• Alter announces Yagami Hayate PVC, due out in October (Amiami listing)

• Yamato’s Yuria 100-shiki, Doubutsu Nee-chan Brenda preorders begin

• Minatogawa Amaha original Battle Girl Mil Alpha PVC announced from Beat

• Kuramoto Ikuma’s Lyrical Lyric Takami Rin PVC preorder opens, release in September

• Wonder Festival 2008 Summer Goodsmile / Max Factory event limited PVC releases announced - alternate version Melissa Serafi and Hatsune Miku Nendoroids, Suzaku Figma

• Swimsuit version of Yotsubato!’s Fuuka coming on September 1st

• Nitro+’s Sumaga eroge limited edition to come with two petit Nendoroids (Getchu listing)

• Prize figures, trading figures shown off at the Tokyo Omocha Show 2008 (Amiami) (GA Graphic) (Otasuke) (Post Channel) (Hobby Stock) (Digitamin) (Dengeki Online)

The two latest Queen’s Blade combat artbooks hit store shelves yesterday (Allean and Ardra), and with them the news that the Queen’s Blade franchise is scheduled for TV anime adaptation! Other than the bare fact that it’s in the works little is known about the project, but based on Hobby Channel’s official announcement it’s hinted that Reina will be the protagonist. This in turn leads to all sorts of wild speculation - with the shared character designer, can we expect animation from the My-HiME team? Hobby Japan is a Bandai property, Sunrise is a Bandai property, it’s not entirely out of the question… we’ll follow up on this as soon as further information is made known. (no more)

Figure and goods maker Jun Planning updated their official site yesterday evening with a listing for a new Sanzenin Nagi figure from comedy manga and anime Hayate no Gotoku!. Seated holding a removable game controller and flashing a “V” sign, she’s scheduled for release in August at 1/8 scale (10 cm tall) and a very reasonable 4,179 yen retail. The sculpt is from Kiyama Naotake of Hyper Space. Figure images below:

You may have noticed that there haven’t been any Mainichi updates for about a week. There’s no serious reason for the lapse, but motivation is at a bit of an ebb right now and to avoid a more serious case of burnout I’m deliberately pulling back from a super-intense update schedule for a little while. I’ll still be posting daily with news items of interest, but for the time being they’ll be displayed in the center column in the place of Mainichi posts until I can get back on the daily summary schedule. More below:

Griffon’s ero figure sub-brand R-Line put up an official page this morning for a Sonsaku Hakufu (school swimsuit ver.) PVC figure from Ikkitousen. If the pose looks familiar that’s because she’s a variant of the earlier released gym uniform version; unlike her predecessor this new version does not appear significantly castoffable, though the school swimsuit does have a certain appeal all its own. She’s scheduled to retail at 6,500 yen in August, at 1/6 scale (closer to 1/7) and 13 cm tall with a sculpt from Yamamoto Masahiro. Figure images below:

Following the announcement last week of a similar item from Chara Hai, preorders went online yesterday for a Tifania hug pillow from Cospa and Zero no Tsukaima 3. Like other pillowcases in Cospa’s lineup this one retails at 9,450 yen and 150 x 50 cm in size, double-sided with original illustrations on both sides. Release is expected in late August.

Listings also went up for reissues of a few other Zero no Tsukaima items from Cospa, as well as a new lineup of Kanokon goods including a Chizuru towel (bikini ver.), Nozomu towel (white shirt/bloomers ver.), and Chizuru cushion cover. All three are due out in late July. Images below:

A preorder listing went up this afternoon at Amiami for Organic’s Kawazoe Tamaki PVC figure from Bamboo Blade. We got our first look at her back at Wonder Festival, but with little fanfare leading up to the listing this is the first decent look we have at her color prototype. The sculpt is from Hatsuda Kouichirou, and she’s scheduled for release on August 25th at 1/8 scale (17 cm tall) and 7,140 yen retail. Figure images below:

Release details and color images went online at Sega’s official Shining World site this evening for the coming release of President Japan’s “doll eye” Kureha PVC figure from Shining Wind that we originally scooped back on April 5th. Like Houmei and Seena preceding her she’s scheduled to ship in September with the high gloss doll-style eyes that are the signature of the series, at 1/8 scale (measurements unspecified) and 8,190 yen retail. The sculptor is currently uncredited. Figure images below:

Despite lacking a major game release since Discipline in 2002, troubled eroge brand Active has managed to limp on thanks to the enduring strength of its turn-of-the-century Sei Shoujo creations. Today Getchu put up a product listing for yet another extension of one of his storied franchises, dubbed Bible Black -The Infection-. It’s known history that Sei Shoujo left the maker several years ago (to form Empress) so his lack of involvement here is evident; the Getchu listing does not credit whatever artist and scenario writer(s) they have on duty. Game description, further details and sample CG below:

Being unfamiliar with her work this is a rather dense scoop to parse, but bear with me as I try to sort things out: goods maker President Japan announced on their Eye Ball production blog yesterday that they’ll be producing a series of figures based on the original illustrations of mangaka and artist Ouse Kohime (official site). A post on her blog provides further details and additional pictures of the first figure in the series, “BLACK BAT”, who is from the Time Keeper series (apparently a series of original illustrations; I can’t source these for the life of me). Future figures in the series will include an “angel” and a “fallen angel”. The initial batgirl figure is scheduled for release in July as a prepainted and assembled polyresin statue. Price and other details are not yet announced, but this is bound to be an expensive item… we’ll keep a lookout for more details. If anyone has copies of Ouse’s artbooks on hand and could possibly find the original image of this it would be much appreciated! (no more)

