Next in the series of Bishoujo (Pretty girl) style, 1:8 scale line of statues based on the ladies of Marvel Comics by Kotobukiya is Black Widow.

Black Widow is next in the series of Bishoujo (Pretty girl) style, 1:8 scale line of statues based on the ladies of Marvel Comics by Kotobukiya as interpreted by the talented Shunya Yamashita.

Yamashita is one Japan's most famous and talented Bishoujo artists with a wealth of material available in the form of art books, video game work, as well as many of his illustrations being the basis of statues and action figures. If you have been paying any sort of attention over the past 6 months you know I am an enormous Yamashita fan.

Black Widow is a “sometimes” villain from the Marvel Comics Iron Man franchise and has an incredibly long and complex history. Feel free to check the link for a complete breakdown from wikipedia.

The figure comes in a very neatly designed window box decorated with artwork by Yamashita...

...the same artwork the sculptor, Koei Matsumoto used to bring this beauty to life.

And beauty is indeed the word that comes to mind. Black Widow is gorgeous. Suitably voluptuous and dangerous looking while being sexy and demure like most of Yamashita's work.

And of course she has the signature “yamashita eye's” that pull you in and make you melt...

The sculpt detail is excellent and precise. The paint detail is flawless. No under/over-spray anywhere. Honestly I expect nothing less from Kotobukiya's well-earned reputation for craftsmanship.

I particularly like the pedestal display for the base elevating it from just sexy girl statue to art piece.

I am only a casual marvel fan (if that) but a huge Yamashita fan and I am happy to add her to the collection.

With a $59.99 price tag you are certainly getting a quality piece at a great price. Any Marvel or Yamashita fan would do well to get one while you can. Kotobukiya now has their own on-line store and you can be sure to get one there.

Do you like Robots? Zombies? Motorcycles? Blassreiter has what you need.

Blassreiter introduces us to a fictionalized near-future Germany*, a Germany besieged by mysterious Demoniacs (also called Amalgams), super-charged cyber-monsters who wreak havoc and possess the dead. Are the Demoniacs truly monsters? Are they Zombies? Are they diseased? Where did they come from? Why do they ride crazy motorcycles?

Where did they buy those motorcycles? Do Demoniacs have money? Where did they get their money? Some of these questions will be answered!

Fighting the Demoniacs is the XAT, or Xenogenesis Assault Team, a specialized police outfit with their own cool motorcycles.

The animation is moody, a combination of computer-generated action sequences and traditionally animated exposition. The CG can get a little “Beast Wars” at times, but on balance it’s well integrated into the proceedings.

The series begins with a Demoniac attack on the innocent participants of a motorcycle race.

Demoniacs, we discover, in addition to having cool cyborg bodies, can use those bodies to assimilate technology. Neat.

A mysterious blue Demoniac appears to dispatch the troublesome undead technophage. What’s the deal with this guy?

This DVD set (part one of the series) features a few story arcs, each seamlessly overlapping with the others and relating to a larger narrative. Our first protagonist, Gerd, is a crippled former motorcycle racer at the end of his rope. What’s this? A pill?

Will it cure him without demon-related side-effects? His recovery and descent into sub-humanism is a tragic story told with subtlety, nuance, and Demoniac-on-Demoniac combat sequences.

Our second protagonist is the hapless, bullied Malek, adopted son of an XAT team member.

What’s this? A pill? What could go wrong?

Oh.

The balance of this set deals with the origins of the Demoniacs, and the spread of the phenomenon to the ranks of the XAT.

Blassreiter deftly negotiates the territory between Supernatural Thriller, Alien-esque Dark Sci-fi, Zombie Movie, and Mecha Actioner. The show explores some pretty dark territory, questioning the nature of humanity as principal characters turn on each other or succumb to demonization.

The Demoniac designs are dynamic, mining Syd Mead’s Tron work for a healthy dose of light shining through cracks and geometric shapes.

The XAT’s mecha and support vehicles are drool-worthy. The action is generous. The pace is swift.

I really enjoyed Blassreiter. This is a cross-genre series which avoids the cliché’s of its influences while telling a good story. Repeated viewings are richly rewarded. The action sequences really impress and the emotional underpinnings are resonant. Oh, and cool robot zombies!

I eagerly await the rest of the series. Blassreiter is available in a two disc, 12 episode set from Funimation.

*In typical anime fashion, the time and place are arbitrary, so nothing is especially German outside of the character names.

The finished assembled kit is actually 1:1 scale, so this is the size Hoi Hoi-San would be in real life. There are some nice touches that add to the realism, such as the USB port on her back, and the removable headband that has a headphone jack inside.

Hoi Hoi-San is the cute little girl with a machine gun. But all is not what it seems at first.

She comes from a series of Manga / Anime / Games called One Shot Bug Killer Hoi Hoi-San. In this series set in the near future, insects have become immune to pesticides. A Japanese company creates a series of pint-sized robots that live in your home and kill the insects for you. Of course, lonely otaku obsess over these little bots in their apartments.

Up until this point, the only way to get a toy of Hoi Hoi san was to track a limited edition, very expensive figure down on Yahoo Japan Auctions.

