The return of a long lost friend was witnessed in Akihabara last week. HD’s Senior Coffee Correspondent, Seiya, weighs in on this ongoing story.

As was discussed in the earlier AX post, we’re trying to scrape a little shindig together to put faces to the various e-names floating around the otaku blogosphere, forums, and elsewhere upon the internets at this year’s Anime Expo. Lacking any better ideas, here’s the plan:

I doubt anyone reading this is unfamiliar with the series of commercials that began airing last year as part of the Otomo Katsuhiro designed, Morita Shuhei directed Freedom Project OVA; for those unaware, though, or for those of us who thought the project began and ended with the commercials, it’s welcome news that the first episode of what is slated to be a six part series went on sale yesterday (June 26th) in hybrid DVD / HD-DVD format. For more info on the series, official Japanese and English pages are available, as well as the blog of Vong yonghow, the single non-Japanese staffer on the project at Sunrise’s studios in Tokyo. Kudos to him for prompting a further investigation! (no more)

G-Collections posted a listing over at JAST USA yesterday scooping the development and pending English language release of ZyX’s Binetsu Kyoushi Chieri, under the title Amorous Professor Cherry. Veteran designer Yamane Masahiro (now Sendorikun) returns to the brand for his last hurrah here along with Cresecendo scenario writer Minakami Tomohiro. It’s looking to be a fairly typical school romance between teacher (and teacher, and classmate) and student, though the protagonist seems a bit on the youthful side (HE’S OVER 18); it sounds like we can look for release toward the end of this year or possibly early ’08. (no more)

After reviewing the first installment in Toypla’s ero-ero O-ji collection lineup I was under the impression that subsequent figures would be released serially in a similar figure + book format, but after seeing them all simultaneously completed in this blog post it may be that they’re coming out as a trading figure set… the details I’ve been able to uncover thus far are scant, but we’ll be continuing to keep an eye on the project as it develops. Pictures from the Toypla blog post are below, but bear in mind that the figures are still works in progress pending revision for final release:

June 29th, 2007 is a day that will go down in eroge history, not only for the earth-shaking announcements JAST USA has scheduled for their panel at Anime Expo but also for the absolutely insane release lineup of games scheduled to come out in Japan on that most fateful of days. While the wallet impact has lessened somewhat with the news that two of the heaviest hitters will be delayed, it’s still an ero-ero tour de force that should keep otaku everywhere busy for weeks and months to come. What follows is a completely biased take on this week’s eroge releases, featuring the seven titles I personally deem most worthy of attention as well as three that were delayed (a bit of anticipatory glee never hurts!). In no particular order, we have:

Figure maker Goodsmile updated their official site today with two new entries in their October ’07 lineup: a PVC version of Idolmaster Xenoglossia‘s Hagiwara Yukiho, and a Nendoroid Binchou-tan from the rather odd production by the same name. The former is notable for being utterly boring, while the latter is notable for possessing exactly the same design whether Nendoroid deformed or not. There’s a reason I didn’t go into detail on these yesterday (though Binchou-tan is rather cute)… (no more)

For a change of pace this time around (and because the visual aid I need for my next otaku vignette is proving surprisingly elusive) I would like to offer up a review. Rather than rehashing reviews of things readily available elsewhere in the world, I intend to dip into the hefty backlog of things that I feel have long been unduly neglected and unappreciated. In this installment: Lesbian Witches of the 1970s (kind of).

Late last night Hobby Channel scooped the PVC conversion of a figure that can only be described as sensational in just about every way: Aizawa Sanae, from Kotoyoshi Yumisuke‘s eromanga Shokunyuu 2, as sculpted by Vispo, is coming from Daiki Kougyou in mid-October at it’s original 1/4 scale and a 15,750 yen price point. In the vast universe of bishoujo resins available I figured this was pretty low on the list for PVC conversion (so low that I managed to obtain the original unpainted / unassembled resin kit from Vispo at considerable personal expense, not expecting this development ;_;) but whatever you think of Daiki’s production quality I have to hand it to them for possessing the enormous balls to tackle such a project. Here’s hoping they can do justice to what I personally consider one of the best resins out in the past few years. Pictures below:

Enterbrain announced the production today of upcoming TV anime Night Wizard, based on the “table talk” (Japanese jargon equivalent of tabletop or PnP) RPG by the same name. Direction will be handled by Yamamoto Yuusuke, most recently the director of Welcome to the NHK; given the spotty history of Japan-animated tabletop RPG spinoffs I’m not quite sure what to make of this, and while I have a hunch that it’s headed straight for the mediocrity barrel it won’t be for lack of interesting subject matter. (no more)

The scoops were scattered liberally across both Dengeki Hobby Magazine and Hobby Japan this month, prompting me to pick up both in an endeavor to comprehensify. The result here is hardly complete, but it does extract what I see as the best new offerings from the August ’08 round of hobby rags: Alter presents a pair of gunslinger girls (not those, however), Kotobukiya and Wafuudou Ganguten show a brace of royalty, and Volks parades pretty things before us that we’ll never get the chance to buy. It’s a festival of anticipation at HDHQ tonight…

When this behemoth Tama-nee was figure first announced in April I was intimidated by her size, her leggy proportions, and her freakishly elongated torso. While Cobra-Kai’s rendering looks nothing like her original design, it was this precise fact that seduced me into picking the figure up (no giantess fetish here, honest); after her mutant novelty factor wore off was she truly worth the purchase? Read on…

An official site opened today for Figma, a collaborative project between maker Max Factory and sculptor / technician Asai “APSY” Masaki. Asai is famous for his work on fixed-pose and action figures alike, especially for his dynamic natural poses and inconspiuous points of articulation, and this looks like Max’s answer to projects such as Kaiyodo’s Revoltech, Konami’s Busou Shinki and Atelier Sai’s Duel Maid series. It will stand or fall based on the strength of its lineup, which is currently listed at three items; the first two are characters from the early 80′s manga and anime Puraresu Sanshirou, the progatonist’s fighting robot Juoumaru and the presumed love interest’s robot Sakura-hime. While the premise of this show sounds wicked cool (like a BURNING SPIRIT version of Angelic Layer), what is probably going to put the project in the black is the third model, that of a certain YUKI.N. She was scooped in the August issue of Dengeki Hobby Magazine, on sale today, and I’ve taken the liberty of reproducing that scoop below:

We scooped this with the release of last month’s Hobby Japan, and now it’s official: Amazon has a preorder page up for Bandai’s Otodama Nano Code Geass trading figures, complete with (sadly low-resolution) color sample images. Amazon is listing their sale date as August 25th, though I’d hesitate to take this as definitive pending further corroboration; it’s a must have item regardless for fans of Geass, Kimura Takahiro designs and bishoujo figures in general, especially those keen on obtaining the first in what is sure to be a rich dynasty of C.C., Shirley, and Millay figures (Karen’s debut came earlier, but we’re sure to see more of her as well). Tanoshimi da wa~ (pictures below)

August’s edition of Tech Gian magazine, on sale yesterday, scooped the announcement of Wafuudou Ganguten‘s collaboration with Nanao Naru and Cerberus Project‘s Sunny Day to produce a PVC version of Sunny Day’s Halloween-ko resin kit (based on a Nanao-rendered Tech Gian calendar pinup). The kit is castoffable, and scheduled to go on sale “around Halloween” this year at a retail price of 7,480 yen. Further information and visual evidence in the magazine scan below:

Much like her voice actress counterpart Inoue Kikuko the heroine of Kosuke Fujishima‘s Ah! My Goddess franchise seems possessed of eternal youth. Not only is the AMG manga still running in Afternoon, her recent TV anime incarnation is obviously still fresh in the minds of the wizards over at Kotobukiya who put an official site up yesterday for this goddess uniform version Belldandy kit, due out in November at 6,090 yen retail. Her face in this sculpt arguably reflects her personality, which is perhaps not a good thing, but Belldandy fans (myself included) will no doubt be happy to see yet another PVC incarnation of one of the most enduring bishoujo heroines in manga history. (no more)