First scooped back at Wonder Festival, preorders opened yesterday for a new bishoujo figure from fledgeling brand First Class, Katagiri Yuuhi from Feng’s visual novel Akane-Iro ni Somaru Saka. She’s scheduled for release in September at 7,140 yen and 20 cm tall (non-scale), with a castoffable bra part. An alternate color Olive limited edition is also planned. The sculptor is currently uncredited. Figure images below:

We first saw her announced back at the Shizuoka Hobby Show, and today Kotobukiya updated with color images of their Kizaki Emi PVC figure from manga and upcoming TV anime Kurogane no Linebarrels. She’s scheduled for release in October at an undisclosed retail price (previously reported at 6,090 yen), and 1/8 scale (21 cm tall). The sculptor is currently uncredited. Figure images below:

A page went up at Goodsmile’s official site yesterday evening for the wide release, alternate color version of the Shiragami Takayuki (Yukishiro) sculpted Ikkitousen trading figure set that we first scooped back in May. The set is scheduled for release in September from Wani Books and will ship in boxes of eight for 6,400 yen (or 800 yen per unit). There are a total of six unique figures in the set (Chouun Shiryuu, Kanu Unchou, Sonsaku Hakufu, Ryomou Shimei, Ryuubi Gentoku, and Kakouen Myousai) with two color versions (regular and limited) of each figure; colors on the limited versions have not been revealed. Preorders for the set were up at Getchu last night and should be up elsewhere soon as well. Images below:

Preorders opened over the noon hour today for the latest installment in Max Factory’s Figma action figure line, Tousaka Rin from Fate/stay night. She’s scheduled for release in August at 2,500 yen retail and stands 13.5 cm tall (non-scale) with a sculpt credited to Masaki Apsy and Max Factory. Notable features include jointed clothing elements in the skirt and shirt for additional freedom of movement, optional face and magic-using arm parts, and the dagger of Azoth. Figure images below:

I did a double take when I first read the title of the listing for Yamashita Shunya’s Nose Art girl figure at Getchu this morning, but a look at the source image makes it clear that the “nose” in question isn’t that of a creatively adorned human but rather a creatively adorned fighter plane. She originally appeared as a pinup poster in volume 4 of Ikaros Publishing’s MC Akushizu quarterly moe mecha/military magazine (she also appears in the recently released Wild Flower artbook).

The figure is 1/7 scale (22 cm tall) with production from goods maker Runa (Amiami search), and scheduled to retail at 7,140 yen in late September. Sample images reveal that she’s an upper body castoff, and she wields an optional 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun. The sculptor is uncredited in Getchu’s listing. Figure images below:

As we reported on Saturday, official pages went online today for Wave’s soft-body Xecty from Shining Wind as well as two other figures we weren’t anticipating: Yoko “space look” version from Gurren Lagann and Aizawa Tomomi (maid type) from Pia Carrot he Youkoso!! 2.

Xecty is scheduled for release in September at 1/8 scale (18 cm long) and 6,825 yen retail, with a sculpt from Clumsy Craft Rei (homepage). Her body is composed of a soft, pliant material, and she comes with an extra exchangeable face part. Her shirt is castoffable. A Miyazawa limited pink version (500 units, 6,825 yen) and a DX version with telephone card (7,875 yen) will also be sold.

Yoko is due out in September as well, at 5,880 yen. She is 1/8 scale (17.5 cm tall) and was sculpted by Katsushima Kouichi (homepage). A Miyazawa limited special color version (6,930 yen) and a resin kit version (10,500 yen, June release) are also being produced.

Tomomi is scheduled for release in October, at a whopping 1/5 scale (height unspecified) and 10,290 yen retail. Her sculpt is from Misumaru Mashii (homepage), unsurprising given his portfolio.

Figure images below:

Three Days’ Updates

• Zero no Tsukaima Tifania dakimakura announced
• Artbook Review: Yamashita Shunya’s Wild Flower
• Griffon does PVC plainclothes Ryofu, in red
• Ikkitousen, Lucky Star itasha models announced
• Chara-Ani’s Ryuubi Gentoku features “soft toes”
• Organic does Dragonaut’s Garnet, Melmo preorder
• Orchid Seed’s Shiori to ship with soft chest part

See below for further news from the past few of days - there’s a lot of it, so pull up a chair:

Character goods maker Chara Hai updated this evening with listings for a Tifania hug pillowcase from Zero no Tsukaima (officially from this summer’s third season, Princesse no Rondo). The case is scheduled for release on August 25th with preorders open until August 4th, and is double-sided with two pieces of original art and standard dakimakura dimensions of 150×50 cm. Like previous Chara Hai releases Tifania is available in two choices of cloth: smooth knit (9,500 yen retail) and two-way tricot (10,500 yen retail). Explanations of the differences in pillow fabric can be found here. Tifania pillow images below:

Last month we were delighted to bring the announcement of Wild Flower, the second artbook collection of Yamashita Shunya’s illustration works (following Sweet Dreams, released almost three years ago). It arrived on store shelves today, and we managed to track down a copy before it disappeared and bring you this look inside. Needless to say, this is something Shunya fans aren’t going to want to miss: