Marry 2D Character Petition Expired

CG image from game Yoake Mae yori Ruriiro na

You may or may not have heard of the news about someone in Japan created an online petition for the right to marry 2D characters quite some time ago. Today is the deadline for the petition, and not surprisingly the petition has come short of its supposeded quota.

The petition was created in October 2008 by someone under the name of 高下太一 who claimed that he has no interest towards the 3D world and wants to make marriage with 2D characters legal (which would include but not limited to anime, manga, light novel, and game series I presume). You can find the link to the petition right here.

At the end, there are 3551 signatures on the petition, which account for about 0.35% of the required quota of 1 million signatures. Initially there was no expiration date for the petition, but I think a deadline was eventually put up sometime in 2009. From what I have observed, after the initial hype and the media attention for the first month or so the number pretty much remained in the 3000s and stayed there more or less until the end.

Despite all that, marriage with a 2D character did happen, more specifically someone married a character from an NDS game called Love Plus last November, approximately a year and a month after the 2D character marriage petition was created in October 2008. Heck, even CNN has made a report about it too.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-qaMXZ_l70

Well, whether you support this man's wild idea or not, the proposal will not go through. No matter one may like some 2D characters, it's better to stick with a real one afterall. As zenical from zotaku has once commented, "3D girls are more complex, but in reality, you can't expect 3D to be like 2D!"
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Custom 1/144 Re-GZ Custom

Looks like Hobby no Toriko has come up with a new custom gunpla after the Rebornnu Gundam. Fresh out from WIP (work in progress), his new custom work is called Re-GZ Custom Wind (リ・ガズィカスタム風).



The Re-GZ Custom uses HGUC 1/144 Re-GZ as the base model, with additional parts from ReZEL Commander Type and Zeta Gundam.



Two of the WIP photos found in the updates before the model was given a paintover job. Apart from using Re-GZ as the base model, one can see that the modifications include but not limited to ReZEL Commander's wings and sideskirts, Zeta's helmet, with the tail binder from the Back Weapon System directly attached on the Re-GZ's back. The beam rifle appears to be a hybrid from Geara Zulu's (front part), Re-GZ's (middle part), and ReZEL's (back part) rifles.

One interesting thing to note is that both Re-GZ and ReZEL are developed after the Zeta Gundam for mass-produced units, and this custom mod uses elements from all 3 units.



Waverider mode





Various action poses of Re-GZ Custom.






Another interesting work from Hobby no Toriko. Zeta Gundam and its derivatives are popular designs, and with the custom mod using some aspects of each, the end product is not surprisingly very Zeta-like. The colour scheme seems to be similar to that of Nu Gundam (white, black, with a bit of red and yellow). While it may not stand out as much as Rebornnu Gundam, it is still a solid work and retains the look that will make one feel convinced that it is a design from the Universal Century. I definitely like it.


All images from Hobby no Toriko


UPDATE:
Completely forgot that the Re-GZ Custom is actually an official design, which appears in CCA-MSV (Char's Counterattack Mobile Suit Variation).


Images are from MAHQ
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figma Black Rock Shooter preview

Preview pictures of upcoming figma Black ★ Rock Shooter (ブラック★ロックシューター, aka BRS) are up recently.





BRS with Rock Cannon, an extra arm seems to be provided to hold up the large cannon.


BRS with Black Blade


On the captions it said 4 different face expressions are available, but I only see 3. The blue flame is very likely to be attached on the front hair piece instead, but don't quote on me on that until I have confirmations on that.





The Rock Cannon sure is large - it's even taller than BRS when raised vertically!


Her coat seems to have joints like the mantle of the recently released figma Fate Testarossa The MOVIE 1st version. I think the stand pegs just above the shorts on the waist, but I can't be sure.











Really like this picture of BRS with her eyes closed, and one of her twin tails is very long o_o


July release, official retail price stated to be 2800 Yen. Pre-order should begin tomorrow (25th March).

First debuted in Wonder Festival (aka WonFes) Winter 2010, I didn't think much of it when I saw the first pictures released there. Strangely enough the new pictures are starting to change my mind. The price is surprisingly reasonable, and I thought it would be above 3000 Yen. Well, let's just hope that the quality of the final product will be just as good when it's released, and that this won't be another figma that turns out to be another poorly distributed one with people rushing to buy one left and right in Hong Kong...

As for a quick info on the character, Black ★ Rock Shooter is apparently an original character created by an illustrator called huke. A song is later composed for the character with the Hatsune Miku program by supercell, and due to the similarities between Hatsune Miku and BRS, it is a common mistake that fans tend to mix the two characters as one (i.e. mistakenly think that BRS is a variation of Miku while they are supposed to be seperate characters). An anime series from studio Ordet is going to air this Spring as the studio's first solo production.

Well, I do admit that the more I look at this figma the more I am liking it.