Well, Kotobukiya has come to the rescue with this affordable kit of the titular character, Hoi Hoi San.

The figure is an unassembled model kit, but the build is relatively easy. Most of it is snap fit, but there are some points that require glue, such as the pegs on the hair parts. However, I recommend that you just glue everything except for the face and the hands. You will want to handle this like a toy and it just can’t stand up to it without glue.

To get the kit looking just like the images on the box, you will need paint. I suck at painting and the toy is molded in color with painted parts, so it is good enough for me. However, should you decide to paint it, Kotobukiya included a set of decals to replace the detail that will get painted over. Great idea!

The finished assembled kit is actually 1:1 scale, so this is the size Hoi Hoi-San would be in real life. There are some nice touches that add to the realism, such as the USB port on her back, and the removable headband that has a headphone jack inside.

The kit is fully articulated, but due to the design, she can only hold so many poses. This would have been better with a stand, but there are so many aftermarket stands out there now that you can just get one of those. She has jointed ankles, knees, hips, torso, shoulders, elbows, wrists and head. The hair has three movable joints.

Three sets of eyes are included, looking left, right, and straight ahead, but just barely. There really isn’t much difference between them, but I appreciate the effort.

Two sets of hands are included with the figure – open and closed hands. The open hands feature removable fingers so that you can hold the weapons.

Included weapons are a small machine gun, ninja sword and a broom for clean up. Of all the parts, these could use paint the most.

In Japan, Hoi Hoi-San is a popular character, and as such, they sell out quickly. These kits have been no exception, selling out at popular retailers. For only 3,000 yen you get a great kit of a hot character. What’s not to love?

After you get the bra and panties off-you get the anatomically correct details.

Ryofu Housen is one of the elite cadre of popular characters from Ikki Tousen (aka Battle Vixens in the United States), an anime that features ancient Chinese generals reincarnated as students at rival schools who all happen to be experts in martial arts. Ikki Tousen is best known for its gratuitous fan-service, women who kick ass and themes about destiny and choosing your path in life.

In the series, Ryofu is the archetypical bad girl. She has been heavily marketed in a variety of styles. Sometimes in her distinctive brown leather jacket-but also as a goth maid and here, we see her as “Underwear Ver.(sion)”.

The statue is PVC in 1/7 scale and is produced by Taki Corporation as part of their TFC line, which stands for “Taki; Female, Figure, Favorite; Collection”.

The figure comes in a clear display box with a fairly typical plastic packaging. The figure is about 8 inches long, comes with two cast-off pieces and a large reflective base.

Right off the bat, you can tell that the figure has some real heft to it. It’s a solid piece of PVC. I normally prefer my statues standing (this takes up less room) but for various reasons this pose works well with this figure. The overall sculpt is pretty simple, she’s posed and there’s plenty of close detail..her eyes, her hair, her back, and the detail on the bra, panties, etc.

The bra and the panties are cast-off and come off pretty easily. The straps allow re-fastening but they are pretty flimsy and you have to be a little careful not to break them when you first try to get them off.

After you get the bra and panties off-you get the anatomically correct details. The breasts are nice. Simple but good sculpt with a nice shape.

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I don’t know if this will be a continuing new feature-but this Ryofu statue is FULLY anatomically correct with labia and everything. The reflective base is there to give you immediate gratification to see the details in the reflection.

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The pose gives her an effective personality-and the other details together make this an awesome statue for the general collector or for the specific Ikki Tousen enthusiast.

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Villetta Nu is a “British” pilot who operates one of the Knightmare Frame robots from Code Geass. This version is from the Lelouch of the Rebellion series.

Villetta Nu is a “British” pilot who operates one of the Knightmare Frame robots from Code Geass. This version is from the Lelouch of the Rebellion series.

Villetta Nu is available at Anime-Export

The figure comes with a stand and two switchable back/upper torsos, one with and without a pink jacket with arms and detachable head. No nudity or cast-off parts. No posability. Figure is packed box with a clear window and a plastic sprong with small plastic sheets protecting the arm and other various upper torso parts.

This is a GREAT sculpt with REALLY sharp details. The statue is a great capture of the character’s look and her character. Much of Villetta’s sculpted look comes from the details - the fingers on the thong, the pose and the coy look captured from the hair as it brushes over her eye.

Looking over the statue’s details, it really shows the kind of quality that has become standard for this style of figure. The clothes are distinctly separate from the skin (as opposed to appearing as flush with the surface), one sees none of the messy spray that turns up in more poorly done work.

The fishnet stockings are a nicely done and go along with the strong colors used. The great colors include the really ruby red shoes to the really on-the-nail color of the skin and the hair against the presentation of her outfit.

Great close up details on the buttocks and the way the thong stretches across the cheeks. The figure has no nudity but does the tease, VERY well…

If I have any complaints, its that the neck has a really weird, unnaturally “doll-like” look to it, Especially from the back. This probably results from the fact that the head is detachable. Its not that evident-but the seam of the neck with the collar doesn’t close completely and at the right angle-it looks…weird.

