Thursday, June 08, 2006

It's Not About Fate

I wanted to post this yesterday but since Blogger was having their fucking problems as usual, I had no choice but to post this today. Anyways, been lazy and this is some stuff I got near the end of May. It's mainly R1 stuff so it's nothing special. So included are Sin City Recut Extended (which I finally got), Dragon Ball Z Movie 12 - Fusion Reborn, Kannaduki/Kannazuki no Miko vol.1 w/ Box and FP shit, GitS SAC 2nd GIG vol.4 and vol.5 SE and the 2nd and final volume to Rei Hiroe's Hisui-Kyo Kitan. My-HiME vol.2 was supposed to be included but my order got messed up and thus, I still haven't received it yet. No biggie, it's not like I was gonna rewatch it even if I did have it. As you can see I haven't even opened any of the stuff as I simply haven't had the time to rewatch these shows/movies. I did open GitS vol.5 yesterday to get a better look at the figs. I just want to mention that Bandai's packaging really sucks as it took me like 15 mins to get the discs out of that fucking tin case. The inner circle was so tight, I was so afraid of breaking the discs. Also, the reason why I'm collecting GitS in a 'weird' manner is because I did the same thing w/ Season 1. I saw all of GitS SAC before it was released and R1 and thus, knew which episodes I wanted in DTS. Same thing w/ 2nd GIG, I've already seen the entire show as well as the Individual Eleven Movie and knew what episodes I wanted in DTS. For me, vol.6 will be RE and vol.7 will be LE cuz there will be more action scenes in vol.7 (though ep.21 will kick a lot of ass in the action department). However, the action will not be as awesome as S1's final episodes.

So heress the two volumes of Rei Hiroe's Hisui-kyo Kitan and how they look together. Pretty nice. Vol.2 gives us a conclusion but also hinting at that there could be more to come. However, there isn't.

Also, since I went back home this past weekend (to celebrate some bdays and whatnot), I brought back my Black Lagoon mangas with me since it's been a while since I've read 'em and because the anime has been getting me in the mood. I posted pics of 'em last year (at AoD) when I got 'em way before the anime aired and before anyone knew about the show, like w/ most mangas turned anime (ie. TenTen, School Rumble, Genshiken). So here's my mini collection of Rei Hiroe mangas in total. And if you haven't noticed it yet, that's why I included that Fate Hollow pic.

On the Hisayuki/Otome (& fig rant) front, vol.7 & 8's first press items are quite boring. They will be pinups and not some cool figs I was hoping for like My~HiME. Thus, I'll probably have 7 & 8 ship w/ the 'final' volume 9. I just hope they'll announced the release date for the OVA soon. Hoping OVA 1 will be before the end of the year. As for the Hisayuki news, I'm sure most have seen the Queen's Blade Reina fig. HLJ had it up for preorder 3 days ago. I'm having a dilemma w/ it being the great Hisayuki fan that I am. Will I order it? Well, we'll see ;) :D. Also the Alter Ignis went up for preorder at HLJ yesterday after it was shown on many sites 2 days ago. As I mentioned in this post. This was the one I found superior to all the other recent Ignis figs (save for the nudity that is Orchid Seed). The sculpt and pose kicks so much more ass than the others. The only gripe I have w/ it, is the paint & coloring. I kinda like MF's brighter colour (especially the hair) compared to Alter's darker tone. The inclusion of a symbol on the stand for the MF one is cooler too, but it's just a stand so meh.

some anime news i wanted to post yesterday: Gonzo's Red Carpet - looking pretty interesting
GitS SAC Production Notes cover - The cover is sorta meh but amusing since Motoko and Batou are in full figure pose and we got anime Kamiyama directing :D.

A new hentai announced for July 21 by a new company, TMC, called hana to hebi (flower and snake) the animation. It's based off a novel by Oniroku Dan and has been adapted into live action movies. There's quite a few iterations of it. The first movie came out in 1974 and it has been remade by Takashi Ishii (well known for Angel Guts series) recently. The first movie came out in 2004 while the sequel just came out last year. Here's the official site (NSFW). Media Blasters released the 2004 movie last year (called Flower and Snake but i heard it's cut. As you can see, it's quite popular as oniroku dan got Yoshitaka Amano (from Final Fantasy fame) to do an illustration book a while ago. There's also a game by Elf (link NSFW obviously). Anyways, this hentai's looking fairly good w/ some decent designs and animation. Check out the official site (NSFW) for more info including some wallpapers, a trailer (yeah baby) and a look at the fp box (!) that comes w/ vol.1. The show is scheduled to be a 3 volume/episode series w/ vol.2 coming out Aug 24. and vol.3 on Sept. 22. Now if only this wasn't censored.

some game news: Impress (as well as a bunch of other sites) posts video caps of the 2nd trailer that will be aired tomorrow (7:00PM JPN time) at showtime, it's free like i mentioned before. The trailer won't be anything new.
Official Metal Slug 3D site posts new screenshots...meh
More Blood+ PS2 shots
Shutoku Battle X for the 360's homepage is now live
Official Shining Wind site added a new chara today
New character and wallpaper added to the Gouma Reifu Den Izuna DS game
August 10th Melty Blood: Act Cadenza cover - can't wait to play this shit, clean pic found on official ps2 site for those that didn't know.

if i have time i'll add more interesting news as usual.

