Daybreak's Bell

MG 1/100 RX-78-2 Gundam Ver. 3.0 Preview

2013-05-19T19:12:00.000+08:00

Since 1995, Bandai's 1/100 scale Master Grade (MG) Gundam model line has produced various versions of RX-78-2 Gundam. Just prior to the Shizuoka Hobby Show, news leaked that Version 3.0 is to be announced. Let us have a look what it offers.

MG 1/100 Gundam Ver. 3.0 in a glance is an upscaled version of the RG 1/144 Gundam, which was based on the 1/1 scale Gundam now standing in Odaiba.

Computer generated graphics of MG 1/100 Gundam Ver. 3.0. Similar to the RG 1/144 counterpart, different shades of red and white will be used in the plastic parts.

Sliding armour parts incoperated at arm and leg joints, as well as on backpack.

Sliding armour parts as seen on the leg. I remember that this is implemented on MGs as early as on Aile Strike Gundam back in 2003.

LED unit, decal sheet, and weapons such as hyper bazooka, Gundam hammer, and beam javelin will be sold separately in an expansion set. This expansion set has to be pre-ordered from Bandai Hobby Online Shop or via proxy services. Price and release date TBA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojtotzVnb9E

Here is a feature video for the MG Gundam 3.0 from Bandai Hobby's website to sum things up.

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MG 1/100 RX-78-2 Gundam Version 3.0 will be released in August. According to AmiAmi online hobby store, the price will be around 4500 Yen or 4725 Yen with 5% sales tax.

With the latest iteration of Gundam announced, how many people are looking forward to buy and to build it? From my observation, while some are excited to it, others seem to get tired of seeing RX-78-2. For me, while I am not particular big on the original Gundam itself, I am a little surprised that the additional weapons are to be sold separately as a web shop item, which is quite a major departure from the usual patterns for past Gundam iterations. Nevertheless, the mechanical details do look quite immaculate, and fans should be pleased that a 1/100 scale version of the 1/1 Gundam in Odaiba to be avaialable soon (I hope).

Sources:
AmiAmi blog
AmiAmi online shop
http://bandai-hobby.net/site/mg_evolution/index.html
http://ameblo.jp/digitamin/entry-11530836715.html

New Gunpla in 52th Shizuoka Hobby Show

2013-05-16T18:21:00.003+08:00

Image from @sake_online via twitpic

It's that time of the year - the annual Shizuoka Hobby Show is back, where a lot of companies showcase their latest models. Let us see what Bandai has to offer for the Gunpla this year. :o

Every year there is always a spotlight among all the Gunpla shown in Bandai's booth. This year's spotlight is the MG 1/100 RX-78-2 Gundam Ver 3.0, whose information happened to have been "leaked" out yesterday.

MG 1/100 Aile Strike Gundam RM Version, already released, 4410 Yen

MG 1/100 Geara Doga, Jult release, 5040 Yen

RG 1/144 Gundam GP01 Zephyranthes

RG 1/144 Gundam GP01/Fb Zephyranthes Full Vernier

HGUC 1/144 Gerbera Tetra, July release, 1890 Yen

HGUC 1/144 Base Jabber Type 89 (support flight unit), June release, 1260 Yen

HGUC 1/144 Doven Wolf (Unicorn Version), August release, 2310 Yen

HGUC 1/144 Zogock (Unicorn Version), September release, 1780 Yen

HGUC 1/144 Messala, June release, 3150 Yen

HG 1/144 Astray Red Frame with Flight Unit equipment, August release, 1785 Yen

HG 1/144 Astray Gold Frame Amatsu, September release, 1890 Yen

With the newly redesigned MG RX-78-2 Gundam, how many people will be looking forward to it? The other new ones seem to be mostly 1/144 models from the Universal Century series as well as those from SEED Astray side story. I may have my eyes on the Doven Wolf, but otherwise not much else at the moment.

Pictures are from AmiAmi's facebook album and Degitamin blog

Lotteria Ramen Burger

2013-05-08T23:59:00.000+08:00

Fastfood chain store Lotteria will release a new type of burger from 20th May to mid-June in Japan - the ramen burger, which is pretty much ramen sandwiched by . It is a collaboration with ramen chain store Menya Musashi (麺屋武蔵).

Menya Musashi Ramen Burger (麺屋武蔵ラーメンバーガー) will be sold for 634 Yen each, which consists of a burger bun with ramen inside as well as char siu pork. The burger is also complemented with soup to go with the ramen.

If that is not enough for you, you can add an extra 100 Yen for extra portion.

While Lotteria's ramen burger is amusing in a way, I think I personally will be more interested in Kitakata ramen burger (喜多方ラーメンバーガー) instead:

The Kitakata ramen burger is from the city of Kitakata in Fukushima prefecture, which is known for its distinctive ramen according to Wikipedia. Using ramen as the buns of the burger, with other bits and bobs sandwiched in between. It's like taking everything out of a ramen bowl sans the soup, and shape that into a burger.

Lotteria Ramen Burger images from Lotteria

Kitakata ramen burger from:
http://yamazaki-3.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/2009/07/post-27bf.html

Mega Man Merchandise Questionnaire

2013-04-30T05:08:00.000+08:00

Image from pixiv

Capcom has a questionnaire up asking fans which character from the Mega Man (aka Rockman in Japan) franchise that they want to see being made into merchandise.

You can find the questionnaire here:
https://www.capcom.co.jp/form/rockman/chara_goods2.html
Questionnaire is open until 15th May, and results will be announced on 25th May.

Find out what characters are open for poll after the jump.

Mega Man (Rockman, Ariga Hitoshi sensei's version) from manga adaptation of the original Mega Man game series
Image from the mangaka's twitpic for celebrating the franchise's 25th anniversary

Proto Man (aka Blues) of original game series

Roll (8 bit version) of original game series

X's Second Armour from Mega Man X2

Metal Man from original game series

Iris from Mega Man X series

Mega Man Vollnut (Rock Volnutt) from Mega Man Legends series (aka Rockman DASH in Japan)

Black Zero from Mega Man X series
Fanart from pixiv

Mayl Sakurai (Sakurai Meiru) from Mega Man Battle Network series (aka Rockman EXE)

MegaMan.EXE (Rockman.EXE) from Mega Man Battle Network series

Axl from Mega Man X series

Ciel from Mega Man Zero series

Zero from Mega Man Zero series

Servbot (Kobun) from Mega Man Legends series

Beat from original Mega Man game series

Model X from Mega Man ZX series

Lan Hikari (Hikrai Netto) from Mega Man Battle Network series

Eddie from original Mega Man game series

Star Force Mega Man (Shooting Star Rockman) from Mega Man Star Force series

ProtoMan.EXE (Blues.EXE) from Mega Man Battle Network series

Rush Jet from original Mega Man game series

OVER-1 from mobile social game Rockman ×over (pronounced "crossover")

Copy X from Mega Man Zero series

And finally Vile's (VAVA's) Ride Amour from Mega Man X

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If you don't find a character you wish to be merchandised, there is also a field for you to fill in your favourite character.

As mentioned on top, the questionnaire is open until 15th May, and results will be announced on 25th May.

Image from Rockman Unity blog

Sigma is one of the latest characters confirmed to be merchandised, though unlike the other characters before him, he will not appear under D-Arts as a poseable action figure, but a static figure under Figuarts ZERO line. He was ranked 2nd in the previous questionnaire. A slight catch though is that Sigma will only be exclusively available in Bandai Premium's Tamashii Web Shop.

I personally voted for Black Zero and VAVA's ride armour, but I also hope that Colonel from X4 will also make an appearance one way or the other. Hopefully if they do appear that the chance for them to end up as web shop exclusives won't be too high, but one can only hope.

Z'gok Tofu Hands On!

2013-04-29T23:59:00.000+08:00

I've always wanted the mould of the Z'gok Tofu since its announcement. With a stroke of luck, a shop in Mong Kok was selling empty moulds of them for a reasonable price, and I thought to myself "why not?" and went ahead to buy one.

Front

Back

The model number and name "MSM-07 Z'GOK" are moulded clearly at the front.

Underside

Comparison with 1/144 Gunpla, in this case a HGUC 1/144 Zaku Mariner

Not so sure what you can do with a Z'gok Tofu mould, but I suppose you can mount it on a Gunpla and let it pretend to be a Z'gok...

Joint operation. Yea I know this is a bit silly, but a bit of it won't hurt I suppose :P

I am glad that I managed to get this. Apart from being a nice decoration for desktop, it may also be useful as a mould for, say, chocolate or jelly etc. Maybe that's worth trying one day. :o

Apply Weathering to Gunpla, Alternate Style

2013-04-28T23:59:00.000+08:00

Image of weathered HGUC 1/144 GM Cold Climate Type from GEKI Plamo Blog

Weathering is a technique applied on military models to make them look more like they have been on a field, soaking up mud and dirt, as well as being worn down by combat and even battle damage. This also applies to other science fiction models, with Gundam models (Gunpla) also being no exception. While weathering is usually done with paint and brush, YouTube user buruvia takes on weathering with a different approach and perspective, if not an amusing one at least.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-W6OF1d6pw

First, pick a Gunpla kit. Buruvia chose HGUC 1/144 GM for this very demonstration.

Build it up and apply panel lines.

Here is where the boys are different from the men - firecrackers.

Wrap up your model (victim?) with firecrackers...

... And burn it! Burn it with fire!
Just make sure to extinguish the fire once the firecrackers have all blown up.

The result. Sure, the shield and parts of the feet got blown off, but the weathering, or rather the battle damage effect, is pretty convincing, isn't it?~

So when in doubt, use explosives. Just don't make it an overkill though~ XD

But too bad firecrackers are banned in Hong Kong... Or else I would love to try it myself too... T_T

Source:
YouTube video via Gundam Guy

Medicom RAH Hatsune Miku preview

2013-04-26T23:59:00.000+08:00

First appearing as a teaser in Wonder Festival Winter 2013, Medicom has now announced 12" tall Hatsune Miku clothed action figure to release on Real Action Heroes (RAH) line!

Front and back

Close up

Keyboard

Keyboard close up

RAH Hatsune Miku is scheduled to be released in January 2014 for 23900 Yen (tax included). Curiously, she is slightly more expensive than RAH Black★Rock Shooter that I mentioned nearly two years ago.

I noticed that that some shops in Hong Kong are offering pre-orders at quite low prices, with discounts as great as 20% (or even greater).

I most likely won't want to jump into a new line and just stick with what I have... For now ^^; Nevertheless I can see how she is going to be a popular one for the fans~ Is anyone getting her asl well?

Images are from Medicom and AmiAmi

USS Peleliu (LHA-5) in Hong Kong

2013-04-18T23:59:00.000+08:00

US Navy's amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA-5) arrived in Hong Kong this Monday, and was docked at the Ocean Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui for 4 days. Normally I wouldn't have had a chance to visit it as it's only staying during the weekdays, but with a stroke of luck I managed to sneak out and took a few pictures myself. It sure is a grand ship, in both size and age!

USS Peleliu is an old ship. It was commissioned in 1976 and served in many places, from wars such as Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom to relief operations such as the 2010 flood in Pakistan.

Accoridng to Wikipedia, this Tarawa-class ship is scheduled to be decommissioned sometime this year or in 2014, so we may not get to see her again in the future. It is also the last ship of her class, and is to be replaced by the America-class.

The view of USS Peleliu from the rooftop of Ocean Terminal is quite grand. The deck is high enough that you get a clear view of the ship with the planes and helicopters parked~

AV-8B Harrier II jumpjets, best known for their ability to take off and land vertically (VTOL). They are to be replaced by F-35B with similar ability once development is over (which has been dragging on for quite some time).

Mk 49 Guided Missile Launching System with RIM-116 RAM. These are surface-to-air missiles for self-defense.

A SH-60 Seahawk, a variant of the well known UH-60 Black Hawk, is also stationed on the deck. It's funny how two of the Harriers are deliberately spaced further apart so that the helicopter can be viewed in full sight from here XD.

The CH-53 Sea Stallions are huge; they are the size of lorries, and perform their roles just like one!

The "island" superstructure of the ship. Lots of radars, and a large "5" to indicate that USS Peleliu is the 5th ship under "Landing Helicopter Assault (LHA)" classification.

Phalanx CIWS for self-defense against anti-ship missiles. Most of the guns are covered up that day so they can't be seen properly.

AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopter

CH-46 Sea Knight, a medium-lift utility helicopter.

Sailors stationed at the entrance. The ship is not accessible for public, but crews do go in and out for their day offs, shopping, and possibly some drinking in places like Lan Kwai Fong in Central or Lockhart Road in Wan Chai.

A few more pictures to finish it off:

I missed USS Boxer (LHD-4) when it visited Hong Kong back in 2011, and looking back at news it appears that there were a few more warships that visited Hong Kong in recent months as well, with USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19) visited last month. At last I finally managed to see a warship in person in Hong Kong~ It definitely is an impressive sight! ^^

Nendoroid Sakura Miku review

2013-04-13T23:59:00.000+08:00

After talking about it back in last August, Good Smile Company's Nendoroid Sakura Miku has arrived safely las month! I opened it up for some time, but lacked the energy and motivation to take photos for quite some time as I had to recover from a medication disaster earlier. Without further ado, let's get the pink Miku reviewed!

Nendoroid Sakura Miku was released in March 2013 as a web order from Good Smile Company web shop for 3900 Yen (shipping excluded). At first there was a bit of anxiety surrounding on its quality as Nendoroid Snow Miku Fluffy Coat version last year had a bit of a disaster, which did sap a bit of my confidence. It appears that some GSC staff did go and inspect the production of Sakura Miku , and the nendoroids are completed in advance of the shipment date. Well at least that means she comes in good time for sakura viewing (hanami) season!

Here are the parts:

Nendoroid Sakura Miku, 2 extra faces, one extra head part for cherry decorations, sakura petal base, cushions, a pair of bent arms, a pair of bent legs, rice cake, sakura flower, and a standard nendoroid base with arm stand (not seen in photo).

Front view of Sakura Miku
Very pink overall

And the back view
The cherry ribbon at the back is a nice touch, though it can fall off a little easily while handling the nendoroid

As with the Snow Mikus, the twin tails of Sakura Miku has a nice gradation from painted from pearl pink to translucent pink, with sakura patterns here and there.

First accessory: A sakura flower

Next is the rice cake. It's stuck with the right hand, with a peg on one side of the cake to attach it on a left hand with a hole for it.

How to eat rice cake? Sit down some cushions, relax, and enjoy~ >‿‿< The cushions are made of 3 parts. The bottom two are the same with pegs and holes, so I think it's possible to stack multiple units if you happen to have more than one.
There are two different sets of headphones available for Sakura Miku: the original ones in grey, and the pink ones covered in sakura. Sakura Miku is by default wearing the sakura-covered headphones. Switching headphones requires you to switch the front hair piece too though.

And here is Sakura Miku with her standard earphones. Now she looks a lot more like a recoloured version of normal Nendoroid Hatsune Miku or even the first Snow Miku

There is an original base in the shape of sakura, which looks more like a fancy plate in a way. There are no holes for inserting arm stand, but it's a nice decoration nonetheless.

Sakura Miku also comes with a crying face. I am not very creative on how it should be used, but it's here.

Quick comparison with the first Nendoroid Snow Miku.

I'll leave Sakura Miku and Shana eating their snacks in the mean time~

In many ways Sakura Miku is a repaint of the first Nendoroid Hatsune Miku and Snow Miku, but the extra cherries and the sakuras here and there are a nice touch overall with good quality (although a couple of parts are a tad loose for me). In other words, it's an interesting "seasonal" variation of Miku, whose nendoroids have a lot of versions out there already. Will this also gain annual variations like Snow Miku and Racing Queen Miku? I'm not so sure. Well, we'll see.

Distant Worlds coming to Hong Kong

2013-04-07T23:59:00.000+08:00

Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY worldwide concert tour is finally coming to Hong Kong! The date is set to 27th and 28th July at 7:30pm in Asia-World Expo (near the Chek Lap Kok airport).

Image from Gaming Union

Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY (in short Distant Worlds) is a symphony orchestra concert tour featuring music from each major title of the Final Fantasy video game series, with Arnie Roth conducting and composer Nobuo Uematsu making an appearance. After the initial successes with the concert tours within Japan and in the USA, the world tour Distant Worlds started in 2007 in Stockholm, and is continuing to perform in various places to this date.

Nobuo Uematsu is best known for composing music for early Final Fantasy series (sole composer for Final Fantasy I to IX, but also contributed to a few more titles afterwards with other composers). While he no longer works for Square-Enix (then Squaresoft), he still makes appearance as special guest for the Distant Worlds tour.

Tickets are now available at Hong Kong Ticketing as well as at Sound of Faeries Boutique. Prices range from 680HKD to 1680HKD, with the most expensive tickets allow you to be seated right in front of the stage, as well as a chance to meet Arnie Roth and Nobuo Uematsu personally for a photograph.

I listen to a fair amount of video game music these days, and I've been a fan of Final Fantasy's music. For years I long wished for such a concert to come to Hong Kong, and this is finally a dream coming true! Definitely going there with my sister!

Website:
http://ffdistantworlds.com

Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/ffdistantworlds

Easter Break

2013-03-31T23:59:00.000+08:00

Easter bunny chocolate from Archangeli, photo by Stepswalker.

Time flies, and we are now a quarter past 2013. Wish everyone had a great Easter!

While there was a 4-day Easter holiday for me, I could not get to enjoy to the best of the extend due to some medication disaster I have to recover from. There are a lot of things I wanted to do, but ended up not being able to do so.

Photo by Stepswalker

Nevertheless, it's great to meet up with Archangeli on Friday, who came to Hong Kong for a day, together with fellow local doll mates such as TonyBSD, Stepswalker, and XOHimitsuOX. I rarely bring my Black★Rock Shooter out, so it's nice to do so for a change now and then. Thank you for the great night out!

Dragon Can.Do 1/144 Warrior (UNPROFOR)

2013-03-30T23:59:00.000+08:00

Although having collected 1/144 scale tanks and other military vehicles for nearly 10 years, I still have a couple of rare or special ones not in my collection until the recent years, where I have been able to acquire them via the Internet or informed by friends. This time it's not of a WWII tank, but a military vehicle from the modern era - the British Warrior.

The FV 510 Warrior tracked armoured vehicle is an infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) for the British Army, much like the M2 Bradley of the US Army. For those who don't know what that means, it's basically an armoured troop carrier with an automatic cannon mounted on top so that it can fight alongside with the infantry it carries.

This Warrior is from Dragon's Can.do Challenger II & Warrior shokugan series, which has a assorted mixture of the Challenger II tanks and Warrior IFVs.

This particular Warrior I have depicts from the Cheshire Regiment, UNPROFOR in 1992, which was the name of the UN peacekeeping force when it first fought during the Yugoslav Wars.

White colour stands out a lot from normal sceneries, but this is intended for UN peacekeeping force; instead of camouflaging themselves they must let everyone know of their presence. But I tried looking for relevant landscape to go with it.

Gundam Battle Operation now in Hong Kong

2013-03-28T23:59:00.000+08:00

Mobile Suit Gundam's free-to-play multiplayer team action game is now available on Hong Kong PlayStation Network! Originally available on Japanese PSN only,

The game is a little similar to the online multiplayer counterpart of XBOX360's Operation Troy (aka Mobile Ops: The One Year War), where you can fight in MS as well as on foot, with the latter taking more of a role of taking control points and destroying objectives. Overall the gameplay can be compared to the popular Battlefield series.

Each team (Federation and Zeon) start out near their base and work their way to capture control points (for spawning and scoring points). Apart from taking down enemies and capturing control points, one can also set a timed bomb and destroy the enemy's main base, which will score a great amount of points. The battle ends when the time is up, and the side with more points being the winner.

As more games are played, more points and schematics can be obtained for new MS, parts, and weapons. Once a particular schematic is completed you can use the points to unlock it. The new content will then be available for customisation.

However, there are restrictions for free-to-play. There are restrictions on how many times you can go on a battle: There are 3 "energy slots", and one gets used up per battle. They will get recovered over time, or one can pay money in order to play more games consecutively.

I played a few games on the beginner-friendly battles. Combat system takes a small time to get used to (as I suck aiming at enemies with an analog stick), but the game does offer a fair amount of customisation as you play more. The only problem I have at the moment is how it is not easy to start a game, as a room has to be full with all players ready before the game can start. There are several occasions where one cannot join any rooms, or that the wait for the last player to get readied takes too long and people come in and out indefinitely. Hopefully this will get fixed soon.

Here is the official trailer for the Hong Kong version. Don't worry too much about the Chinese if you cannot read them; the video is fairly self-explanatory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCnxENdOu3g

Official Hong Kong website:
http://bo-asia.ggame.jp/zh-HK/

Official Taiwan website:
http://bo-asia.ggame.jp/zh-TW/

2013 C3 in Hong Kong Coverage

2013-03-23T23:59:00.000+08:00

The 4th C3 in Hong Kong event occurred over last weekend. This came a week late, but hopefully it's not too late!

Captions will be filled later! Also check out Shuichi Ikeda's (Char Aznable's seiyuu) stage appearance in the previous post!

One Piece 1/1 scale character stands

Gundam faction badges gachapons at Bandai's shop area

"Smartpants" - underwear for smartphones anyone?

Premium Bandai stuff: "Lighting wings" effect parts for upcoming RG 1/144 Destiny Gundam

RG 1/144 Zeta Gundam Unit 3

MG 1/100 Johnny Ridden's MS-06S Zaku

Black Lotus Ovedrive Mode Green

Robot Damashii Psycho Frame Initiation version

SHFiguarts Frieza

D-Arts Metal Garurumon

Now for upcoming Gunpla kits: HGUC 1/144 Full Armour Unicorn Gundam

MG 1/100 Jesta

MG 1/100 ReZEL Defenser Type a + b

Event exclusive Gunpla: HGUC 1/144 Unicorn Gundam 02 Banshee Norn Extra Finish ver

Early release of SD Unicorn Gundam Banshee action figure, with Unicorn Gundam next to it for comparison

SD Full Armour Unicorn Gundam action figure, display only

HGUC 1/144 Gundam Ez8

HG 1/144 Gundam AGE-1 Gransa

MG 1/100 Aile Strike Gundam HD version (what's wrong with the wings though? ^^;)

HG 1/144 Astray Blue Frame 2nd L

Diorama

Byarlant Custom vs Marasai

End of episode 5

Line art for episode 6

Stand arts for Kyousougiga (京騒戯画)

Gundam Battle Operation, a free-to-play game on PS3 originally for Japanese PSN accounts, is finally coming to Hong Kong too!

Upcoming Unicorn Gundam 02 Banshee 1/35 scale head stand on display from Hobby Japan booth

Collaboration project between Bandai (namely mecha designer Okawara Kunio) and Threezero

Now into Tamashii Nations stuff. First off is the chogokin "Disney Combiner", featuring Mickey and his friends as some sort of super robots

D-Arts Alisa Ilinichina Amiella from PSP game GOD EATER

Metal Build Gundam Exia / Exia Repair III

Code Geass Akito the Exiled banner

Alexander Knightmares plamos for Code Geass Akito the Exiled

New mecha Valvrave plamo for upcoming mecha anime Valvrave the Liberator

Sunrise has a huge signing board for anyone to feel free to sign or draw pictures on

Evangelion statues and a cosplayer (but I don't recognise the character she's cosplaying as)

Kadokawa pavilion

Artwork from Boku ha Tomotachi ga Sugunai (meaning "I have few friends") aka "Haganai"

Cospa t-shirt of Master Asia from G Gundam, which is Hong Kong exclusive

Toys distributor Elite Toys diplaying figures from Goodsmile Company, Max Factory, and ALTER

figma Ultimate Madoka

Belldandy with Holy Bell figure

figma Anzu Futaba and Rin Shibuya from THE iDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls

Nendoroid Petite: IDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls - Anzu, Kaede and Rika + Live Stage Set

Nendoroid Sakura Miku

Nendoroid Snow Miku Strawberry White Kimono version

There is a small section for photographing cosplayers with

Miku cosplayer in wedding dress

Silica from Sword Art Online

Nyaruko from Hayore! Nyaruko-san and Kirito from Sword Art Online

Nyaruko and Ezio Auditore da Firenze from Assassin's Creed II

Athena and Seiya from Saint Seiya

Sheryl Nome and Ranka Lee from Macross Frontier

Saber in her casual cloths from Fate/stay Night

Danboard from Yotsuba

Serra from Final Fantasy XIII-2

???

Snow Miku

One final shot at the venue before leaving.

Just like previous years, C3 in Hong Kong is a much more spacious event compared to ACGHK in the summers. I usually don't take pictures of cosplayers, but this year's cosplaying seems to have improved a lot, which is a good thing (as I tend to be quite picky on this). The organisers seems quite pleased with this year's event, and announced that they will make a return next year! Hopefully this will be an annual event like ACGHK is!

Shuichi Ikeda in 2013 C3 in Hong Kong

2013-03-18T07:47:00.000+08:00

Image from C3 in Hong Kong website

C3 in Hong Kong event occurred just over last weekend. As with the previous years, various people were invited for talks or concerts on stage. For this year's C3 in Hong Kong event, the seiyuu (voice actor) of Char Aznable, Shuichi Ikeda (池田秀一) was invited for a staged interview. This time it's mainly on his performance as Full Frontal in Gundam UC OVA series, of which the 6th episode was released worldwide this month.

The pictures in the post are from those with press passes, as the programme specifically mentions no photography or film recording allowed for normal attendees. >_<;
Left to right: Host, Ikeda, Ikeda's translator, and Hong Kong's voice actor for Amuro Ray 林保全 (Lam Po Chuen).

Watching excerpts of Gundam UC featuring Full Frontal and the character's voicework

Lam Po Chuen, the Hong Kong voice actor for Amuro Ray. He is perhaps much more well known for voicing Doraemon, a role he is still performing from 1980 to this day!

When asked whether there are differences between voice acting as Char Aznable and Full Frontal, Ikeda replied briefly that there are actually none. Afterall Full Frontal is also known as the "Second Coming of Char", but is he really Char? We will have to find out later (or you may already know if you have read the novel beforehand).

This is Ikeda's first visit to Hong Kong, and his first impression is that the wines and abalone here are good. He sure is into some fine cusine!

The author of the Gundam UC novel Fukui Harutoshi left a video message for Ikeda. Fukui wishes Ikeda to have a nice time in Hong Kong, but also warned him not to overindulge in drinking XD

Ikeda's favourite mobile suit is Char's Zaku, though he said he likes the Sinanju very much too.

There were rumours that Ikeda is a big fan of Gundam UC's music, and he does admit that he really likes it, which he gets to listen to when working together with the musical team.

On his final message, Ikeda mentions that next year 2014 will be 35th anniversary for Mobile Suit Gundam, and that there is a possibility for anime adaptation for GUNDAM THE ORIGIN to air then. This is interesting, as we are getting more speculations on GUNDAM THE ORIGIN, and this time it's from a prominent person.

Ikeda's responses are brief and concise compared to Toru Furuya, the seiyuu for Mobile Suit Gundam's protagonist and Char's rival, Amuro Ray. He also takes a more serious demeanor in contrast to the more lively Furuya. It has been a pleasure to see Ikeda and his voice acting as Char / Full Frontal on the stage, and his final message sounds like an interesting teaser. We shall see if his words are indeed true in the future!

Images are from Cybergundam and JPBETA

Yamato Closed Down?

2013-03-14T23:59:00.000+08:00

Image of 1/60 scale Super VF-1 from AmiAmi

Yamato Co., Ltd., a toy company known for their 1/60 scale Macross variable fighter toys, as well as figures and dolls, seems to have closed down this month.

The official site seem to have disappeared last week. The USA site (aka Toycom Inc.) however is still open as of today.

Pictures spread from futaba channel this week show the office vacant and everything seemingly cleared out. There was not even an official announcement for this.

There were apparently some tell-tale signs of Yamato not doing well prior to this; there were no releases no new toys since late last year, and Yamato did not attend recent toy showcases or events.

The PVC figures and dolls have been transferred to a new company called ARCADIA Co., Ltd, with the dolls section has a branch called ANGEL PHILIA.

So what will happen to the Macross stuff? It does appear that there will be some to be announced soon or later. Hasegawa announced a joint project with Aracadia for a 1/72 scale VF-1 Valkyrie 30th anniversary version that will be released sometime this summer. While there are no official words on the previous lines such as the 1/60th Perfect Trans line, a tweet from the Arcadia twitter account replied to one of the users asking this question did mention that they will be announced soon or later.

It is a pity to see a toy company going, but even more when it disappeared without a word. While there is a sucessor of some kind for it, does this say something about how the company was struggling for quite some time? Perhaps it may also indicate something about how some of the toy companies in Japan are struggling at the moment?

Taito Shana Kuji figure

2013-03-06T23:59:00.000+08:00

Impulses purchases... I think most of us, if not all, had this experience before. I had at least one last year, where I bought a Shana figure pretty much on sight. Funny enough it's my third Shana figure after Kotobukiya's Candy Bikini version and one from Max Factory (back in the very first year for this humble blog). This one is from Taito. It's not a from a known company for figures nor known for its quality, but let's see how it's like.

This is the "A" Prize Shana figure from Taito Kuji. It was released together with the rest of the Shakugan no Shana III -Final- kuji lottery set in Japan back in May 2012. Each lottery draw was 600 Yen each.

Front

The figure has no base, and there are no assembly required. You can display the figure as soon as you got it out of the box.

View from the left.

Back view. Not much to see here.

And from the right, where the coat obstruct the figure completely.

Face. Not sure what to comment on here, but perhaps it could use a bit more details? Or that it's a bit too round? It's still Shana though I suppose.

Torso and the penchent. The penchent is hanging freely on thin strings, which seem to be a bit too long, but not a problem I would think.

Legs. No special angle shots here. There is a seam line down at the middle of the leg, which can be a bit of an eye sore unfortunately.

The coat takes up a large volume of the figure. There is a nice touch of orange here and there based on Shana's fiery image.

As typical of Shana, the hair is translucent with a gradual change of colour from red to orange.

The Coat is quite big in relation to the figure itself. A lot of unused space is left beneath the coat, and you can even put a nendoroid underneath it!

One last shot before the conclusion.

Overall, this Shana figure from Taito is okay. It's not of amazing quality, but it's good to display too, despite taking up quite a large area (not necessarily volume-wise).

Shana happens to be the character whom I have the most figures, even more than Fate T Harlaown or Black★Rock Shooter. I think I do like her character design, being young but rather cool looking as well at the same time. Looking back, it's funny how I bought this figure in impulse, which is unlike me most (?) of the time. Well, the damage is done, and while not a big regrettable move, it should make me hold back and think before making a purchase in the future... I hope. :P

Gundam AGE: Memory of Eden announced

2013-02-28T23:59:00.000+08:00

While Gundam AGE anime series ended last September, a new project called Memory of Eden is announced recently that will recompile and expand more on the 2nd generation of the first anime series.

Memory of Eden will focus on the arc featuring 2nd generation characters, namely the protagonist Asemu Asuno, along with his friend and enemy Zeheart Galette . Akihiro Hino, the storywriter for the series, did mention on his twitter account how he felt the early parts in the arc, mainly with the school life, felt a little missed out and could have been expanded more. That said, Memory of Eden is likely to expand on that aspect.

In the picture above, it looks like that Gundam AGE-1 Swordia will make appearance in Memory of Eden. This variant of Gundam AGE-1 only made appearance in the PSP game before.

Memory of Eden will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray formats on 26th July. The OVA will be 150 minutes long.

Hm... The announcement of Gundam AGE was at first a little unexpected for me, as Sunrise still has Gundam Unicorn OVA to finish in 2014, as well as those announced but not started yet, such as Gundam SEED Destiny HD Remaster, and GUNDAM THE ORIGIN which was announced way back in 2011. Gundam AGE's reception was at best "mixed", to put it least negatively, though the 2nd generation is perceived to be the better one among the 3 generations for overall story, settings, and characters.

Say, there has been very little news of anime adaptation of GUNDAM THE ORIGIN. Sure there was a rumour back in January stating that it to air in 2014, but it was only a rumour. I wonder whether we will hear more of it soon...?

Pictures from Gundam AGE twitter account

Website:
http://www.gundam-age.net/memory_of_eden/index.html

Sedov in Hong Kong

2013-02-25T12:29:00.000+08:00

Russian sailing ship Sedov visited Hong Kong over the weekend. Unlike the USS Boxer which I unfortunately missed, I did manage to pay a visit to this ship on Sunday~

Originally a German sailing ship called Magdalene Vinnen II, the Sedov was first launched in 1921, and was given to then Soviet Union as a war reparation. First used as a cargo ship and now a training ship, the Russian ship celebrated its 90th anniversary 2 years ago, and is on a world tour since last year.

Sedov docked near Ocean Terminal, with two cruise ships docked behind it.

Sedov viewed from the starboard (right) side. The picture was taken from the Central-Tsim Sha Tsui ferry as it was about to dock nearby.

Sedov with a private boat paying a brief visit to the venerable ship.

We went to the roof of the Ocean Terminal to took a few pictures from the top. It is possible to board the ship if you get a ticket early in the day, but they're usually gone in a matter of hours. But getting to see the ship at such distance is very satisfying for me already!

A quick shot from the ground level before leaving.

My friend stepswalker visited the day before, and the weather was much better with more vibrant colour for the day (not least to say a better camera too!). Too bad I couldn't get up early to go with him.

A monochrome filter to give it a vintage view to finish it off. It definitely won't look out of place given its age and look!

Official site:
http://www.sts-sedov.info/

GM Cannon Conversion for HGUC 1/144 GM II

2013-02-17T23:59:00.000+08:00

While I am quite fond of grunt machines in Gundam franchise, especially those of Earth Federation ones, there are several relatively obscure ones that don't get model releases yet (unless you count those that were made in the 1980s). Luckily, a local Hong Kong magazine has released a GM Cannon conversion kit for GM II a few months ago, and I finally got it completely pretty recently.

The conversion kit comes as a bonus from December issue of local Hong Kong hobby magazine "機動世界" (literally "Mobile World"), which covers mostly on Gundam and other mecha models. It is worth noting that the conversion kit is for HGUC 1/144 GM II rather than the original GM (although GM III is also compatible with it to some degree, but it won't resemble the GM Cannon as much as that with GM II).

Runner

Assembly instructions on the first page of the magazine.

The GM II assembled with the GM Cannon conversion parts (sans the shoulders, which seem to be directly copied from HGUC 1/44 GM Sniper II).

Overall, the GM Cannon has thicker lower legs, different front and back skirt armour, new backpack, as well as different parts for the head with two antennas.

It took me some time to decide what colours the grey conversion parts should be, but as I've decided that the colour of the torso to be that of GM III's, I tried to have the leg parts to best match that teal colour. I think I have sort of done it, albeit a little mediocre with the finish:

Front

Back

The backpack looks pretty faithful to the original design. It overall is pretty easy to assemble, though the thrusters can pop off a little easily, so a bit of glue would help to keep them in place.

The back of the head with two antennas is also new, but not for the front half which is still the same from the original kit.

The cannon sits on top of a mount which goes over the right side of the upper chest.

Comparison with GM II

A few poses to finish the post before conclusion.

GM Cannon is a relatively obscure design from Mobile Suit Variation, which serves as variations of the existing designs that made appearance in the anime. It did make brief cameo appearance in Zeta Gundam, as well as in several video games as a playable unit.

The conversion parts for the top half of the kit, including the head, backpack, and cannon, are pretty easy to assemble, whereas parts for the bottom half legs need a bit of sanding on the pegs before assembly.

The only problem I have with this converted GM Cannon is how the lower legs are bulky and obstructs the articulation on the knees to some degree.

Otherwise I am quite happy with the GM Cannon, which is something nice to complement my GM II. With the MS-06R-1A Zaku High Mobility Type announced for several ace machines recently, perhaps we will see more HGUC 1/144 scale Gunpla releases for MSV soon or later! ^^

Happy Chinese New Year

2013-02-12T23:59:00.000+08:00

Image of Hatsune Miku Suigyoku (翠玉, i.e. Jadeite) and Megurine Luka Kougyoku (紅玉, i.e. Ruby) Chinese dresses by jonejung, via e-shuushuu

A couple of days late, but Happy Chinese New Year to all who celebrate it!

2013 is the Year of the Snake. Apparently the Snake symbolises wisdom. Perhaps this year will be a year our wisdom is put to a test?

One way or the other, let us hope that this year will be a good year for us and to our hobbies!

ALTER 1/7 Fate T Harlaown -Summer holiday-

2013-02-08T23:59:00.000+08:00

I haven't bought PVC figures for some time, and I only have a handful of them compared to my other toys. This time it's ALTER's 1/7 scale Fate T Harlaown -Summer holiday- version, featuring Fate T Harlaown from Magical Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS in swimwear.

February does not seem like an ideal time of the year to wear swimsuit... Oh well, let's imagine she's near the tropical regions, or even somewhere in South hemisphere where's it's summer right now. ^^;

Front

From the left

From the right

And back view

Closer look on the face with sunglasses. The sunglasses are indeed made of transparent material.

Fate's coat tucked hanging on the left hand.

The base is a simple circular clear one with the name of the figure printed on one side.

One final picture to finish the post. I may put a few more comments later on :o

Hatsune Miku Collaboration Glasses

2013-02-05T23:59:00.000+08:00

Sega's Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F rhythm game for PS3 is collaborating with Japanese glasses maker Washin to create original Hatsune Miku theme glasses. :o

Full rim glasses, with black arms (sides) and clear blue accents, mimicking Miku's sleeves.
Lens diameter is 55mm.

Under rim glasses, with greater emphasis on the clear blue, as well as a twist on the sides and a hint of pink near the joints.
Lens diameter is 52mm.

The two pairs worn. I somehow feel that the half rim pair would go better on the girl, and vice versa ^^;

Both pairs will be available for pre-order on Washin web shop for 13900 Yen (14595 Yen with sales tax). The web shop, which is known as Washin-palette, has a website but is not available for order at the moment; pre-order should be available in mid-March, with release date to occur sometime in April.

There does appear to be more and more Miku merchandise or collaboration project these days! Anyone interested in these Miku glasses? I don't wear glasses these days, but if you ask me to choose, it can be hard for me to decide... I think I prefer the more conservative look on the full rim glasses.

Official website:
http://washin-palette.jp/

Pictures from Netorabo and Hachima Kikou

Dragon Can.Do 1/144 "Bergetiger"

2013-01-31T23:59:00.000+08:00

I haven't bought a lot of stuff from my latest Tokyo trip in November/December, but there are a few items that I have managed to grab after seeking in vain for several years. This Can.Do 1/144 "Bergetiger" is one of them.

The so-called "Bergetiger" is a bit of a mystery in itself. It's essentially a Tiger I tank with a crane attached to it instead of the notorious 88mm gun. Widely rumoured to be an armoured recovery vehicle of some kind, i.e. mainly to tow away damaged vehicles out of the battlefield, some observers argued that the crane looks too small and weak to handle such task. Unfortunately not many original German records are available to document this particular vehicle, but it may appear to be a field modification for demolition charge and possibly for field workshop assistance.

This Bergetiger was a secret item for 5th series of Dragon Model's Can.Do 1/144 miniature tank shokugan toys. It is stated to be under sPzAbt 508 heavy tank battalion, and according to the battle log I saw from a book, there was indeed a record noting that one of the tanks damaged from action was converted for demolition charge purpose, but no picture was available.

A small half-figureis comes with the tank that sits loosely on top of the cupola with opened hatch. And for only approximately 6mm tall, he really is small!

A mini diorama to depict the Bergetiger "in action"... Well moving crates I suppose, but it's important duty nonetheless. :P

In case one wonders how big the tank is along with the diorama setup, this picture with a pencil and Nendoroid Nekomimi Shana may bring light to you. One thing what I like about 1/144 miniatures is how one can build a diorama just in front of your desk! ^^

I start to feel that my point-and-shoot camera is really starting to struggle to cope sometimes. For example, the macro shot of the diorama was actually taken with my phone. Many people are now taking pictures with interchangeable lenses, and that smartphones effectively take over the role of compact cameras. I am still stubborn and trying to stick with my 4-year-old compact digital camera... Well until it breaks I guess?

Z'gok Tofu Photo Contest Results

2013-01-30T23:59:00.000+08:00

Remember the Z'gok tofu I blogged about earlier? A photo contest for the amphibious MS-shape hot pot tofu was held from 21st November 2012 to 11th January 2013, with results announced recently for winning entries! Let's see what hot pot dioramas there are out there!

Take this! Launching Z'gok missiles!

Red (Z'gok) tofu! Could it be Char?!

Z'gok tofus (and mushrooms as Acguys) preparing for Jaburo assault!

Re-enacting the famous scene with Char's Z'gok and GM!

The Z'gok has a new opponent to face in the hot pot!

I like the way the claws are made for this particualr entry!

A relatively thin Zock is also in the pot with Z'gok tofu and mushroom Acguys!

Z'gok team with Acguys!

More entries can be seen in their gallery!

Pictures from Z'gok Nabe Contest website