In today’s update: lots of news on the figure side as late December releases are digested and a few interesting spring releases pop up, a flood of Comiket reports and images from the usual Akiba-kei suspects, New Year’s wallpapers and updates galore, and a few new ero scoops. Now caught up through the first, so the next few days should be relatively slow on the news front.
Media Side
- Happy New Year from Dragon Magazine / Fujimi Shobo! Gift illustrations from an array of famous manga artists abound.
- Media Works has updated with details on the February editions of Dengeki Hime, Dengeki Comic Gao, Dengeki G’s Magazine, and Dengeki Hobby Magazine.
Ero Side
- Following the recent releases of Galzoo Island and Pastel Chime C++, Alice Soft has put up a splash page for its 2006 spring offering entitled Yokubari Saboten. It’s billed as a “dotabata gakuen love comedy ADV”, and from the designs seems to have a maid cafe element as well… moe exploitation at its finest.
- Hadashi Shoujo has a splash page up for its next release, this one entitled Sweets!! -Oshioki Sweetie Fan Disc-. The official page for the original Oshioki Sweetie can be found here; I, for one, am looking forward to more Shizune in any format they choose to release. :3
- Check Moon Phase‘s January 1st update for a list of sites (both ero and not) that have updated with special images for the new year. They’re too numerous to link individually, though I’ve tried to list most of the ones with nice wallpapers available below.
- We’ve Got Movie Sign!!
- Cattleya’s Okami Misao
- Topcat’s AR ~Wasurerareta Natsu~
- Demo Downloads
- Light’s Imitation Lover
- Cattleya’s Okami Misao
- Feng’s Aozora no Mieru Oka
- Sample CG
- Art’s Costume Player
- Wallpapers
- Kadokawa’s Fragments Blue
- Akibajin’s Fii-tan Toshidama #1
- Akibajin’s Fii-tan Toshidama #2
- Honey Soft’s Koufuku no Shokutaku
- Dengeki Hime’s Harumoi and Aekanaru Sekai no Owari ni
- Talisman’s January calendar
- Ankh’s January calendar
- Crossnet’s Wiz Anniversary
- Nail’s As You Like
- Light’s Imitation Lover
- Starchild’s Tonagura
- Galge.com’s Happy New Year!
- Psy-chs’s Ryouki II
- Comiket Corner
- Toranoana has circle France-pan‘s C69 doujin soft items in stock (including Lilian Fourhand – Nuclear soeur the Fighters -).
- Atelier D has a C69 event report online, detailing the activity at its industry booth.
- Akiba Blog reports on the post-Comiket madness at Toranoana, which over the past couple of years has become like a second mini Comiket in Akihabara after the closing of the official event.
- The newest Higurashi no Naku Koro ni expansion was released post-Comiket as well, and I was witness to the hideous lines on the evening of the 30th. We couldn’t pass Toranoana on the sidewalk, much less enter the building, so we beat a tactical retreat to Messe Sanoh instead. One of the reasons for this insane Higurashi boom is that it was featured last week on an NHK TV special on Akihabara (an event on the lips of most fans I’ve talked with recently – apparently NHK scooping the otaku side of Akiba is Big News).
- Exiting the Big Sight after Comiket, maids were offering the services of a special limousine bus that would take you straight from the event site to Akiba. Yet another new innovation for C69, and another link in the chain between the main event and after-hours Akibatic festivities.
- A new post-Comiket activity: bagspotting.
- Though I didn’t catch sight of them near the Big Sight, the eroge cars were out in full force in Akiba on the evening of the 30th.
- Akibajin scoops C69 industry booth figure releases here, here, here, and here.
- Post-event Akihabara action from Akibajin here, cosplay here, and cosplay here.
Hobby Side
- One thing I neglected to keep track of leading into Comiket 69 was the slate of doujin figure releases on sale at the event, many of which should still be available at doujin shops for a little while yet (hopefully). For now we have the consolation of reviews such as that of the third Sukumizu Pettan figure, Mascot Biore-chan (courtesy of Akibajin, as usual). Check out Robomoe‘s December 31st entry for scoops of the C69 Chara-Ani Rozen Maiden figures, and Keumaya‘s large-chested military girl offering. [ERO] [official site] This is one I’m sad to have missed; here’s hoping for a Wonder Festival rerelease in February. Also quite [ERO] is this skirt-lifting loli figure, which I don’t currently have the particulars on.
- Akibajin scoops previews of Bandai’s Shuffle Gallery trading figures, Kaiyodo’s Bome Collection vol. 10 Carmine PVC from Magical Canan, and Megahouse’s Koyori PVC from Sengoku Cannon (!!!!!!!), and has reviews up of the Furu Furu Furu Moon trading figure set from Tsukuyomi and one of the Nitro+ Solid Characters trading figures (Elza from Demonbane).
- 2chan’s Mokeiura board delivers with a scan of some upcoming Yujin capsule figure releases, featuring a bunch of Tony-designed characters along with a Capcom ensemble (including KOS-MOS with a really big gun).
- Figure Alternative has updated its figure release schedule through April 2006, for those trying to keep track of their preorders.
- Recent Releases
- Wafuudou Ganguten’s Athena PVC [Akibajin review]
- Megahouse’s Keroball Memories trading figures from Keroro Gunsou
- Musashiya’s Sakuya (swimsuit ver. 2) cold cast from Sister Princess
- Yamato’s Katase Shima PVC from Uchuu no Stellvia [Akibajin review]
- Toysworks’ Lamia Loveless PVC from Super Robot Wars
- [ERO] Toy’s Planning’s Yuu PVC from Yakin Byoutou
- Cafe Leo’s GanGan Trading Arts trading figures
- Yujin’s SR Samurai Spirits (repaint ver.) capsule figures (Iroha alert)
- Coming Attractions
February 2006
- Musashiya’s Hoshino Ruri (talent contest ver.) cold cast from Nadesico (suspicious paint job alert)
- Amie Gran’s Toriela resin kit from Gunslinger Girl
March 2006
- Atelier-Sai’s Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu DX trading figures (big guns alert)
- Toys Planning’s Rio PVC from Super Black Jack (t’s system alert)
- Kotobukiya’s Tonami Yuma PVC from To Heart 2
- Kotobukiya’s Sonora PVC from Summon Night 3
- Wafuudou Ganguten’s Izumi PVC from Kujibiki Unbalance
- Wafuudou Ganguten’s Kasumi PVC from Kujibiki Unbalance
The Future
- Last Exile trading figures (on display at C69)
And that’s a wrap. Good to be up to speed news-wise again, now to focus on other updates…
Holy cow.. I want those Last Exile tf… *lusts*.. I wonder when we’ll find out when they’re coming out.