Honestly, I’m not sure WHY the head needs to be detachable since the jacket piece/upper torso switches out pretty easily without taking the head off.

The stand looks pretty solid and has pegs that connect into complimentary holes in the feet. The legs look pretty strong which hopefully precludes the sort of eventual softening that one sees over the years in some figures.

Overall, the statue doesn’t seem nearly as overt as some of the others that I’ve seen, but it does emphasize the tease quite a bit, but pulls off the “sexy” look really well without being too explicit.
Get yours at Anime-Export

Yamato USA is exceptionally pleased to unveil the next installation in its Fantasy Figure Gallery -- The Touch of Ice by Luis Royo as interpreted by sculptor Shunjii Hagii.

Yamato USA is exceptionally pleased to unveil the next installation in its Fantasy Figure Gallery -- The Touch of Ice by Luis Royo as interpreted by sculptor Shunjii Hagii. Take note, the first edition of this extraordinary piece will be limited to just 2,500 pieces worldwide, and will come complete with numbered display base and certificate of authenticity. Sure to be a smash, sold-out success, we are making this piece available to our loyal retail partners first in this special advance offer. Don’t pass it up.

MSRP: $89.95 / piece

Due December 2009

It's really interesting how much the anime industry in America has changed over the past few years.

It's really interesting how much the anime industry in America has changed over the past few years. It seems like just the other day when I was in high school that DVDs were about $30 and had five episodes per disc. However now you can get double the episodes for a similar price. This is the way that the show I'm reviewing, Nabari, is released.

Nabari is a 26 episode show that aired in the Spring of 2008. This release is part one of two collections. This first volume has 13 episodes and the second with have the latter. Nabari comes in a rather flimsy paper case with two slim DVD case inside. The cases each have reversible jackets for the covers which I thought was a very nice touch that I didn't expect.

The dub of this show was just your average dub. It's not bad, but not really actively good either. It should be noted that the subtitles for this show are just awful. They're an almost border-less white font that's just hard to read against the screen. Other than that, there's a few extras here. The usual text-less opening and ending, along with an episode 2 commentary. One that bothered me was that on the box it simply says episode 2 commentary and that's it. Instead it would have been nice if it said episode 2 commentary from the dub actors . Of course this release also has the obligatory trailers. Apparently one of the big things to do with these trailers lately has been to put the trailer for the DVD you have already bought on there... Just a curious thing that keeps happening.

Now on to the show itself... This is the sort of show I've found where you really do need to try and pay attention, otherwise things seem to spiral out of control and you will soon be unsure of what's going on. The protagonist of this show is a young rather effeminate boy known as Rokujou Miharu, who is just your average Japanese school boy. He soon quickly finds out that inside of his body is a forbidden ninja technique known as the Shinrabansho. The Shinrabansho is considered one of the most powerful ninja techniques ever, as it has the power to... well it's sort of vague. However it can be assumed that it can basically do anything that the plot demands, as is shown later on in the show.

Rokujou quickly finds out that there is another world aside from the everyday world of Japan. There is the world of ninjas which is known as Nabari. His classmate Koichi and his teacher Tobari soon make it their job to defend Rokujou from any rival ninja clans that may use the Shinrabansho. And to say any more would be potential spoilers for the show.

Nabari isn't the sort of show that has the best animation quality. Very often animation will seem stiff when characters are walking or moving. Thankfully though when it comes to fight scenes, the action is much more fluid. Oddly enough for a ninja show, there isn't too much ninja stuff going on. Most of the fighting is pretty straight forward fists and kicks fighting.

Honestly though this isn't the sort of show that you watch for the action scene. I would consider this instead much more of a character drama. All of the characters have a little bit of back story that shows their emotions and motivations much more actively. Even the protagonist Rokujou who seems to be lacking any real character develops and changes as the show goes on. It's a definite strong point of the show and makes up for the average animation.

Nabari isn't a bad show, in fact I liked it a good bit. However it definitely isn't for everyone. Other people may find it a bit slow for a ninja show, and it is rather dialogue heavy at times. There is definitely a solid story here along with many interesting characters. If you're wanting a good ninja show but don't want to watch several seasons worth of, say Naruto, Nabari is a good alternative.

Funimation presents us with one of the things a true Toriyama/ Dragon Ball fan should see at least once in a lifetime. Now, the question is, how good is the anime and how good is the Funamiation release. Because these two things should never be treated as one.

Everyone reading this site regularly probably knows the Dragon Ball saga and its legacy that is, without flattery, equally grand as Sailor Moon, Robotech, and others. Whether people like it or not, it changed the world of animation completely and was probably one of the main factors behind the Western Anime boom we witnessed in the 80s and 90s. It was more than a shonen combat/adventure franchise, it was and is, a true legend of animation.

With this said, it's time to explain the readers what are they doing here in the first place today. We are going to look at one of the most important pieces in the DB saga, a Dragon Ball Z feature film/ TV special, Bardock: The Father of Goku.

