When we reviewed Comp Heroines vol. 6 a few days ago I came away with the hope that Megami would field a more solid offering this month by comparison, and boy did they pull through. This is the magazine’s 90th issue, and it’s a great example of why it’s had such staying power through the years against rivals such as Dengeki Animaga and now Comp H’s; the latter is going to have to get its act together if it wants to be more than a Kadokawa / Kyoani shill and really compete against Megami on its good months, like this one. The usual batch of pictures below:

Moeyo! Akibajin Blog has a sample review up today of the Creator’s Labo CL #014 Arisa PVC figure from Yamato that we’ve been following since the end of July, and it brings good tidings: her top has been crafted as a clean castoff. Leave it to Moeyo to be a tease with the censored shots as usual, but this confirmation hopefully means they’ll be paying attention to the appropriate details beneath her shirt. In other Arisa news, Yamato has a page up on their official site detailing her production with some nice Yamashita-illustrated details and close up shots of the kit. This release just keeps looking better and better… :3 You can support HD by preordering her at Play Asia or J-List. (no more)

On the heels of the Revoltech Yotsuba release two days ago, Amiami brought word yesterday that Kaiyodo’s Revoltech Danboo action figure (romanized as “Danboard” on the official packaging) is now up for preorder! It’s scheduled for release on December 1st at 2,205 yen retail, and comes complete with battery powered light-up eyes and an exchangeable Miura-chan head. If you haven’t read the manga you’ll have no idea what this is, but rest assured that DANBOARD can compete in terms of awe inspiring power with any other robot in Revoltech’s lineup thus far. I’m somewhat tempted by this, if only as a surrogate for my own desires to dress up in cardboard boxes and clomp about town… (no more)

Yesterday evening character goods shop Chara-Ani posted a listing for a rather risque Akane PVC figure from Kimi ga Nozomu Eien spinoff game/OVA Akane Maniax. This “Akane Matsuri” figure will street in late January of ‘08, at 1/7 scale (23 cm tall) and a whopping 8,190 yen retail. Sculpting duty is from Ishizuka Gen of Mottara Kezuru. While I’m a fan of Akane Maniax (mostly of Gouda, to be honest), Akane’s matsuri design is one of the ugliest things I’ve ever seen in anime and I wish they’d have used the resources for this kit in a less Mardi Gras design. Still, those desirous of such an item can look for her preorder to appear elsewhere shortly. (no more)

Hype for Gurren Lagann was high back in May when this Yoko figure was announced, and given my enthusiasm for the show I made the rather foolhardy decision to preorder her sight unseen. Luckily when the first images of the kit emerged my decision seemed vindicated, and it was just icing on the cake to learn earlier this week that her top was castoffable. Yoko’s popularity and the castoff gimmick notwithstanding, now that the show is over how does Konami’s craftsmanship hold up to scrutiny? Not too badly at all, in my estimation - but not particularly amazingly either.

Great news today for the legions of Misato fans out there (and for those of us sick and tired of endless parades of Rei and Asuka): Kotobukiya has announced on their official blog that a PVC of Misato is currently in production! No details regarding price or release date are yet forthcoming, but given that they’re only showing us an unpainted resin prototype we may end up seeing her street around the time the next Eva movie hits theaters. (no more)

Via Moon Phase: Yahoo! News is reporting that at 7:50 am this morning a 15 year old student at a private high school in Kagawa Prefecture attacked a classmate with a 16.5 cm wide-bladed knife in the course of a fight between the two boys. Both were lightly injured in the fight, with the police stating that the blow sustained by the knife victim was likely dealt by the blunt edge of the blade. The knife wielder is being held by the prefectural police as an assault suspect. Moon Phase speculates that this is yet another copycat crime, the third in a recent spate of assaults with bladed weapons that have been tied by the media to School Days and Higurashi; we’ll be watching for more details in this particular case as they emerge. (no more)

Amiami made a rare morning update today to post a preorder for Atelier Sai’s [ERO] Silfietta PVC figure from Eushully’s Meishoku no Reiki eroge. She went up for preorder on Atelier Sai’s official site almost two weeks ago, but Amiami’s listing marks the beginning of her general availability via the broader array of online shops; as reported earlier her top is castoffable, and she’ll be retailing at 1/6 scale (25 cm tall) and 8,400 yen come December. Amiami matched the official Atelier Sai preorder discount of 20%, so here’s hoping other online shops will as well… (no more)