Orchid Seed put a page up on their official site yesterday announcing the preorder availability of Ikkitousen‘s Ryofu Housen in gosurori PVC form. Knowing Orchid’s recent trend of castoffable figures I was suspicious about the slight frumpiness of her costume, and thanks to her preorder listing at Infinity Wonderland those suspicions were confirmed: looks like she’s thoroughly extractable from the dress. :3 Sculpting duty is being handled by Orchid regular Ishiyama Satoshi, known recently for his work on Masane and Chichinoe+; we can expect to see her as live as a piece of plastic can be in October, at a retail price of 6,800 yen. Ero-ero pictures below:

Amiami posted a listing this evening for a hot if slightly tired-looking Iroha PVC from Samurai Spirits and maker Griffon. While as usual Griffon’s site has nothing to say on the matter Amiami divulges that the kit is sculpted by Fujii Takashi of circle A-ya, a veteran of the garage kit scene who appears to be making his PVC debut with this kit. While a tempting offering for the Iroha fans, at this price point I think I’ll hold off on a preorder until a production sample of the actual PVC is in evidence. (no more)

An official site is now online for The Sky Crawlers, a Production I.G. / Warner Brothers joint project helmed by Oshii Mamoru and set to hit theaters in 2008. Based on a series of novels by Mori Hiroshi, it’s the story of a fighter pilot and the dogfights that make up his daily life in a country not unlike Japan. While war is the story’s backdrop apparently the progress and actual status of the campaign take a back seat to the pilot’s philosophical inquiries, a notion that follows on the heels of Oshii’s most recent animated film, Innocence; we’ll definitely be following this as it develops, if only for the anticipated deep quotes from philosophers delivered amidst a slow motion shower of bullets. (no more)

Konami has updated their Gurren Lagann goods page with the news that a set of small figures is currently in production, slated for release in synthesis with the Gurren Lagann card game, an item which is as yet veiled in mystery (there’s a tab for it on the Konami site, but as of posting it’s a dead link). We’ll be keeping an eye on this as it develops. (no more)

There is no decent human upon this green earth, green like the top of Yotsuba‘s head, who does not love Azuma Kiyohiko‘s slice of life manga about a little girl, her father, and the tiny universe of wonder that surrounds them. There’s something ineffably refreshing about its simple humor, something that makes it in spirit the closest thing to a Japanese Calvin and Hobbes, and like Calvin and Hobbes’ Bill Watterson Azuma has jealously guarded the rights to production of goods based on the property. Thus it is with incredible glee that I am able to report the announcement on Yotsuba Studio’s official home page today of the production of a Revoltech Yotsuba figure, in conjunction with Kaiyodo and Organic, due out this fall. I daresay the world, or at least many devoted fans, will be happier for it. (no more)

From the incredibly ancient and already scooped to death news division: last Friday Famitsu posted a bunch of screenshots and a cast interview from this summer’s upcoming Moetan anime. While it’s a bit sad when you can tell from the sample screens that no particular attention has been paid to anything but the characters, I doubt anyone watching this (myself included) will be doing so for the panoramic backdrops or pulse pounding THREE-DEE ACTION. For those repulsed by Famitsu’s horribly artifacted jpgs Galge.com presents a prettier alternative with much the same content. You know it’s a moe sign when the three lead seiyuu respond to a question regarding the English they’ve learned recently with “apple”, “this is a pen”, and “Happy!” respectively… For the uninitiated, Moetan is a series of otaku-oriented English phrasebooks combining POP designs with quirkily translated references to anime and manga in a format that has proven to be both memetic and moetic. I hope rq will resurrect his random Moetan phrase script in commemoration of the anime, perhaps as a Wordpress plugin… (no more)