We all knew that Goku had a father, because during the Namek saga Freeza is briefly remembering he met someone very alike to Goku in the past. But all of this is rather fast and before we can digest what we just saw, the battle of titans resumes. I'm not sure if this was due to fan pressure (like half of the BDZ) or Toriyama's own idea, but this animation develops Freeza's single memory into a full-fledged animated story of 48 minutes worth.

Bardock is a low-class Saiyan warrior working for Freeza, just like the rest of his race. He is loyal, always giving his best and believing in the Saiyan value for Freeza's cause. He doesn't seem to be a father figure, though, as he barely takes notice of his son being born. However, during the extermination of the planet Kanassa, he is infected with the ability to foresee the future and soon starts to have disturbing vision concerning the fate of his planet. How will he use that knowledge and how everything will turn out for him? Only one way to find out.

Technically speaking, this is a TV special (there are 4 “back after the commercials” screens throughout the projection) and I can't force myself to call it otherwise, it's just to short to fit another term. I must say that I'm always impressed by the animation of DB extras. It's clean, simple and yet you have a lot of fun just watching it, it really runs smooth. OK, I'm not comparing this to such perils like Akira, but it really is fluid, just in a different way...hope you follow me and know what do I mean ^^. The music is there, but you don't really give it too much attention (I remember listening in a lot more in the TV series than here), the only thing you really take notice of is the ever-awesome opening, Head-Cha-La, which is one of the probably coolest openings in the history of anime.

Now it's time to express my thoughts on the content of the plot itself... It's a specific production. The plot of Dragon Ball was never a sophisticated one and here it's not only simple, but 100% predictable and you know exactly how will it end from the very beginning. It's just the way things go in the series, for which this special is an expansion. The only way of preventing this feeling is to be absolutely new to the franchise, but again, then you wouldn't really watch this as it's a side story made for fans that are already deep in the show (Namek saga at least) and know who is who. You know what's going on, but you don't care; you watch this one to get a better look at some characters, not to follow the plot they are all part of, at least that is how I perceive it.

Also, a problem with this animation is that while after watching it it seems like a good prequel story even to the very first Dragon Ball anime, you don't want to watch it as the first thing you'll have contact with in the franchise. It just reveals and moves between too many matters that are steadily revealed throughout the DB sagas, seeing them for the first time here would mean spoiling yourself a major part of the series. And you don't want to do such a thing while watching something that has more that 250 episodes in total.

Finally, it's time to cover what we get from the Funimation.... not much really. No bonus features are present, unless you consider four trailers of other anime (including DBZ itself) such a content.

What is present, however, is an English dub version, which surprisingly has an alternate, English-oriented title screen (the us version is an obvious add-on, you can see the difference in the shades of black used in the original release and the new one added over it). Unfortunately, this is yet another case of the Japanese-imported-to-USA syndrome, where too much silence in the scenes is unacceptable. Result? After watching the movie with original soundtrack first, you suddenly notice that there's almost always someone talking and there is a lot of dialogue and text that is simply non-existent in the Japanese dub. What is worse, it's usually some banter not fitting the scene or that could be easily skipped and one realizes very fast that this is forced into the anime. Especially that to cope with that, the dialogue that actually WAS there before is altered in various, usually large, degrees. Just set the subtitles on and you'll see that characters say something completely different than in the original dub. This is of course a shame, but nothing new, Voltrons and Transformers Cybertron being my favourite examples for this.

If this wasn't bad enough, the choice of actors is pretty bad. Only Bardock was chosen well and his English voice fits him much better than the Japanese one. Others didn't have that much luck (well, maybe Zarbon did a bit) and for the most of the time (I watched first 15 minutes in English the second time before switching back to Japanese again, I still find it a good proof of my level of commitment to the CDX society) the voices are completely misguided. Especially Freeza, who now is dubbed by a women(!) who stylizes herself as an old, wise witch(!!!). Dear God... he had such a cool voice in the original version, why didn't they try to imitate that one, damn it!.

So yes, while there are some anime where listening to English actors is a pleasure itself (GITS Stand Alone Complex or Tezuka's Metropolis) to the point that you prefer it over the original seiyuus, it is by no means the case with this one.

Overall, I like this TV special, I can fully enjoy it as a on-and-off Dragon Ball fan. If you're fresh in the DB business, you might want to wait some time before viewing this, however, do put it on the “things to watch” list and don't forget about it when the right time comes, there's a big chance you'll like it.

I don't like the way Funimation approached this, though. Their dubbing is crap, the dialogue list is expanded/altered in a weird and totally unnecessary way, the extras are missing... Someone really messed up; based only on the quality of US content I would never touch this DVD with a stick.

Is this worth buying, then? Surprisingly, yes. Finding any DB special or movie on the Internet is extremely hard and so, for many people, including myself, buying this release is pretty much the only chance of seeing this animation at all. And believe me, watching is a lot more fun than reading the overview at Wikipedia. Just make sure you'll never touch the English soundtrack, it's for your own good.

T-Elos is the mysterious android featured in Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra. She is designed as the new model of Anti-Gnosis weaponry to replace the previous unit, KOS-MOS.

T-Elos is the mysterious android featured in Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra. She is designed as the new model of Anti-Gnosis weaponry to replace the previous unit, KOS-MOS.

T-Elos is a 1/8 scale figure from Alter, who also did a 1/8 scale figure of KOS-MOS V.4 that matches T-Elos.

T-Elos is the opposite of KOS-MOS aesthetically speaking. KOS-MOS has red eyes, and T-Elos has blue. Where KOS-MOS is pale-skinned and mostly wearing white and blue shades, T-Elos has dark skin and purple armor with deep maroon highlights.

T-Elos actually bears a closer resemblance to the original version of KOS-MOS, with the one-piece swim-suit style armor along with the large jeweled head crest as well. T-Elos is inscribed into the headpiece with gold paint details nicely.

While KOS-MOS V.4 has a much more dynamic and striking pose, T-Elos remains much more calm and stoic. It's suiting for her character though, who often is very brooding and enigmatic.

Although this pose really does help hammer in the fact that T-Elos very is long on legs.

T-Elos' hair is done in an unusual translucent yet opaque plastic. Light can pass through it fairly easily but you can't actually see through it. It looks very nice and has a wispy feel to it, as if it's flowing gently through the wind.

However, this hair's also probably the biggest flaw of the figure. There's just so much of it that you really can't get a good look at all of the detail put into the back. It also feels rather heavy and makes me worry that if a packaging mishap were to happen, maybe the head would just break off.

T-Elos doesn't have an really accessories aside from the L-BLADE weapon on her arm. The blade is done in a purple translucent plastic that nicely gets across the look and feel of a beam-weapon.

T-Elos' stand is done in the same hexagonal pattern that KOS-MOS's stand was done. She pegs in nice and securely. However because of T-Elos' simple pose, it's actually possible to have her stand without it and easily stay in place, so long as you're not shaking the table violent or anything mind you.

I think that between KOS-MOS and T-Elos, KOS-MOS is the figure that received more attention in terms of sculpt, detail, paint, and in terms of sales as well. I don't think that they're producing these pieces anymore and the price has sky-rocketed. While they were originally about 6000 to 7000 yen each, T-Elos averages for about $150, while KOS-MOS goes for $200. I think that you'd have to be a very big fan of Xenosaga or these character designs to pick them up at that price. T-Elos isn't a bad figure though, and if you can get it may be used at a lower price point, I'd recommend her. She's definitely the highlight of my personal figure collection.

Do the boys ever succeed in turning Sunako into a lady? You will have to pickup Funmation’s DVD release of The Wallflower to find out. If you appreciate gothic style you will love The Wallflower and all its inside jokes about the genre and subculture.

The Wallflower

The WallFlower
Director- Shinichi Watanabe
DVD Release- Funimations
Episodes- 25
Original Broadcast: October 3, 2006 to March 27, 2007
Original Creator: Tomoko Hayakawa (Manga)

Most of my anime collection consists of locating programs I watched as a kid from the 1960’s though the 1980’s or recent landmark anime films or TV series. The downside of this is that I am hardly exposed to different types of anime outside that circle. When the opportunity arose to review a recent Funimation’s DVD anime release I jumped at the opportunity, the best part being I was not familiar with any of the titles.

With a careful overview of each title one stood out of the others. Perhaps it was the unique art design or the heartfelt story narrative; The Wallflower won me over the other programs.

Taken from the original manga The Wallflower (ヤマトナデシコ七変化) by artist Tomoko Hayakawa and directed by Shinichi Watanabe. Funmation’s release of The Wallflower is a thin 2-case 4-disc DVD slipcase set. No liner notes are included. Special features include an English Dub, the original Japanese program dub, English subtitles and clean closing and opening titles for the three styles of credits used throughout the series.

I never get upset on a dub but I was not particularly happy with a couple of the dubbing voices, which were a little annoying and I opted to watch it in Japanese. Actually I prefer to watch programs in English with the translated English subtitles selected so I can see if there are any differences with the dub and translation but still enjoy it in English. This set does not have that feature. I do like the fact that you get the entire series in one box and you do not have to go hunting down discs to get the entire series.

The Wallflower is the classic Pygmalion story that you might be familiar with in George Bernard Shaw play or the George Cukor film My Fair Lady but with its own unique twist. Sunako Nakahara is heartbroken when a boy she loves tells her she is ugly after she confesses her love to him. Rejected she withdraws to herself and shuns all things beautiful or as she says “creatures of the light”. She starts collecting horror films, macabre medical jars full of dead animals, and dressing in black. Her closest “friends” are three full sized antimony medical mannequin dolls that she interacts with named Akira, Josephine and Hiroshi. In fact Akira humorously narrates the introduction of each program.

Sunako’s rich Auntie is later entrusted with making the withdrawn Sunako into a proper lady and gives the four male high school students that are boarding at her mansion the assignment to turn her into lady. The conflict is that the four high school students are the most beautiful boys in high school and city where they reside. Where ever they go girls, and even some men, get smitten with them. Even Sunako can not bear to be around “The Creatures of The Light” as she bleeds profusely out of her nose and faints. The four High School students are not only insanely rich but they are also very selfish and very self absorbed and only take the assignment when the Aunt threatens them to have to pay rent if they do not turn her into lady by a certain deadline.

The four students have their own back stories. Kyouhei is blonde and the leader and “most beautiful” of the group. The bulk of the program is the interaction, conflict and budding romance between Kyouhei and Sunako. Takenga has black hair and is the most introspective of the four, and the only one who seems to have a girlfriend in the form of a fellow High School student named Noi who happens to be the only female that talks with Sunako and accepts her for who she is. Ranmaru is the ladies man who is obsessed with chasing women. Yuki is the youngest and most androgynous of the group and although many girls like him he just wants to be a kid and be accepted by the other three.

The Wallflower is a study in Juxtaposition in its animation and art design style. Many of the characters morph throughout the cartoon from a highly stylized Tomoko Hayakawa manga art to cute, super deformed chibi art, sometimes all in one scene. The “beautiful” art design of the High School Students reminds me of yaoi art with some definite homoerotic overtones especially with Yuki who looks like he has a female head on a male body. It really plays off as a satire to yaoi and has fun with the genre throughout the series.

Gothic style is represented through Sunako’s art design with lots of black shadows and creepy harpsichord music when she is presented. About 80% of The Wallflower Sunako is in her chibi form but when she transforms into her human form she is a striking purple eyed, young lady with black hair with a Betty Page style fringe. Actually she is one of the most iconic anime character designs I have seen in a long time. Reoccurring characters include the comic relief Goth-Loli sisters who also have a definite gothic overtone. Finally the high school scenes are represented in the typical large eyed anime style.

Throw those three styles together and you have the madness that is The Wallflower. Each genre has its own rules that the director expertly weaves and satires. Not only is the Wallflower a struggle between characters but a struggle between anime and genre styles. This is was makes this program so smart and very different from the other large eyed high schools anime flooding the market over the years.

The humor is quick and quirky and you have to pay attention to the interaction and the nuance of each character to get the in-jokes at times. Every episode has at least one moment that made me laugh out loud nonstop. One reoccurring sequence that appear when you least suspect it in each episode is the “Road To Womanhood” PSA that teaches Sunako how to be a woman with often very funny results.

What is most important about The Wallflower, and what I placed my bets on, is although it is a comedy it does have some very deep and moving melodrama throughout it, which starts around episode 9 but prevalent in the last few episodes. The program begins exploring the many characters struggles with being young and all the heartache that is involved at that formable age. In one of the most beautifully directed scenes, an ex-girlfriend of Ranmaru calls Sunako “ugly.” The boys put aside their differences and stick up for her informing the ex that she not only crossed the line with the introverted Sunako but with their group as well.

Do the boys ever succeed in turning Sunako into a lady? You will have to pickup Funmation’s DVD release of The Wallflower to find out. If you appreciate gothic style you will love The Wallflower and all its inside jokes about the genre and subculture. Not only was The Wallflower exceptionally funny but the melodrama and honesty of the characters have stuck with me and I still think about the program often. Funimation’s did an excellent job getting this TV series to the USA market and I highly suggest the series to somebody who wants something a little different from the average anime high school comedy.

©2009 Article Leonardo Flores.

So here we have a new figure in the Revoltech line, a female figure, sculpted by Yamaguchi. Between this and the queens blade line, I guess the Fraulein experiment is done.

Reycal Orichalcum is the main character in the Manga "Orichalcum Reycal" The manga has to do with a college kit named Sakugi Mitsuaki, who is into building models and sculpting garage kits.

Sample provided by our good friends at HobbyLink Japan!

One day he gets special modeling clay, and sculpts this figure, which then comes to life as "Reycal Orichalcum"

And that's about all I know about that.

So here we have a new figure in the Revoltech line, a female figure, sculpted by Yamaguchi. Between this and the queens blade line, I guess the Fraulein experiment is done.

The good news is that its a pretty good figure, much better that those early Fraulein releases. These now have Revoltech joints in the knees, as opposed to the swivel joints.

There's nothing bad to say about the core figure - it's tight, the sculpt is good, and paint detail is nice. The design of the figure helps hide some of the flaws of the female Revoltech design, such as the skirt design hiding where the hips meet the legs.

The hair is articulated, largely to make way for the armor.

The armor included comes in a animal form, dubbed Knight Eagle. This eagle is Reycal Orichalcum's Armor Haul Partner. One cant help but notice the similarity to Bandai's Saint Cloth Myth figures. The Knight Eagle is flimsy, and barely holds together. You can attach it to the stand when not in use.

To be added to the figure, the Knight Eagle must be completely disassembled, and not all parts are used on the figure.

Once the armor is on, as Knight Reycal, the figure looks great, and the armor is stable on the figure. I was surprised at the sharpness of the wings, and the dual fold-out action. A variant hair piece is included for the armored form. The only weakness was the chest V, which had a tendency to fall off if bumped.

A spear handle is included that attaches to the tail of the Knight Eagle, making a weapon. The handle on the spear has a peg in it that can fit into the weapon holding hand.

Also included is the default Revoltech stand, but this one comes with a little something extra. This one comes with a small female to female pipe that connects to a smaller dual Revoltech joint. This really extends the range of poses available to the figure.

Finally, you get a 10 point Revoltech coin, and the small revoltech container.

All of this can be yours, if you go right now to HobbyLink Japan

PS - there's a bonus sad face.

Rin Natusume is another character from "Little Busters" and is also the second release from Aoshima's Mobip line.

Rin Natusume is another character from "Little Busters" and is also the second release from Aoshima's Mobip line.

This figure arrives courtesy of Hobby World Japan

Little Busters is a popular Japanese "Visual Novel" which is just a fancy way of saying "video game you don't have to do much in". Rin is the lead character of the series. She's an ace baseball pitcher, and she is often seen with her little white cat Lennon.

The Mobip line is an obvious competitor to Figma, and they did a pretty good job. The quality is close, but not quite as good as Figma. Figma seems to have sharper details in areas like the hair, and they do a better job in matching the color of the joints with the rest of the body.

Rin Natsume comes with a bunch of accessories, including:

• spare face
• nekomimi hairpiece
• interchangeable fisted hands
• left hand with a baseball glove
• right hand holding a baseball
• Lennon the cat

So it looks like if you are a Little Busters fan, they got all the bases covered (no pun intended).

This figure also comes with a nice clear articulated stand for posing.

If you want your own Rin Natsume, get yours at Hobby World Japan

A mildly different take on the Mecha genre!

Review

As a fan of any Genre entertainment, you learn to accept, if not fully embrace, a set of well-worn, even clichéd, tropes. And so it is with Mecha Anime. Giant robot lovers come to expect certain things. There will be a wide-eyed, pre-pubescent naïf who is destined to become an unlikely mech pilot, by dint of hard work, a positive attitude (against all odds), and some unique, inherent, semi-magical talent. This pilot will have parent issues, two potential love interests, a true friend disguised as a rival, and so on. The best examples either take this formula in a radically new direction, or create such an engrossing world within these confines that you can’t help but immerse yourself in it.

Does Jinki Extend do either of these things? No. So it isn’t one of the best. But is it worth watching? Sure, as long as you know what to expect, and I imagine you do.

Jinki Extend’s (hereafter abbreviated JE) primary innovation is to cast the wide-eyed naïf pilot as a young girl, Aoba.

Aoba's single unique character trait is her love of gunpla, which is a nice nod to fans. The joy she feels in piloting the mecha from the perspective of a mecha fan is an exciting concept, but one ultimately left untapped. Her well-trodden insecurities are given far more room in her characterization. The modeling thing is pretty tacked on.

So our otaku protagonist, "orphaned" by the death of her grandmother, is kidnapped into a Venezuelan military outfit called Angel, dedicated to battling the mysterious Jinki (used as a catchall term for the series mecha, translates roughly as 'man machine') operating under the command of the evil Kyomu organization. The locale of Venezuela is totally arbitrary, except for a few vaguely "jungly" set-pieces. Later, some action will take place in a heavily damaged Tokyo.

It turns out that Aoba's long lost mother, Shiva is, in fact, alive and well, in thrall to Kyomu's mastermind, a creepy little purple fellow called Kokushou.

The mother/daughter conflict has the potential to create a wholly different nuance to the proceedings, different from, say, Evangelion, whose underlying narrative heavily influences Jinki: Extend. Unfortunately, it does not. You could switch the genders of every character in JE, or make them all South African hermaphrodites, without losing a speck of insight.

Aoba’s pilot peers are also young girls, but their interactions are pretty pat. There are seemingly dozens of young girl pilots, each essentially interchangeable, with one exception, which I'll get to in a moment.

The first half of the thirteen-episode series concerns itself with the coming-of-age and training of Aoba, complete with the obligatory mecha sporting sequences, this time in the form of Robot Soccer.

In the second half, the action really gets going. Aoba's role recedes, while another pilot, the mysterious amnesiac Akao, becomes the central protagonist. The relationships between Akao, Aoba, Shiva, Kokushou, and a dozen other characters are explored by throwing cloning, murder, revenge, and possession in a blender with flashbacks, flash forwards, visions, and so forth, until the plot is nearly incomprehensible.

I am trying to avoid spoilers, but even after watching this show twice, I'm not entirely sure what's happening. There's a lot going on, and it doesn't help that the many, many women are all bathed in identical blue light.

So while the second half is technically interesting, it feels like it's too much for the constraints of six episodes. If you find yourself engaged, multiple viewings are probably mandatory.

What about the Mecha?

JE’s signature Mech is the Moribito. Designed by the undistinguished Katsuyuki Tamura, the Moribito is serviceable but middling. It’s blocky proportions fall somewhere between the Legioss Alpha and Katomi's work on Virtual On.

The mecha flavor throughout JE is more derivation than inspiration. The support mech are perfectly fine, but nothing screams out "cool" to me. It's all very workmanlike.

The robot battles are pretty straightforward, with little in the way of upgrades and special attacks.

The final battle between the Moribito and the Final Boss, the imaginatively named Red Jinki, is the best of the action sequences, set against a moody, rainy backdrop.

Rereading this review, I started with a muted recommendation, then proceeded to say almost nothing good about the show. In my final analysis, I'd recommend this for hugely omnivorous anime and mecha fans, but not casual consumers (I consider myself the latter). There's simply nothing particularly compelling going on here.

Jinki Extend is available from Funimation at a MSRP of $39.99

Technical Notes

I turn on subtitles whether I need to or not. JE’s subtitles are awful, at least in their fidelity to the spoken words, or maybe the audio is awful in its fidelity to the subs. The subs are actually better written. I wouldn’t recommend watching with both on, it’s too distracting. Additionally, you can’t adjust the settings mid-episode and return to where you left off. You have to start the episode over, which is dumb.

Special Features are minimal, and consist of an inessential, unaired thirteenth episode, trailers, and a clean opening.

Will Sgt. Frog find a foothold here in the states, where the general public does not get the jokes? They may be lost on everyone but the hard-core otaku.

Reviews are always harder the second time around. I had written this very fantastic review about Sgt. Frog, and I hit submit, and then it disappeared.

Dammit.

So I wrote a whole paragraph about how when I first put in the Sgt. Frog DVD, I selected the English version, and how It was like taking a bath in ice water. I was thrown in the middle of a story, with a narrator yelling at me, all the characters were hyperkenetic, and the voice acting just seemed... overdone. Normally I go for the subtitled version, but Funimation seems to be making an effort to Americanize the series, so I thought I would check it out.

I had no idea what was going on.

So then I tried the subtitled version and It was a lot better. I am a firm believer that anime should be watched in its original context, with as little localization as possible. A lot of the jokes or references just don't translate well.

In Japanese, the show rocks. The subtitles are crisp and clear, all the text effects are subtitled as well, and you get a better feel of what they were working towards.

But what is this Sgt. Frog thing about anyway?

Sgt. Frog is the English adaption of the popular Japanese series Keroro Gunso created by Mine Yoshizaki. First a Manga, Keroro Gunso chronicles the failed invasion of earth (known as Pekopon) by small, nerdy frog like creatures. Instead, Keroro becomes a Gundam-loving otaku and the show falls into the realm of the absurd.

If you like shows like Excel Saga, then you will like this. The show clearly targets the Otaku demographic, specifically with numerous references to Gundam, Yamato, Macross, Evangelion and more. Sgt. Frog himself collects and builds Gundam models, and in one episode sets out on a mission to save his favorite hobby store.

In Japan, Keroro Gunso is huge. One only has to walk down the main drag in Akihabara to get a feel of how much Keroro Gunso stuff there is. Because Gundam is so ingrained into the otaku soul in Japan, fans have really latched on to this Gundam-flavored series.

Which makes me wonder if Sgt. Frog will find a foothold here in the states, where the general public does not have that attachment. The jokes may be lost on everyone but the hard-core otaku.

This set comprises the first part of series one, episodes 1-13 spread out over two discs. The episodes are available in English and Japanese. Special features include the Pekopon Invasion Recon Data, Textless Songs and Trailers. Both discs are in slim DVD cases housed in an attractive cardboard slipcase.

My recommendation is to skip the hokey English dub and skip right to the subtitled version.

Sgt. Frog Season 1 Part 1 is available September 22 at a MSRP of $39.99.

• Funimation Sgt. Frog Official Site

I think I finally figured out what it is that makes a Yamashita design/illustration so... “Yamashita.” It's the eyes. They just make you melt and feel like they are looking right at you.

Rogue is the first in a new series of Bishoujo (Pretty girl) style, 1:8 scale line of statues based on the ladies of Marvel Comics by Kotobukiya as interpreted by the talented Shunya Yamashita.

Yamashita is one Japan's most famous and talented Bishoujo artists with a wealth of material available in the form of art books, video game work, as well as many of his illustrations being the basis of statues and action figures. If you have been paying any sort of attention over the past 6 months you know I am an enormous Yamashita fan.

Rogue is a staple of Marvel Comics X-Men franchise and has an incredibly long and complex history. Feel free to check the link for a complete breakdown from wikipedia.

The figure comes in a very neatly designed window box decorated with artwork by Yamashita...

...the same artwork the sculptor, Koei Matsumoto used to bring this beauty to life.

And beauty is indeed the word that comes to mind. Rogue is simply stunning.

I think I finally figured out what it is that makes a Yamashita design/illustration so... “Yamashita.” It's the eyes. Sure, his women are sensual, shapely and stunning but it's the eyes. They just make you melt and feel like there looking right at you.

The sculpt detail is excellent and precise. The paint detail is flawless. No under/over-spray anywhere. Honestly I expect nothing less from Kotobukiya craftsmanship. Their reputation is well deserved.

I particularly like the pedestal display for the base elevating it from just sexy girl statue to art piece.

I am only a casual X-Men fan but a huge Yamashita fan and I am happy to add her to the collection.

I must say even though I knew they where in the 1:8 scale, I was a bit surprised at how small they are in person. However with a $59.99 price tag you are certainly getting a quality piece at a great price. Any Rogue or Yamashita fan would do well to get one while you can. Kotobukiya now has their own on-line store and you can be sure to get one there.