Images from Mikatan's blog via Wcloudxkumo, Ngee Khiong, and figma blog
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Random Curiosity coming to an end

Those of us who have been following some of the latest anime series for the past few years may have heard of Random Curiosity, an anime blog that blogs on the latest episodes within hours just after it's been aired. Today OMNI, the main blogger of the site, has announced that he will retire from blogging at the end of this month.

Random Curiosity started blogging on Animeblogger since 2005, and has covered a lot of anime series that were aired up until now. Screenshots of an episode usually come within hours after they have been aired, with a few comments on the overall episode. A longer post depicting the details with a more structured conclusion comes later to polish things off. That's how Random Curiosity works.

I came quite late back into anime, and only noticed of its existence when I was looking for episodic reviews for Gundam 00 and Shakugan no Shana II back in late 2007 (which were airing at that time). I am the type who don't really mind spoilers (in contrast to my sister who really does mind and would try to kill me every time some anime or game plot spoilers were leaked to her), so I sometimes head right into the posts before I watch the episodes just to look at the screenshots and overall thoughts on them.

On the other hand, you may notice that I use screenshots from there on my posts now and then. For example there is one in the recent furikake post.

It is a pity to see it stopping, especially just a month shy of its 5th anniversary, but it has been a great pleasure reading the latest stuff from OMNI as well as his co-bloggers. Divine is keeping a copy of the blog for arhive, but it is unclear whether he will continue to update on it. Nevertheless I do want to thank him humbly for the episodic reviews and screenshots he has provided for a lot of us as anime fans all these time. Wish you all the best for what's to come ahead.
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Custom 1/144 Rebornnu Gundam

Spotted this custom "Rebornnu Gundam" over at Hobby no Toriko (which means "slave of hobby"), of which the base model is the HG 1/144 Reborns Gundam (from Gundam 00) modded to look like the famous Nu Gundam from Char's Counterattack. Hence the name "Rebornnu Gundam".



Colour scheme is changed to white and black instead of white and red, with a bit of red and yellow on smaller details. The backpack is changed completely so that the gimmick to transform to Reborns Cannon is removed, and instead the Fin Fangs are now mounted in the way like the Nu Gundam does. The mouting packpack somehow does remind me of Destiny Gundam's from Gundam SEED Destiny.

In case people do not know how the original Gundams should look like:

Reborns Gundam


Nu Gundam


One interesting thing to note is that both pilots of Reborns Gundam and Nu Gundam are voiced by the same voice actor or seiyuu - Toru Furuya





Various action poses of the Rebornnu Gundam. Fin Fangs / Fin Funnels can be seperated from mounted positions.


Wow, it actually looks much cooler than the original in my opinion! It may be how the Nu Gundam is a very solid design in the first place, making the converted Rebornnu Gundam looking more attractive now than the original Reborns Gundam, in Gundam 00 style mecha design~

Reborns Gundam, which debuted in penultimate episode of Gundam 00 Second Season, could transform an alternate mode called Reborns Cannon via a back-to-back transformation, which I am not too fond of. It is quite an unusual design and perhaps unique too, but I do prefer the two forms to be seperated into two different MS (like the prototypes 1 Gundam and GN Cannon). Now that HG 1/144 1 Gundam gunpla is announced for May release, I may consider buying one over Reborns Gundam. An unexpected release but I welcome it~


All Rebornu Gundam images from Hobby no Toriko
Reborns Gundam and Nu Gundam images from Dalong
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Furikake

Furikake (振り掛け or ふりかけ) is a dry Japanese condiment or topping used to sprinkle on top of rice to give them more of a flavour. They can consist of a variety of things - a mixture of sesame seeds, chopped seaweed, sugar, salt, and grounded meat (can be fish, beef, chicken etc). You can get them in different flavours to your liking as seen in the picture above.


Furikake on top of a spoon. This one is a salmon one so you can see the pink ground salmon granules along with the sesame seeds and chopped seaweed.


Furikake sprinkled on my lazily made fried rice for last night's dinner. I might have used a bit too much, but it's more than enough to show you how it looks like I suppose.



Closer shot of furikake on top of my fried rice


As for anime reference, I can only think of one example right now:

Ushio about to sprinkle furikake a bowl of rice, as seen in CLANNAD ~AFTER STORY~
Image from Random Curiosity


Furikake usually come in packages or bags, and are common in Japanese food stores and supermarkets; I can buy them quite easily in Hong Kong too. Coincidently Danny Choo has a post about it some time ago too. Have you tried furikake before, and if you do what do you think of it?
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Upcoming gunpla to-buy list

It looks like that I am shifting more and more back to Gundam than anything else recently. There are quite a lot of nice gunpla to be released / released recently, and coming up with a to-buy list will mean certain something to my wallet.