12:55 PM EST Edit:
Just some SNK news I would like to add.
The official KOFXI site updated, more specifically the Dr.NEO GEO section. He gives more info on the mission mode and how playing that will unlock the new PS2 exclusive characters like Hotaru. He also talks about the color edit mode...meh.
SNK also upated their Athena on Stage imode game for JPN keitai denwas
In their goods section, SNK added more Iroha figs and the KOF MI2 soundtrack and Complete Guide book
Lastly, the most exciting news is issue 1 of their online magazine Press Start!. It gives some details on the extra characters for KOFXI PS2 and Metal Slug 3D. Gotta love the artwork on the front page (prolly by Hiroaki)...yesh Mai yesh...nice Andy & Hokutomaru cameo ;).

Final Edit for the day:
Shingo at Heisei Democracy showed a scan of two awesome Witchblade PVCs by Organic and Kotobukiya. However, they weren't painted. Well, the official sites have a painted version and man do they look great. A little pricey (especially the Koto one) but well worth it for the fans (myself included, though i won't get *sniff sniff*). The Kotobukiya one can be seen here and it's up for preorder at HLJ, while the Organic one can be seen here. HLJ hasn't put that one up yet but expect it either tomorrow or in a couple of days.

June 9 game news (WORLD CUP BABY!)
don't feel like making a new post today:
Bleach Wii shots
Dragon Quest Monsters J clean scan
Guilty Gear Road of Arms for JPN phones
HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR doing Sengoku Basara 2 theme
DMC 3 SE for Windows
More Finder Love shots and promo items
Rurouni Kenshin PS2 shots Fall release - SWEET

And as i mentioned yesterday, Showtime has released the 2nd trailer to KOF XI. it's nearly 7 min (6:54 to be exact) long. It basically shows the features of what we already know. It starts off w/ a recap from 2k3, then the modes (challenge, endless), extra characters like the ones in the arcade, the ps2 original ones (which are essentially sprite rips from their Neo Geo Battle Coliseum counterpart) and boss characters. It then has 'additonal features', which include new 3D backgrounds, new BGM (old themes like Kyo's and Yuri's from AoF 2, Athena gets a fully vocal BGM), gallery mode and original endings. Lastly, they show a little of on-line battle mode. ANYWAYS, can't wait to get this and practice some more!! Though i've been holding my ground in the arcades, but that's broken.

My-ZHiME site update - nothing special really
The Clamp x Sunrise anime, Code Geass site open - yay for kimura!
Innocent-Venus site open
SEED Stargazer OVA site update and trailer
Binbou Shimai Monogatari site open

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

What do you make of that Gouma Reifu Den Izuna game? I've had my eye on it for quite a while and I'm considering picking it up, mainly due to the gorgeous character designs.

Can't remember where I read it, but I'm sure I seen a site mentioning Melty Blood: AC had been brought forward a week...

On the subject of GitS and you mentioning you were collecting it in an unusual way, reminded me of how much frustration collecting the 2 series and movie has been.
I have a copy of the 2nd movie with the close-captioned subs, my copy of volume 3 of the first series is one of those cursed with only a DTS JP track, so I have to watch it dubbed, I bought the first volume of the 2nd series thinking "with metal tin" meant a series box and so I have a SE of vol 1 and normal for the rest and to top it off, episode 16 on disk 4 won't play for me at all :(
I'm cursed when it comes to GitS!

R8 said...

not sure about Izuna since i don't even own a ds. but the game looks pretty meh aside from the chara designs and artwork. Looks like a simple rpg that could've been done on the gba graphically.
as for MB:AC, yeah i read about taht too but that's the date that all sites are carrying so i'll stick w/ it.
Yeah, Bandai is really screwing up bad w/ the packaging and authoring of the disc for the series or is it manga handling that? Either way, this popular series has really been a bitch to watch for some ppl no matter how awesome the show is.

Anonymous said...

I sort of wondered in by chance. A pretty cool site you have. A nice mix I must say. The game news you have is cool. I also cannot wait for KoF XI and wish there was a US release. Who do you use for your team?

Anonymous said...

Wow, thanks for the Bleach Wii news. It looks great. Now I'm really thinking about getting it.

R8 said...

yo ether! u from CF! nice to see ya here man, hope you enjoy your stay. As for me in KOF XI, i pick the usual, Oswald, Beth and Gato or the Triple Ksd (Kyo, Kula and Kim). I play around w/ Jenet and Gai sometimes too :D.

@ anoymous whoever you are: no prob w/ the linked wii scans. To me, the game looks pretty underwelming due the the Wii's capabilities. the Heat the Soul games look better IMO.

Anonymous said...

Some of the top usuals I see. I also use Oswald most of the time. My main 3 mostly consist of Oswald Sho and Iori. I use Ash depending.

R8 said...

@ DJ Ether: yeah, Ash is pretty good in XI, I play casuals w/ Vanessa too as I loved her character since 2000. However, i just suck w/ her compared to others. only a few more weeks!