casual anime fans are your incentive to stay diverse and ultimately make more money by doing that.

I mean, after all, the generic titles from the 90s, even the really good ones, are falling by the wayside when it comes to what gets reissued in hi-def and which licenses gets expanded or extended. But those groundbreaking titles? Those shows are insanely perennial, and you can keep putting them out ad-nauseam in new formats. Make a Cowboy Bebop or an Evangelion, eat for decades. Make a K-ON, eat very well for maybe a year. Sure by pushing boundaries, you might make a Koi Kaze and be lucky to eat at all, but that’s the risk. To me, the choice is obvious though, because studios like Ghibli in Japan and Pixar in America don’t think in terms of making temporary titles – they aim high. Not every studio may have the talent to stick that every time, but even once in while is enough to keep a studio secure.

At the very least, if anime is going to be an internationally viable medium to the extent it was at it’s peak in the early-to-mid-00’s, the trends in motion must reverse.

- Source: Toozone

Looks like it’s going to be another rough wave for the anime industry.   If they don’t sharpen up their talent pool a little bit, that is.

Macross Frontier (MF) are at it again.  Now with their new film that’s just been released a few weeks ago, according to this blog,  it’s come to dazzle the audience with incredibly stunning cutting-edge animation, wide array of VF-fighter jets flying all over the cinematic screens with its impressive air dog-fight sequences and the mesmerizing story-telling elements by none other than Shoji Kawamori, our legendary Macross director, himself.

Lots of character casts were there for the glorious evening. Shoji Kawamori is amongst the crew.

Following this anime fan’s blog, the entire MF gang were there to enlighten the MF-crazed crowd. You can see them performing the PR stage from the beginning to the every end.

What’s interesting of this blog, as you scroll down the pages while skim reading, you are reading the translated script of the individual voice actors (and Shoji Kawamori) who presented their speeches in front of large audience.  This way, you get the rough sense of what they were truly saying while the premier was going on.

It’s sure was a major hit for the crowd during that day!

As you slowly get to know the main voice actors of MF representing the film, there’s one particular (how should I say) star of the show really wowed the audience! And it’s this person’s cosplay as Ranka Lee.

And… IT’S NOT A GIRL!

I just dropped myself dead on the floor laughing hard out how hilarious this turns out to be!!! :)

Apparently, this ‘gentleman’ is a Japanese kickboxer who’s well known in the boxing community, hence he’s pretty butch.  And he likes anime too.  One of his obvious favourite category in anime is the cosplay.   Looking at the above pictures, he’s certainly knows how to get in touch with his feminine side so acutely… :)  (He’s also got his own personal blog, if you’re keen to find more about his secondary life as an otaku)

So there you have it folks.  The MF movie premier for ya!

Source:  Networkedblogs.com, Gigazine.net

Again. After reading the last post from JapanVideoGames.com blog, they mentioned Macross Ultimate Frontier Wii game is now available in stock for purchase. They’ve been out for a month or so.

After reading through that, the game sure packs many incredible Macross mecha that you would never thought the original Macross crew would push this far to feature all mecha from the Macross franchise, everything from Macross SDF1, Macross II, Macross Plus, Flashback 2012, Macross 7, Macross Dynamite 7, Macross Zero, Macross Frontier (so to speak) etc etc. The video reveals all… :)

Definitely, a great suit for people who’s into the Macross/RoboTech universe heavily, like myself. I’m a such a big fan of Macross as my childhood upbringing was brought up during the 80’s and many 80’s cartoons such as these. They totally ROCK!

My only wish is that if they do actually sell these in New Zealand. Then I would love to go out and get one of these PSPs for a couple of hundred NZ bucks (if lucky!), hook up the game and you’re on way to a complete nostalgia haven.

Here’s an extra video clip on how the game looks when you first begin the game…

After watching it for a while, I could only start to imagine that people will be delighted to see all of their faviourite Macross characters return (such as Lynn Minmei, Captain Hikaru Ichiyo, Captain Roy Focker, Misa Hayase, Maximillian Maxiumus, Basara Nekki, etc) into the small screen (Darn! was hoping to say the opposite of that). Man! If only they have this item on sale in New Zealand. I would love to get my hands on them and get a taste of them! But no, this is impossible to change as New Zealand is too small a market to cater for this.

Looks like it’s best I’m gonna have to grab this offer from Play-asia or Ebay again.

Source: JapanVideoGames.com, Youtube.com

Astro Boy

It sure has been pretty busy week for me. Not much posting going on as I recently got a new job last week since my last job at my last company was made redundant some weeks ago. So plenty of time has been put focus in getting used to my new work environment, learning to get to know your new work colleagues, getting used to having a public transport to get to work (takes about 90 minutes by car, that doesn’t even include the time to find a car park!!!)

Which now brings me back to my attention on what’s been going in the anime world since my absence.

Yes! As you probably know by now, Astro Boy has finally made into the cinemas worldwide just almost three days ago. And in the USA, it sure did get a positive reception after reading this page from SkyNews.

I just read its movie review, done by an American writer, who’s clearly a movie-junkie if you traceback his review source, and (SPOILERS ALERT) I find his final conclusion on Astro Boy being less disingenuous than its orginal TV series run seemed a little harsh to deserve such a low grade. Though I yet to see the film to find his comments are fair justifiable, I would think the movie have a different emphasis on the importance of family bonds and how this film challenges that due to Dr Tenma, father of Astro Boy, rejecting him as his son despite his compassionate efforts in reviving his dead son he used to dearly love(which gives the reason for Astro Boy’s existence in the first place!). At least, that’s what Nicolas Cage mentioned in his comments from this LA Times’ post.

So there are different intangible things people look for when watching this 50-year iconic character on the silverscreens. Whether it’s fun for kids or getting to know the character in depth, I’m sure for all the while, it’s definitely entertaining to watch.

Guess, I have to wait till early January (New Zealand’s release date is 21st Jan) next year to write up my take on this.

Source: SkyNews, SeattlePi, LA Times