The final episode of the School Days TV anime was shown on satellite/cable channel AT-X last night, and by all accounts it surpassed even the most extreme predictions for how the show would end. Viewers are commenting that the pull from TV following the recent murder seems justified in the light of its grotesque and emotionally disturbing content, and many are surprised the episode was even considered for terrestrial broadcast in the first place. Moon Phase considers it an instant legend, and the general opinion is that it marks a milestone in Japanese animation, for good or for ill. The question then is: will you watch it (or have you already)? The screen shots and episode synopsis are enough for me, personally… (no more)

Japan subculture guru Patrick Macias published an article in the Thursday, September 27th issue of the Japan Times newspaper dubbed Akihabara’s Awful Truths in which he discusses the increased commodification of the otaku experience in the district. He cites a trend toward commercial gentrification following the Densha Otoko boom, spurred on by increased traffic flow from the newly opened Tsukuba Express line, the opening of the Yodobashi Akiba megastore, and NTT’s increased corporate presence all as factors working to drive otaku from their dark corners and replace them with yuppies, tourists, and maids. We’ve covered various aspects of this phenomenon over the past few years, but Macias’s article is a great read that summarizes many of them. Highly recommended. (no more)

We’ve just upgraded HD to version 2.3 of the Wordpress blogging software, and as a result some site features are temporarily down (site search and polls the most visible of these). We’re working to get everything compatible with the new version, but in the meantime if you spot something amiss please let us know! Edit: I’ll bump this as an FYI until most parts of the site are fixed. Should be soon…

Yotsuba is the vivacious, green-haired heroine of Azuma Kiyohiko’s Yotsubato! manga (dubbed Yotsuba&! in its English edition). With very few exceptions the author has refused to condone derivative products based on his designs, until now; his production team has formed a very deliberate aesthetic around the franchise, and they no doubt wanted to be sure any figure version would stay true to that vision. They seem to believe Kaiyodo is the company that can deliver with a standard of quality in their Revoltech action figure line to match, and with Enoki Tomohide on sculpting duty there was little doubt this would be a solid item. But is Yotsuba: THE ACTION FIGURE fun? You damn well better believe it. :D

Volume six of the bimonthly Comptiq supplementary bishoujo poster magazine is here! Once again it’s heavy on the Lucky Star (not surprising coming from a Kadokawa publication); there’s also plenty of poster material from other (mostly summer) shows, and a couple of nice extras.

A bit late on this one, but as I was browsing at Melon Books after taking care of visa business in Takasaki today I noticed that they had the September 2007 issue of Rolling Stone magazine (Japan edition) on their magazine rack. It was plain to see why; along with an Al Gore interview (”ROCK MEETS ECO”) the new Evangelion movie was featured prominently in the issue. Rei with the world floating above her hand was probably meant to evoke the synthesis of the ecological theme with that of the Eva movie, but intentionally or not I’d say it serves the far more effective purpose of symbolizing the global hegemony Gainax is plotting to achieve via the Eva franchise (and Rei in particular). A full image of the magazine cover is below:

Yamato’s recently released Kunugi Ayano PVC from Pia Carrot he Youkoso G.O. is [ERO] castoffable, [ERO] Daiki Kougyou’s Shokunyuu 2 Sanae’s pliant bosoms are incredibly malleable, a rather underwhelming Subaru PVC from Nanoha StrikerS is now up for preorder from Movic, a red jacket + tan lines Tecmo shop limited version of Orchid Seed’s Super Black Jack Rio PVC is up for preorder, new pictures are up at Amiami for Daiki Kougyou’s Kenshi-san PVC, Hobby Channel scoops their Hobby Japan limited edition Jingai Makyou Didii PVC complete with [ERO] shots. (no more)

This Cerberus Project sculpted Sonsaku Hakufu PVC figure was originally released earlier this year in a limited edition available for mail order via Comic Gum (the magazine in which the Ikkitousen manga is serialized). Word today from Goodsmile reveals that she’s to see a general release as well, this time in a black dress version; she’s 1/7 scale (28 cm tall with weapon equipped) and scheduled to retail in December at a price of 7,800 yen. I’m not incredibly interested in this Hakufu, but the fact that we’re seeing her in wide release gives me hope that the other two figures in this summer’s Comic Gum limited edition set will also see wide PVC release in some form - the Ryomou and Kanu look really nice. (no more)