1/144 HG 00 Gundam Seven Sword/G
Already released, 1680 Yen (tax inclusive)

An utter no-brainer for me. This is a variation of 00 Gundam (from 2nd season of Gundam 00) with different equipment. Equipped with seven swords (hence the name), it is the "true" sucessor of the Exia Gundam which also has 7 swords. Despite the fact that it's just a variation and was not seen in the animated series, it is still very popular among fans compared to the 00 Raiser (00 Gundam docked with O Raiser support fighter). The massive GN Buster Sword is the highlight for this model kit, and big blades can be quite a killer for me.

Despite having built 2 1/144 HG 00 Gundam models already (one for a friend, one 00 Raiser + GN Sword III for myself), I don't mind building another one to be honest.

Chance of me getting this: Guaranteed



1/100 Vent Saviour
Already released, 2940 Yen (tax inclusive)

The new Gundams from Gundam SEED VS Astray side story has gained its notoriety by being colour variations of previous Gundams with a few parts swapped from one place to another. The Vent Saviour (pronounced "Van" Saviour) has for some reasons caught my eyes; maybe it's the fact that it doesn't look too drastically different to the original despite a colour change from red to white/cyan scheme. I may decide to buy one and give it a few simple modifications to make it look something closer to ReZEL (see below) or Zeta Plus.

Chance of me getting this: Medium




1/144 HGUC ReZEL Commander Version
March release, 2310 Yen (tax inclusive)

Transformable, grunt machine, and large gun. This is the commander version of the normal ReZEL units (already released).

The ReZELs are mass produced MS of the famous Zeta Gundam, but the transformation is based on another early transformable grunt machine called the Methuss. What's a real pity though is that the transformation for this kit will require a lot of part swapping rather than a smooth transformation (unlike the Methuss). It was also the reason why I held back on getting HG/144 Murasame from Gundam SEED Destiny for the same reason unfortunately.

The ReZELs have some sort of handles on the back so other MS can get a free ride on them (laughs). If HGUC Jesta is announced (which is very likely) then I would probably pair them up in as a team, especially since they share very similar colour schemes.

Chance of me getting this: Medium-high




1/144 HGUC Zaku II F2
To be released in March

A later variation of the famous Zaku II that featured in Gundam 0083, it was a pleasant surprise when I first heard its annoucement for HGUC line. While I may still consider getting the green Zeon version, I do want to buy at least 1 captured EFSF version to go with my GM Commands.

Chance of me buying this: High




MG GN-X
Already released, 3780 Yen (tax inclusive)

The first MG model of a grunt machine outside the Universal Century. It was a surprise to some of the fans when it was first announced as it's an unprecedented move. More on it on the previous post made a few months ago.

I was tempted to get the HG 1/144 version some time ago, and I even had an ambition of making a small squad of it (~3-5 of them maybe?). Hm... Maybe it's a good pair up with my MG Exia Ignition Mode that I bought in the summer.

Chance of me getting this: Medium




MG Wing Gundam
April Release, 4200 Yen (tax inclusive)

This is a total surprise for me, especially since Bandai has released a redesigned version by Hajime Katoki (aka Version Ka.) some time ago. This one is the original TV animated version, which looks remarkably different to version Ka:


Left: TV Version, Right: Version Ka.
Images from MAHQ

While it's not surprising that lots of fans would prefer the latter design more, I think it's still good news for those who want the original version. I did hear a lot of people ranting about why Bandai bothered releasing the "uglier" TV Version, but I think fans should respect and appreciate each people's preferences and tastes instead (something I tend to see less and less as of lately, which is a pity).

Thinking back, I did wish for Bandai to rework on some of their earlier models and release them gain with newer technologies implemented on the models, and this happens to be one of them that I was 'dreaming' of one day. However, 4200 Yen is not exactly cheap, so I will have to see how the end product is like. I seriously don't mind a HG 1/144 version or it or a Wing Zero though.

Chance of me getting this: Medium


While I am not planning to get most of them a few did take into my interests recently:




Top to bottom: 1 Gundam (predecessor of Reborns Gundam), HG 1/144 Gundam X, Avalanche Exia, Astraea Type F
... And many more interesting gunpla not mention here.


Most of the new gunpla are announced from the latest issue of Hobby Japan (April 2010), which all somehow sound more exciting and anticipating for me than the whole WonFes Winter 2010 had to offer last month or so. The fact that some Gundams of the non-Universal Century series during the 90s are making a return, such as Wing, X, and God Gundam as well (not shown here). I am only planning to get a few out of all that selection, not to mention that I still have a backlog of gunpla underneath my bed...


Picture from my end-of-year post last December

Well, at least 2010 is going to be an interesting year for gunpla release. I wonder what more stuff are to be expected later in the year; at least I know that I will be kept busy for gunpla-ing when I am back in Hong Kong!

Anyone here got anything they like in the recent new annoucement? It sounds like that MG Wing Gundam and HG Gundam X are going to be some of the popular ones for sure~

Official pictures of gunpla from Medio Online Shop via Ngee Khiong

Magazine scans from Ngee Khiong
1 Gundam scan from SRW Hotnwes
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