Via Moon Phase: the latest issue of manga serial Champion Red announces the anime production of Yoshitomi Akihito‘s (Wikipedia) BLUE DROP manga, a science fiction story of girls growing up in the twilight of humanity in the far future aftermath of interspecies war. The aliens they fought with? All female, apparently, and aside from the first chapter yuri themes abound (according to this review of the first volume, all that has yet been released – another review here). This is an item that must be procured for review purposes – as Genshiken’s Ohno once famously said, レズが嫌いな男なんていません！！ …or was it the other way around… (no more)

As of midnight tonight, June 20th (eight minutes ago as I type this) the first installment of the Shuraki original figure / artbook / drama CD collaboration series from Goodsmile and RED Entertainment went up for preorder. This first “trinity box” release features original character Mishiro Akatsuki, designed by Migarashi Aki and sculpted by zenko of circle Iousen. This first limited edition box release due out in September consists of 5,000 units, containing the figure itself (with interchangeable parts), a 92-minute drama spanning two CDs and featuring some of Japan’s finest voice talent , and a 24-page A5 size booklet with production art and other material. At 4,800 yen price point this is a staggeringly good deal, and one that’s definitely worth looking into if you can find her in stock anywhere after tonight’s rather vicious run on the market. I have to say that hair does look rather silly, though… Edit: a list of officially authorized Shuraki vendors can be found here. It looks like HLJ will be getting it, as will Hobby Search, so stay on guard for the preorder listings. (no more)

Wave put official sites up today for a few really nice new PVC figure offerings due out in October: Rozen Maiden’s Suiseiseki as sculpted by Sakurazaka Miki of circle Cherry Blossom, My HiME‘s Shizuru Viola from Clumsy Craft Rei (I hope they get his Masane too…), and Tamaki Kousaka (shoujo ver.) from To Heart 2, as sculpted by Arakawa Hiroshi (Amiami search). At 1/10 scale the Shizuru seems rather expensive, but the other two look like serious options for fans of their respective franchises. Now where’s your promised Tsuruya-san / Kyon’s sister kit, Wave? (no more)

HEISEI DEMOCRACY WORLD TOUR 2007 LIVE AT ANIME EXPO aka. posting from inside a J-List cargo tub (details inside)

Maker Orchid Seed updated their official site yesterday with a page for this [ERO] pair of Al Ajif and Another Blood PVC figures from Nitro+’s Demonbane. those not in favor of the chest size on Orchid’s Ignis now have a Niθ designed alternative, and what an alternative it is… the pair is scheduled for release in October at the rather steep retail price of 9,800 yen, but I’m sure some will find that cost to be well worth it. Update: uncensored images shamelessly stolen from Amiami’s listing below:

Man the preorders! Goodsmile has just posted listings for a Nendoroid Hetare Sakura PVC/ABS from Fate / stay night, and after nearly a year of waiting Max Factory’s Fasalina (“Fasarinal”?) from Gun x Sword is also online in an official capacity. Yulie Ahtreide from Wild Arms the Fourth Detonator represents as well to round out this assay into the Goodsmile collective’s October release lineup, set to drain wallets everywhere… Fasalina will be mine. >:3 (no more)

Hobby Channel reported yesterday on the C-Works announcement of a second figure coming in their Bible Black PVC lineup (following their ill-fated first shot at Imari Kurumi in April), this one featuring the protagonist’s classmate and magic circle president Saeki Kaori. Like Imari before her sculpting duty is being handled by Tainidou TinyKid, and while the pose is decent (if a bit reminiscent of Q-Six’s Otokawa Saori kit from Discipline) I’m not holding my breath on the paint job… once again it seems most of the figure’s merit will be derived from her cast-off potential. Those interested can look forward to release in September at 5,460 yen (tax included). (no more)

Konami updated their Beatmania IIDX figure page today with news that Iroha Umegiri, the first in their planned Bemani character figure series, has been given the green light for production. They set the bar at 2,500 preorders by June 17th to launch the project and as of today they’ve met the quota, proving to naysayers (such as myself) that even mutant hands will sell if they’re spun by a bemani disc jockey just right. Those willing to overlook her deformed appendage and other design flaws can look forward to her release on October 26th at 4,935 yen (tax included). (no more)