![Robot Damashii [Side EVA] Eva Unit 02](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5k8oCN0qdL8/S4pSKkYXlXI/AAAAAAAABAA/-lin2wNA0Tw/s1600-h/rdeva02.jpg)
The first Evangelion unit to be released under the Robot Damashii toyline is Asuka Langley's EVA Unit 02. Robot Damashii [Side EVA] EVA-02 Rebuild of Evangelion Ver stands 16cm tall, much taller than other Robot Damashii figures. The figure comes with various Evangelion weapons like progressive knife, needle gun, and bowgun. Other accessories includes a flight unit and several pairs of optional hands.
Robot Damashii EVA 02 costs Y3500 or about US$40. Here's the review to help you decide if you want to add this on your collection.
Henshin Hotties are basically the girls (or ladies) who stars (or guest starred) in a tokusatsu series. They can be actresses, singers and most of them are gravure idols, who are indeed hot in anyway you look at them. Since I'm a fan of tokusatsu for over three years now, I'm listing my Top 5 Henshin Hotties.
5. Nao Nagasawa
Nao Nagasawa is an actress, singer and gravure idol. She debuted on the tokusatsu scene on 2002 as Nanami Nono/HurricaneBlue of Ninpuu Sentai Hurricanger. Since then, she guest starred in various tokusatsu series including Ultraman Max and Tomica Hero Rescue Force. She had a good body paired with a pretty face and singing voice.
4. Mikie Hara
Mikie Hara is an actress and gravure idol. She debuted on Cutie Honey the Live series as her major lead role as Kisaragi Honey. She also starred in various Jdrama series including the recent Jyouou Virgin. Most of her photo shoots are really daring. No wonder why many fans liked her.
3. Rika Sato
Rika Sato is a gravure idol that have released various photosets and DVDs. She had a acting debut as Eri/GoseiPink in the recent Super Sentai series, Tensou Sentai Goseiger. She also entered the music scene as one of the Straw Hats who sang the latest One Piece opening. Although alot of people are distracted on her big ears, I find it one of her unique features. Even if she is the youngest in my list, she cannot lose to her sempais in terms of sexy body.
2. Yuka Hirata
Yuka Hirata is a gravure idol who have released different web photobooks and daring idol DVDs. She entered the tokusatsu scene as a villain in Jyuken Sentai Gekiranger, Mele. She also appeared in other tv shows such as Food Fight and Jigoku Shoujo Live. What I find very attractive on her is her alluring smile.
1. Yuriko Shiratori
Yuriko Shiratori is a gravure idol who made an acting debut on Kamen Rider Den-O as Hana. She is considered as the best thing that happened in Den-O but half way in the series, she left the show due to health reasons. This left fans disappointed and hoping to see more of her in the future. Her angelic face and smile made me a fan of her. Don't forget the almost perfect body that she have. XD
Labels:
Article,
Henshin Hotties,
Mikie Hara,
Nao Nagasawa,
Rika Sato,
Yuka Hirata,
Yuriko Shiratori
3
comments
|
This week's music video is the ending theme of the second Hajime no Ippo boxing-themed anime series, Hajime no Ippo: The New Challenger. The song is 8AM by the rock band Coldrain. This is one of the few Japanese songs that is sung in English.
8AM by Coldrain
Somehow
I can't remember why
We stayed up till 4AM(till 4 am)
We talked about
Nothing important and then made love
No persons can be close as us
No persons can be close as us
And now as she calls my name
Inside her dream
Kisses me still half asleep
Don't I wish that we could stay like this
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah...
Time flies
And I can't remember the
First time that we met
Now I need her
Like I know she needs me too
It can't get much better than this
It can't get much better than this
And now as she calls my name
Inside her dream
Kisses me still half asleep
Don't I wish that we could stay like this
yeah yeah yeah
I stop the alarm to watch her sleep
and think I'd do anything
If I could make this time rewind forever
Till 7:59
And now as she calls my name
Inside her dream
Kisses me still half asleep
Don't I wish that we could stay like this
yeah yeah yeah
I stop the alarm to watch her sleep
and think I'd do anything
If I could make this time rewind forever
If I could make this time
If I could make this time
If I could make this time
If I could make this time rewind
I'd make it
Lyrics Source: Jpop Asia
J-Pop - 8am [CD+DVD] (Coldrain) at Play-Asia.com
Somehow
I can't remember why
We stayed up till 4AM(till 4 am)
We talked about
Nothing important and then made love
No persons can be close as us
No persons can be close as us
And now as she calls my name
Inside her dream
Kisses me still half asleep
Don't I wish that we could stay like this
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah...
Time flies
And I can't remember the
First time that we met
Now I need her
Like I know she needs me too
It can't get much better than this
It can't get much better than this
And now as she calls my name
Inside her dream
Kisses me still half asleep
Don't I wish that we could stay like this
yeah yeah yeah
I stop the alarm to watch her sleep
and think I'd do anything
If I could make this time rewind forever
Till 7:59
And now as she calls my name
Inside her dream
Kisses me still half asleep
Don't I wish that we could stay like this
yeah yeah yeah
I stop the alarm to watch her sleep
and think I'd do anything
If I could make this time rewind forever
If I could make this time
If I could make this time
If I could make this time
If I could make this time rewind
I'd make it
Lyrics Source: Jpop Asia
J-Pop - 8am [CD+DVD] (Coldrain) at Play-Asia.com
The time has come for a new Tamashii Web Exclusive SH FiguArts figure. And this time, it's SH FiguArts Kamen Rider Kuuga Growing form. There's nothing really special on this release besides this is the first form Kuuga used.
The pre-order of SH FiguArts Kuuga Growing form will start next week at a price of Y2625 or about US$30. The figure will be released in late June 2010. The figure comes with six pairs of interchangeable hands and a thumbs-up sign.
Here are more pictures of the figure:
Since this figure will not be a regular release, if anyone is interested in this figure, you can contact EX_Japan Middleman Services. She got lots of rep in doing this kind of thing. You can also email her via order(a)yokattaweb.com or Twitter.
The robotic mascot from the anime series Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu is finally out. Robot Damashii Bonta-kun is jam packed with lots of accessories and armaments which includes an M-16 Sub-Machinegun, shotgun, 9mm Pistol, grenade, and baton. It also includes three interchangeable facial expressions, the head of Sousuke Sagara, and the so called "sweat drop."
You can also get custom lanyards with these designs.
The figure costs Y3000 or about US$34. Here's a review to help you decide if you want to add this on your collection.
The first SH FiguArts figure from Kamen Rider W is now out. SH FiguArts Kamen Rider W Cyclone Joker stands 14cm and comes with a couple of accessories including the scarf and four pairs of interchangeable hands. The figure costs Y2500 or about US$28. Here's a good review to help you decide.
Since Valentine’s Day is over, this would be my Post-Valentine’s Day review.
Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge or best known by North American audiences as The Wallflower is a 25-episode anime based by the manga written and illustrated by Tomoko Hayakawa which up until now, is still on going with individual chapters serialized in Bessatsu Friend since 2000. The anime was adapted by Nippon Animation which aired on TV Tokyo and TV Aichi from October 3, 2006 through March 27, 2007.
Due to the popularity here in the Philippines, this show is one of the top searches in Yahoo! Philippines back when it first aired here and is one of the frequently requested shows to reair by fans.
The show kicks of with the events that happened on our lead female’s middle school year. She was dumped by his crushed by saying these words, “I hate ugly girls.” This caused our lead’s heart to break and turn into the “dark side.”
On the present, four boys who are renting a mansion owned by a Landlady which the call her, “Auntie”, asked them to turn her niece into a lady, to be exact, a Yamato Nadeshiko, an ideal Japanese lady. In case they fail, they will pay their current rent, triple. Thinking that this is an easy task considering that these boys are heartthrobs, they accepted the challenge.
Who are these boys? Here is a short introduction. Yukinojo Toyama or best known as Yuki is a boy who often cross-dresses and often mistaken for a girl due to the fact that he looks convincing like a girl. Next is Ranmaru Mori, the group’s playboy who is known to hit 2 or more girls at the same time AND sometimes hit married women! Next is Takenaga Oda, is the smartest in the group. He is the son of a well-known family that’s best known for flower arrangement. Both Takenaga and Ranmaru by the way are rich kids. Lastly, is Kyouhei Takano, the sort of leader of this quartet, extremely handsome that even his male bosses harassed him and caused many fan girls melt into either a puddle or nosebleeds every time he arrives.
These boys are now waiting for the arrival of Sunako, the Landlady’s niece, until finally; she arrives, in a very odd way. Yuki noticed that there is something moving in the bush of the mansion, he peeked and the boys get the surprise of their life! Sunako crawled out from the bush ala Sadako from The Ring fame! After the boys stopped screaming, they finally confirmed, this is Sunako.
Like her namesake, Sunako is a pun of Sadako from The Ring fame. When Sunako first arrived in the Nakahara mansion, she dons a hairdo similar to Sadako and wears a long sleeved white shirt.
We later on learned that Sunako was the girl who was dumped by her crush back in middle school. Because of the events that happened, she decided to turn into the dark side… literally. She started loving gore, horror, darkness and developed a fear of “radiant” people such as the boys. If she saw one, she will nosebleed. The boys therefore conclude, to transform Sunako into a Lady is indeed a challenging task.
As the series progressed, the boys tried their best to transform her into a Yamato Nadeshiko and sometimes ending not successful… HOWEVER, they almost turn her into a Lady once but it was only temporary. A Love story developed from the unlikely couple of Sunako and Kyouhei. On some episodes, Auntie pops up to either ask the rent or show up in an event with her current boyfriend.
Two girls related to our two boys are introduced to be exact Takenaga and Ranmaru and they are Noi and Kikono. Noi is one of the students in the school where Sunako and the boys study while Kikono is Ranmaru’s fiancé.
On to the review, the basic of every Romantic Comedy genre show or film is that both Comedy and Romance is well balance but in YamaNade’s case, the show is loads of comedy that is why I liked it. It is not cheesy like a certain overrated love story coming from Hana Yori Dango, but something unique they you might even say to yourself, “Hey, why didn’t they thought of that?”
Sunako is the mix of your everyday Goth Girl that likes to say what she feels while Kyouhei is the everyday handsome jerk the most girls fell in love with. Put them together, we have a love story that can be compared and contrast or even would give Hana Yori Dango’s Tsukasa and Tsukushi a run for their popularity.
Another funny couple in the show is Takenaga and Noi, what makes it funny is that every time these two tried to kiss, they will be interrupted by anyone who is available!
The show also has a similarity to Hana Yori Dango, aside from the top examples, the four boys reminded me of F4 only poorer and Sunako is the girl who is caught between the flowers.
For the show’s comedy, there are couples of episodes that will cause you to fall in your chair and laugh and those are The Pirate Island Episode, The First Episode and my personal favorite, The Valentine’s Day Episode. The show made a good use of Sunako’s super-deformed mode to give an emphasis that this part of the show is not that serious. Chibi Sunako carried the comedy of both the manga and the anime. That is why I was wondering how the live-action adaptation of the show could can pull of the show’s comedy.
One thing I liked about this show is the segment called; “The Path of Being a Lady” in which the Japanese dub of the show had a narrator that sounds like Yoichi of Eyeshield 21 fame but in the Filipino dub, the narrator sounded like some guy from a circus which adds to humor of the segment. In the manga, if my memory serves me correctly, this segment does not exist. This segment adds more depth on how to teach Sunako into a prim and proper Lady.
To the disappointments, since the source material, the original comic is still on its run (And up until now, it is still ongoing) while the show is still airing, some chapters, which are very important to the show, are not included. A perfect example is the introduction of someone who likes Sunako in the form a guy who resembles Kyouhei with the glass and a lot more thinner. A very short segment in which we learned that Yuki has a girlfriend…that was very surprising. Sunako’s Middle School Class Reunion in which we finally met the one who dumped her and lastly, *cue in the angry fan girls* Sunako and Kyouhei’s second kiss.
Overall, YamaNade is a great Romantic Comedy show that would cause you to really laugh out laud and get touched in some episodes, to be exact how the boys first met and when Kyouhei returned to his parent’s house. This show is a perfect to those who watched Hana Yori Dango who wants something fresh. If I would be given the chance to pick a show to watch all over again, I would pick this. Hope the producers decided to create a Season 2!
There are current plans on making a live action adaptation of the classic ninja anime movie, Ninja Scroll, also known as Jubei Ninpucho, under Warner Brothers. The scriptwriter will be the same man who wrote for the Watchmen movie, Alex Tse.
The 1993 Ninja Scroll anime movie, written and directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, is about a story of Kibagami Jubei, a swordsman-for-hire, who saved a ninja woman from rape. He later makes enemies and fights a group of demonic creatures.
Ninja Scroll is a homage to the Ninpucho ninja novel series by Futaro Yamada. And the main character, Kibagami Jubei is a homage to the famous samurai hero, Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi.
The actors have strong physique figure as though they have been trained in muay thai gym in Thailand for this movie.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
We have reported several days ago that Kamen Rider Den-O will again have new movies, that will be entitled Kamen Rider Chou Den-O Trilogy Not just one but three. And now, we got the movie summaries for each one from dukemon22:
EPISODE RED:
Revolves around Yuuto and Airi. Yuuto must connect a rail that becomes interrupted in the future. This can be seen as "Zeronos' Final Battle."
EPISODE BLUE:
Revolves around Kotaro, and deals with his family issues. Kotaro's father (and Ryotaro's son) is introduced, and Ryotaro and Kotaro become split on a decision they have to make. Red and Blue together are to be viewed as sequels to the television storyline.
EPISODE YELLOW:
An Extra-Chapter of sorts. To be viewed as a true Cho Den-O sequel. The Den-O characters must team up with Diend in an effort to get Ryotaro and Aoa back to where they came from. The "Rider who misinterprets time" appears. When the great battle begins, the other riders from Decade and from Double appear to help.
After Bandai's success on SH FiguArts, a toy line that depicts characters from various shows like Kamen Rider, Pre-Cure and Dragonball, comes a new toyline with FiguArts technology: ULTRA ACT which made especially for the Ultraman or Ultra Brothers.
The new line will debut in June in the form of ULTRA ACT Ultraman. The set comes with Ultraman's cape from the latest movie and the Ultra beams: Specium Ray and Ultra Slash. This figure is said to stand at 16cm tall and will cost Y2940.
South Korean game producer Wemade Entertainment recently announced the upcoming Digimon Battle will be available this March. Digimon Battle is a turn based multiplayer online role playing game based on the Digimon anime series. The official site had recently provided a 30 second teaser of the game.
But i'm still wondering why they included Digimon Savers to promote the game. Isn't there been a rumor several months ago about the upcoming new Digimon series? What do you think?
Bandai Entertainment recently revealed one of their upcoming Code Geass projects in a form of two new manga anthologies: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Knights and Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Queens.
Code Geass Knights is the "official manga anthology for the girls" which is based on the male characters (Lelouch and Suzaku among other) of the Code Geass anime series while Code Geass Queens is the "official manga anthology for the boys" which stars female characters (Kallen and C.C. among others) from the said series.
The manga series will be five volumes long and the first volumes will be available on May and June respectively.
Besides these manga series, Code Geass will also release another manga series entitled: Code Geass: Shikkoku no Renya (Code Geass: Jet-Black Renya or Code Geass: Renya of the Blackness) that will be released this year.
Source: Anime News Network
Here's the first teaser for the upcoming Jdrama series with Yuichi Nakamura, Moyashimon: Tales of Agriculture.
Twitter is taking the worldwide trend and now, it became the main theme for a JDrama series. The series will be entitled Sunao ni Narenakute (I Can't Be Frank) starring Eita and Ueno Juri. Both stars have already worked on several drama series including Nodame Cantabile and Last Friends.
The story is set in Shibuya, one of Tokyo's centers of youth culture, where five men and women meet through Twitter. Eita plays a photographer named Nakaji who had aimed to become like his father, who was a war photographer before he was changed by a battlefield injury. Ueno plays the part-time high school teacher Haru, who is irritated by her own inexperience. Through their interactions, they overcome their individual problems and create a true friendship.
Tamayama Tetsuji and Seki Megumi also be part of the main cast as Linda and Peach while the fifth member of their group is yet to be announced.
Sunao ni Narenakute will premiere in April, on Fuji TV.
Source: Tokyograph, Dorama World
I don't know if fans really anticipated this recent Tamashii Web Limited SH FiguArts release. SH FiguArts Neo ZECTrooper stands 14cm tall and each set comes with ZECTrooper's signature machine gun weapon and optional hands.
The figure costs Y2415 or about $27 on pre-order. So expect to see the price of this figure rise on auctions and web stores. Here's a review for you to decide if you want to snag it or let it pass.
Neo ZECTrooper is another variation of the Kamen Rider Kabuto's ZECT army soldiers, ZECTrooper. It is exclusively seen on Kamen Rider Kabuto Movie: God Speed Love.
There will be a live action adaption of the manga and anime series Moyasimon: Tales of Agriculture by Miyazuki Ishikawa. The Jdrama series will be aired this summer starring Yuichi Nakamura.
Moyashimon is the story of the life of Tadayasu Sawaki, a first-year college student at an agricultural university, who has the unique ability to see and communicate with micro-organisms, germs and bacteria. Additionally, these organisms look much different to him, and much larger, than what can be seen under a microscope by normal people.
Yuichi Nakamura previously starred in two Kamen Rider series: Kamen Rider Hibiki as Kiriya/Kamen Rider Kyoki and Kamen Rider Den-O as Sakurai Yuuto/Kamen Rider Zeronos.
Source: Tokyograph
Aside the SH FiguArts Kamen Rider Kuuga Rising Ultimate Red Eyes that we have posted a few days ago, there's also another version released, an evil version. SH FiguArts Kamen Rider Kuuga Rising Ultimate Dark Eyes version come with the same accessories like the Red Eyes version, besides having a Black Tamashii Stage Act 2.
Get your favorite character on trading pins with custom designs.
On pre-order, the figure costs at least Y3465 or about $40. But since this is an exclusive figure, you can expect to see prices go double at auctions and online stores. Here's a review for you to decide if it's worth it.
Here is the first gattai (combination) and battle sequence of Tensou Sentai Goseiger's mecha, GoseiGreat vs Zaruwakku of the UFO. The video was taken from Goseiger Epic 2 that aired just hours ago.
Another live action adaptation of a popular manga and anime series is yet to come. According to the latest issue of horror magazine Rue Morgue, there are current plans on making a live action movie adaptation and a new anime series of Vampire Hunter D.
In the said magazine article, it is stated that movie will be worked on with the producer of the Resident Evil a.k.a. Biohazard video game series.
Vampire Hunter D is created by Hideyuki Kikuchi which tells the story about D, a dhampir, a half-human half vampire being, who is is an itinerant wanderer who helps where he's needed. He usually dispatches members of the fallen nobility of vampires who cause trouble for the human villages.
Source: Animevice
This week's music video is the 12th opening of the anime series, One Piece. The song is Kaze wo Sagashite (Search the Wind) sung by Mari Yaguchi to Straw Hat. One of our resident Henshin Hottie, Rika Sato is included in the video. Unluckily, I can't find full translated lyrics, only TV sized ones.
Kaze wo Sagashite by Mari Yaguchi to Straw Hat
Hora mae ni taisetsu na kimi ga matteru.
Hajimatta bakari no nagai tabi.
Yuki to ai to yuujou to.
Sukoshi no asobigokoro dake
mochi tsuzukete iyou
Bokura wa chikyuu no hitokakera
nakama ga atsumari sukoshizutsu
katachi ni natte yukundayo
soko ni kanarazu kaze wa fuitekuru
woo woo woo (yeah)
Kaze wo kanjijyou kaze wo kanjirunda
namida kawakashite kureru kaze wo sagashi ni yukou
Bouken no tabi dareka to deau tameni
Tachidomaranai sa Hora mae ni taisetsu na kimi ga matteru.
Kanashikute shikata nakatta toki isshoni nai tekureta kimi
tanoshikute shikata nai toki warau nakama gairu
Rokujuu oku no Wan Pīsu kiseki no youni deattanda
onaji jikan onaji keshiki miteru bokura no yume ni fuite kuru (yeah)
Kaze wo kanjiyou kaze wo kanjirunda
namida kawakashite kureru kaze wo sagashi ni yukou
Atarashii nakama ippai fuyasu tameni
hitori ja tsumannai gamushara ni hashitteru kimi wo sagasou
Namida wo nagasu tabi hito wa tsuyoko naru
Namida wo nagasu tabi omoide ga
dondon dondon dondon fuete yuku
woo woo woo (yeah)
Kaze wo kanjijyou kaze wo kanjirunda
namida kawakashite kureru kaze wo sagashi ni yukou
Bouken no tabi dareka to deau tameni
Tachidomaranai sa Hora mae ni taisetsu na kimi ga matteru.
Lyric source: One Piece Wikia
J-Pop - Kaze Wo Sagashite [CD+DVD]
(Mari Yaguchi Hexagon Unit) at Play-Asia.com
Hora mae ni taisetsu na kimi ga matteru.
Hajimatta bakari no nagai tabi.
Yuki to ai to yuujou to.
Sukoshi no asobigokoro dake
mochi tsuzukete iyou
Bokura wa chikyuu no hitokakera
nakama ga atsumari sukoshizutsu
katachi ni natte yukundayo
soko ni kanarazu kaze wa fuitekuru
woo woo woo (yeah)
Kaze wo kanjijyou kaze wo kanjirunda
namida kawakashite kureru kaze wo sagashi ni yukou
Bouken no tabi dareka to deau tameni
Tachidomaranai sa Hora mae ni taisetsu na kimi ga matteru.
Kanashikute shikata nakatta toki isshoni nai tekureta kimi
tanoshikute shikata nai toki warau nakama gairu
Rokujuu oku no Wan Pīsu kiseki no youni deattanda
onaji jikan onaji keshiki miteru bokura no yume ni fuite kuru (yeah)
Kaze wo kanjiyou kaze wo kanjirunda
namida kawakashite kureru kaze wo sagashi ni yukou
Atarashii nakama ippai fuyasu tameni
hitori ja tsumannai gamushara ni hashitteru kimi wo sagasou
Namida wo nagasu tabi hito wa tsuyoko naru
Namida wo nagasu tabi omoide ga
dondon dondon dondon fuete yuku
woo woo woo (yeah)
Kaze wo kanjijyou kaze wo kanjirunda
namida kawakashite kureru kaze wo sagashi ni yukou
Bouken no tabi dareka to deau tameni
Tachidomaranai sa Hora mae ni taisetsu na kimi ga matteru.
Lyric source: One Piece Wikia
J-Pop - Kaze Wo Sagashite [CD+DVD]
(Mari Yaguchi Hexagon Unit) at Play-Asia.com
One of the most awaited Tamashii Web Exclusive SH FiguArts figure is ready to be released this February. SH FiguArts Kamen Rider Kuuga Rising Ultimate Red Eyes Ver stands 14cm tall and each set come with six pairs of optional hands, one "thumbs up" hand and a custom Red Tamashii Stage Act 2.
Get custom lanyards with SHF Kuuga Rising Ultimate name printed to show your support.
On pre-order, the figure costs Y3465 or about $40. But since this is an exclusive figure, you can expect to see prices go double at auctions and some online stores. Here's a review for you to decide if it's worth it.
According to recent reports, there will be a new bunch of Den-O movies coming this Spring. It will be called: Kamen Rider Chou Den-O Trilogy. And the movies are as follows:
Episode Red (May 22nd)
A movie that focuses on Kamen Rider Zeronos.- Episode Blue (June 6th)
A movie that focuses on Kamen Rider Chou Den-O and probably, New Den-O . - Episode Yellow (June 19th)
A movie that focuses on Kamen rider Diend (?)
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, literally Heaven-Piecing Gurren Lagann, is a 27-episode mecha anime series, which is divided into two major arcs and four mini-arcs. It is animated by GAINAX and co-produced by Konami and Aniplex, and was aired on TV Tokyo between April 1, 2007 and September 30, 2007.
The story of Gurren Lagann revolves around Simon, the best Digger in Jeeha Village. Simon was a member of Kamina's Gurren Brigade, a group of Diggers. Kamina always dreamed on going to the surface and in the same time, look for his "old man," his father. Being an orphan, he respected Kamina as his "aniki (big brother)" and always look up on him. One time, he dug a small drill like key and kept it.
Later, a giant mech, called Gunmen, entered their village. Here comes Yoko, a gunslinger girl who tries to take it down, but she failed. With the help of a small sized Gunmen Simon found, they defeated it. And with the explosion caused by it, they went flying to the surface, and seeing it for the first time. They called the mini-Gunmen "Lagann."
The group went to Ritona Village, home of Yoko. Here they found the truth about Gunmen. And during one of the battles, Kamina courageously stole one Gunmen and piloted it. He called it "Gurren." He later knew that the "old man" he is looking for is already dead.
The group was later was attacked by Viral, a beastmen whose duty is to kill humans within the surface. Since Kamina envied his Gunmen, Enki, having two faces, he put Lagann above his Gurren. With pure luck, they found out that the two mechs can combine and become Gurren Lagann. Both eventually defeated Viral. They, Kamina and Simon along with Yoko and Leeron, then decided to go on a journey to the Gunmen base (whom later revealed as a moving fortress, a giant Gunmen) and defeat them so that humans can live peacefully on the surface.
In this journey, they have met other humans: the Black Kinsmen Brigade led by Kittan, Rosiu (with Gimmy and Darry) from Adai Village and joined them. Other people from other villages copied Kamina and got their own Gunmen. Kamina decided to call the new group "Dai Gurren Brigade."
On the raid to take over the giant Gunmen, Dai-Ganzan, they found out about the Spiral King and his Four Supreme Generals. They have successfully taken over Dai-Ganzan, but this leads to Kamina's death. Dai Gurren Brigade mourns on their leader's death and also leads to Simon's depression. But with the loss, they were later joined by Nia, Lord Genome, the Spiral King's daughter.
As the story progress, Simon, with the help of Nia, learned about his strengths and tries to become independent and making him a true leader. They also manages to defeat all Four Supreme Generals. On the Battle at Tepellin, they were joined by other humans who wants to oust the Spiral King. With all of their determination, they defeated Lord Genome.
Seven years have passed, Simon and the Dai Gurren Brigade build Kamina City above the former Capital City of Tepellin. Humans, along with beastmen, live peacefully and prosperous on the surface when the population on Earth's surface reached one million, the dreaded truth surfaces.
Anti-Spiral mechs they called "Mugan (no face)" attacks Kamina City and nearly destroys it, and Nia being one of them. Simon takes full responsibility and later jailed. The moon is two weeks near its collision with Earth, Rosiu advised the people to go and live in the depths of the Earth while some aboard the Dai-Gun. And again, with the help of former enemies, Simon and Viral manages to prevent moon's collision and thus forming Arch-Gurren Lagann and Super Galaxy Gurren Lagann in the process.
Aboard Super Galaxy Gurren Lagann, they all decide to travel to he home world of Anti-Spirals beyond the galaxy. Once they reached it, Dai-Gurren Brigade learned about additional truths behind Spirals and Anti-Spirals. Although some of the original members of the brigade died in the process, the remaining ones manages to defeat them using Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
With the defeat of the Anti-Spirals, Nia crumbles into data-like particles after her wedding with Simon. Simon then passes his core drill to Gimmy and spends the rest of his life as a nameless wanderer, while the humans begins to contact its fellow Spiral races throughout the galaxy.
And to my anime review, as much as I want, I can't condense the summary of the series less than ten paragraphs. Doing that might change one's look into the series.
Gurren Lagann is a combination of action, mech, adventure, sci-fi, comedy and drama genres. Once you have seen the first couple of episodes, you can't drop it. There are many surprises and twists along the series that I would like you to personally see, although some of them are really hard to understand (thanks to Leeron's layman's explanations). You can definitely feel the good build up of episodes inside you, plus the characterizations are all well done.
The anime also comes with lots of fanservice and decent amount of ecchiness. It happens most of the times on Yoko (I know male fans will love it XD). If you are a GAINAX anime fan, you might have noticed some references and cameo appearances of some characters throughout the series. One of then is Gunbuster.
The music from the show is definitely superb. It matches every scene it is played on. The main theme (Sorairo Days) and insert song (Happily Ever After) is sung by Shoko Nakagawa. Both songs are currently on my play list of favorite anime songs.
No wonder it got "Excellence Prize" at the 2007 Japan Media Arts Festival, and "Best Television Production" and "Best Character Design" award during the 7th annual Tokyo Anime Awards.
Overall, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is suggested for any mech and science fiction fans out there. You will never get disappointed.
My rating: 5 over 5 stars.
Samurai Sentai Shinkenger vs Engine Sentai Go-onger: Ginmaku Bang movie that was shown on January 30 debuted on #5 on it's debut weekend and earned over US$1.6 on 140 theaters. But due to the opening of The Vamshment of Haruhi Suzumiya movie last week, the Super Sentai movie dropped to #6 and just this week, it dropped to #8.
According to reports, the movie already earned over US$3 million up to date.
The movie happens while the Go-ongers are fighting Pollution President Batcheed in the Gunman World, a dimensional rift opens up that brings them back to the Human World where they meet up with the Shinkengers. They join forces when Batcheed and his revived comrades - Yogostein, Kitaneidas, and Kegalesia - join up with the Gedoushu in a battle spanning over the Braneworlds. The Shinkengers and the Go-ongers (with Goseigers making a cameo) team up together, to fight the united forces of the Gedoushu and Gaiark.
Shinkenger vs Go-onger's first weekend earnings is very much better than Engine Sentai Go-onger vs Jyuken Sentai Gekiranger: The Movie. It only earns US$964,079, showing on 292 screens, on its first weekend.
From my point of view, TOEI have a bad timing on showing this movie. Why? Because Avatar, the #1 movie worldwide, was still showing when this movie debuted. Thus more people liked to watch it rather than Shinkenger vs Go-onger movie. It could have been a lot better on sales if this was shown in the first week of February.
Source: Variety and Rentrak Theatrical
Madan Senki Ryukendo is a tokusatsu series aired on TV Aichi from January 8 to December 31, 2006. The story is about a secret organization S.H.O.T. (Shoot Hell Obduracy Troopers), protecting the City of Akebono from the Jamanga who is gathering Minus Energy which will be used to revive their leader, DaiMaOh. To protect the city, S.H.O.T., with the fusion of magic and technology created two arsenals to defeat Jamanga and these are GekiRyuKen and GouRyuGun. Jushiro Fudo is fighting the Jamanga threat with his partner, GouRyuGun.
Enter Kenji Narukami, a newcomer in Akebono who later works for the police. He is by the way, a student of the Narukami Ryujinryu Style, a fighting style that is designed to defeat demons. Because of one incident involving a giant monster, GekiRyuKen chose Kenji as his partner and because of this, Kenji transforms into Ryukendo!
As the series progressed, Ryukendo earns more upgrades, a rival in the name of Jark Moon and we are slowly introduced to Jamanga’s notable leaders, namely, Lady Gold and Baron Bloody.
Also, a third Madan Warrior was introduced is Ryujinou, who at first, is fighting against S.H.O.T. because of his grudge against one member and later, fighting with them when he found out that certain member of S.H.O.T. didn’t kill his parents.
On to my review, at first, Ryukendo felt like a Kamen Rider Blade rip-off. If you are asking why, here is the answer. Ryugunoh in the senior of Ryukendo, like what Garren is to Blade, and oh, Garren and Ryugunoh both wield the same type of weapon and color scheme. Also, like Ryugunou, Ryukendo and Blade wield the same type of weapon, a sword. To add more Kamen Rider reference, Jark Moon’s mask kinda resembles Kamen Rider Knight from Ryuki and the Madan Warriors also ride motorcycles AND sometimes does an opening kick to the enemy and there is one episode where Kenji’s seniors did a “
Enough with the Kamen Rider stuff, on to the review. To be honest, I find Ryukendo at first not my type until Jark Moon was introduced. The show first followed a certain pattern and that is, monsters appear, Ryukendo wins and gets the key, earn upgrades, end of story. And this never ending process ended until Jark Moon appeared. He gave the show breathe of fresh air by giving Ryukendo a good rival and sometimes, I pity Ryukendo because he wasn’t able to defeat Jark Moon even with all the upgrades.
A good thing about this show is the show’s weapon system in the form of keys. It gave show uniqueness considering that the current trend of tokusatsu uses either cards or the good ol’ fashion way. What’s more, the keys need to be “purified” before being used and we saw its effect on Ryukendo when he hastily used the powerful Thunder Key.
In terms of the story, it’s balanced and realistic. It is neither cheesy nor corny. It sometimes whips couples of comedic scenes which fit for the timing of a certain scene. One of my personal faves was the scene were the trio transforms in the men’s comfort room!
One of the best things about Ryukendo is that it returned to the classic villain plans ridiculous plan that would cause fear to the masses. To those who don’t know what this is, here is a quick lesson. In one episode, Jamanga turned almost everyone in Akebono into human balloons. Unlike the regular classic setup, the causing of fear would help the Jamanga gather necessary Minus Energy for the revival of DaiMaOh.
One of the things that I would praise about the show is the suit designs especially when Ryukendo equips the Thunder Eagle in his armor and Ryujinou’s basic design.
The only thing disappointing about the show is that Ryukendo felt like he is an overpowered hero considering he gets a lot of upgrades unlike from his fellow Madan Warriors.
Overall, if you want to watch a tokusatsu that is not produced by Toei that has good quality, great suit designs and a decent plot that is worth of your time, Ryukendo might be the show for you.
As we have reported weeks ago, Yumi Sugimoto's debut single is finally out! The single is entitled Harukoi (Spring Love) and the music video have spread over internet. So Yumi (or Miu of Goonger) fans, have fun watching this video. You won't get disappointed. Trust me. XD
I haven't been able to find any CD rips of the two songs available but I'll be sure that I'll post the download links here one I get hold of one.
One of Go Nagai's super robot anime series' hero have finally entered the Revoltech toyline, UFO Robot Grendizer. Revoltech Grendizer is just released this February. The figure costs Y2286 or about $26. The set includes Grendizer's signature weapon, Double Harken, interchangeable arms and hands, custom foot base and the Revoltech stand.
Here's a review to help you decide if you will buy it or not.
According to reports, there are current plans on adapting the classic boxing manga Ashita no Joe (Tomorrow's Joe, Rocky Joe) into live action Jdrama series, with NEWS member Yamashita Tomohisa (or Yamapi to fans), to play Joe Yabuki. The filming is said to start on March until May.
Ashita no Joe is a critically acclaimed boxing manga created by Asao Takamori and Tetsuya Chiba in 1968. It is considered to influence the recent generation of sports and shounen manga, and that includes the popular boxing manga/anime, Hajime no Ippo.
The story of Ashita no Joe revolves around Joe Yabuki, a troubled young man who runs away from an orphanage. Wandering through the Tokyo slums, he meets former boxing trainer Danpei. Joe is later arrested and goes to a temporary jail where he fights Nishi, his future best friend and leader of a group of hooligans. He and Nishi then go to a juvenile prison miles away from Tokyo. There Joe meets Rikiishi, a former boxing prodigy, and a rivalry develops between them. They face each other in a match in which Rikiishi dominates Joe until the latter hits him with a cross-counter, resulting in both being knocked out. This inspires the other prison inmates to take up boxing. Joe and Rikiishi vow to fight again.
Get Ashita lapel pins and share with your friends.
The first manga/anime Jdrama adaptation is One Pound no Fukuin (One Pound of Gospel) starring Kameneshi Kazuya.
On the recent Tamashii Features Volume 1 event, they have sold a Tamashii Event Exclusive figures. One of them is Robot Damashii [Side MS] Gundam Exia Trans-Am (Clear Ver) featuring Gundam Exia utilizing the Trans-Am system. It comes with various armaments and weapons used by Gundam Exia and a couple of optional hands.
The figure was sold at a price of Y3000 (about US$33) and limited only to two per buyer. It is said that it will also be released on the Tamashii Web Store after the event. Expect the prices to up to twice the original price on auctions. Here's a review before you decide to buy one.
Since the Tamashii Web Exclusive SH FiguArts Kamen Rider IXA will be shipped out on May 2010, Bandai had just released their official images for the said figure. These images are aside from other images that was posted weeks ago. This SH FiguArts comes with two pieces each of IXA Riser (Gun and Phone) and IXA Calibur (Gun and Sword), IXA Knuckle, and a three pairs of interchangeable hands.
The initial price for Rising IXA is Y3360 but the pre-orders is now over. And the only way you can get this is through Yahoo Japan Auctions, but you need to spend more than the actual price.
In case you forgot to pre-order and want the figure, you can contact EX_Japan Middleman Services. You can also email her via order(a)yokattaweb.com or Twitter.
Kamen Rider Kiva is the ninth series of the Heisei Era of the Kamen Rider franchise. The show is said to have a horror film theme with our lead Rider, Kiva being based on a vampire and his Arm Monsters being based on various movie monsters. This show kicks off on the 70th birthday of the show’s creator, Shotaro Ishinomori.
Since I am pretty busy, I will quote the summary of the first episode from Wikipedia:
In 1986, at a funeral, a recently deceased man wakes up from his coffin and transforms into a monster known as Fangire. After he attacks a young woman, draining her of her Life Energy and turning her into a material similar to glass, the Spider Fangire is confronted by a woman named Yuri Aso, who attempts to destroy him before he escapes. Later, at the Café mald'amour, Yuri's employer Mamoru Shima tells her to target a young businessman named Kaoru Tsugami, who actually is the Horse Fangire. She finds Tsugami as he is about to eat his sixth secretary, but he calls his bodyguards to hold her off. Though she manages to give them the slip, she is too late to save the woman as she fights the Horse Fangire. However, before the fight could go any further, she is stopped by the man she met while escaping Tsugami's bodyguards: Otoya Kurenai. This little distraction allowed Tsugami to escape.As the series progressed, we are introduced Nago Keisuke, a bounty hunter who has an odd hobby of collecting buttons from his victims and the user of the IXA (Intercept X Attacker) System in the year 2008. While on 1986, we are introduced to Jirou, a regular of the café in which the organization were Yuri is working in hang out. Otoya later discovers that his rival is a Wolfen, a werewolf based monster and one of the three races that the Fangires annihilated.
~~~
Twenty-two years later in 2008, a young man named Wataru Kurenai is gathering fish bones for a project of his to create the ultimate violin varnish, attracting the attention of Yuri's daughter, Megumi Aso, who makes him realize he is not allergic to the world. Megumi soon attracts Tsugami's attention, inviting her to model for his studio as an excuse to feed on her. However, Megumi uses Tsugami's scheme to get to him to finish what her mother started. Angry for being tricked, Tsugami assumes his true form and attempts to kill Megumi until Wataru arrives, with Kivat-bat the 3rd allowing him to transform into Kamen Rider Kiva and battle the Horse Fangire. After Kiva shatters the Fangire with his Darkness Moon Break, Castle Doran emerges to devour the Horse Fangire's soul before it can escape. Once the fight ends, however, Megumi attempts to take down Kiva.
We are then slowly introduced to the Checkmate Four, the leaders of the Fangire race and the reason why the events that happened to the 80’s are important to the events in 2008.
On to my review, when I first watched Kiva, I said to myself, what is the point of having a 1986 storyline in a show that focuses only to Kiva/Wataru Kurenai if they can do a 2-3 part episode about the origin of Kiva like what Agito did? As the show progressed, I slowly understand why the 1986 timeline is important. All the events that happened in the 80’s are connected to the present.
Now, to the individual storyline per timeline, in the 1986 timeline, it was focused on Otoya, the father of Wataru/Kamen Rider Kiva and his adventures. While on the 2008 timeline, it was focused on Wataru’s development as a person. To be honest, there are some instances that Otoya felt like he is the show’s lead and not his son. I mean seriously, he carries the show. Wataru’s story felt like climax on what Otoya did considering that he mostly finishes the Fangire that the 80’s Blue Sky Organization didn’t finished.
Kiva carried what Den-O left… and these are: time travel and mecha battles. I have nothing against with these because the time travel bit connected the 80’s and 2008, while the mecha battles help finished the Fangire that combined together and formed into. A. Giant. Monster. Wow. The gap between Super Sentai and Kamen Rider is slowly diminishing.
As for the character development, Wataru is by far, one of the best examples of character development in Kamen Rider. First, he started out as a person who is “allergic” to the world. Slowly, he is opening up to people aside from Shizuka, first it was Megumi then Nago and the list goes on. From a regular shut-in, he transformed into a badass Rider… even though he seldom uses his bike and later appeared in Decade as the representative of the Heisei Seniors Riders.
As for the show’s vampires, the Fangires, they returned my losing faith on vampires. They returned the sorta immortal (Heck, the Spider Fangire was alive for more than one episode!) and blood (In Fangire’s case, life) sucking creatures with epic stain-glass features and chess references. But even with the good things about it, like most vampires, it MUST have a love story. In the 80’s we have the love triangle between Jacob-Bella-Edward I mean, Yuri-Otoya-Maya. One thing that I liked about the 80’s love story is that Maya started out as someone who is experimenting about loving humans but in the end, he fell for Otoya. While for Yuri, she is a member of the Blue Sky Organization who at first, fell in love with Jirou and slowly harbors feelings for Otoya. Unlike certain Twilight, their love story has a certain depth. While in 2008, it is about the love story of Wataru and Mio who doesn’t know that they are enemies. Tragic. In terms of the 2008 love story, it is pretty common at first until it develops a twist at the middle of the love story.
Now to the disappointments, first, is the overuse of Kiva’s Emperor Form. To be honest, most ultimate or final forms are used if the enemy is strong. In Kiva’s case, after its first appearance, he frequently used it and there are times that I forgot that he has a base form! Even Tatsulot explains that the Emperor Form is Kiva’s “true form”. Shut up, bat-like dragon thing. After he was able to pull the Zanbat Sword from the wall of Castle Doran, which is when it felt that Emperor Form is one of the weakest ultimate forms I have ever seen next to Den-O’s Liner Form.
Another disappointment is the lack of motorcycle action. Its predecessor, Den-O has a lot of biking action thanks to its used as the train’s steering and Den-O’s (not Ryotaro’s) regular transportation. In Kiva, we barely saw his bike the last time we saw it is when he attacks a bunch of Fangires while going to his mother’s place as for Nago’s bike, IXAlion, the last time we saw it is after he fought Kiva with his bike attached with Buron Booster and don’t get me started with it!
So far, those disappointments never ruined the plot. Overall, Kamen Rider Kiva is so far, one of my favorites in the Heisei era. It has a balanced plot and is close to the original Kamen Rider theme.
I'm sure you all guys are looking for this video clip since yesterday to see how Goseiger's transform and fight on their first battle. Although their first fight is not as good as their sempais, I do hope to see them get better in the year to come.
Here's the promotional video for Tensou Sentai Goseiger's opening theme. It is to promote the release of Goseiger's first single. If I'm not mistaken, it is the first time this is done in s Super Sentai Series.
Soundtrack - Tensou Sentai Goseiger Theme Song Single CD + Kanzen Gentei Gosei Card Set [Limited Edition] at Play-Asia.com
In the recent Tamashii Features Volume 1 events, Tamashii Nations held a poll on what SH FiguArts and Robot Damashii figures do fans want to be seen and made in the near future. And the final results have been counted:
SH FiguArts Kamen Rider:
- Shadow Moon (Kamen Rider Black)
- Nazca Dopant (Kamen Rider W)
- Kamen Rider Faiz
- ShinkenRed (Samurai Sentai Shinkenger)
- Omegamon (Digimon Adventure Movie)
- Garo (Makai Knight Garo)
- L-Gaim Mk-II (Heavy Metal L-Gaim)
- Gundam X (After War: Gundam X)
- ShinkenOh (Samurai Sentai Shinkenger)
Here is the ending song and sequence of the new Super Sentai series that had just aired this morning, Tensou Sentai Goseiger.
Here is the opening song and sequence of the new Super Sentai series that had just aired this morning, Tensou Sentai Goseiger.
For those who have missed the first run of SH FiguArts Kamen Rider Black RX last July 2009, here is your chance to grab one and add on your collection. This is finally on its second re-release this February, and will cost one Y2500 or about US$28. The figure comes with a couple of interchangeable hands and the Revolcane. Here's a review to help you decide.
