Return of the Mainichi Junk
Yes, the Mainichi Junk is back. It’s coming back today in preparation for a site renewal in which daily longform posts will reclaim some of their former glory, and other posts will be organized into easily viewable, easily accessible at-a-glance categories, with the intent of making the HD experience more user-friendly and generally useful than ever before.
To that end, starting today I’ll be posting with the goal of making the eventual layout change as smooth as possible. This may mean that some of the stuff that shows up here (like this post) might look a bit odd, but I ask in advance that you bear with me as we make this transition. It might not be pretty in the interim, but the end result should hopefully be worth it. A preview of what the new layout will look like (minus the big blue blob in the middle) can be found at left.
Shifting gears, among the new things I want to do with the return of this daily post is to go a bit off the beaten path mandated by endless strings of “figure news” posts, into some of the other stuff that occupies the interest of people here at HD (that would be me) on a daily basis. “Ye gods, does this mean he’s actually going to blog?” I can hear you saying – and the answer is yes, maybe, if I can think of things to talk about. So, on with it!
Dragonaut ED 2 features Kaneko Hiraku illustrations
I stopped watching Dragonaut after the masterpiece of animation that was episode five, figuring that unless Kaneko Hiraku (designer of Queen’s Blade Cattleya, among other things) was brought on board to supervise the animation for another episode this was the best the series was going to get. He hasn’t come back yet (I’ve been checking his sakuga wiki page every week, just in case), but this week’s check revealed that he’s responsible for a few cuts in the new ED animation, the choicest of which are reproduced here:


Proving once again that Uno Makoto and Kaneko Hiraku are two of the mightiest forces in the known universe.
Anime Rumors: Pretty Menma, Sekirei
Moon Phase Diary notes in a post today that Ramen Tenshi Pretty Menma, the game created to populate the Genshikenverse for the show’s second season, is presented in the upcoming issue of Comp H’s magazine as being an anime “in production”, but details are completely unconfirmed. If this turns out to be the case it could provide a scenario for a second Genshiken OVA to be released along with the Menma DVDs, though with the amount of plot remaining I doubt three OVA episodes would suffice.
In very tangentially related news, Moon Phase speculated back on the 18th that a Sekirei anime would be produced by Arms (the same studio that animated Genshiken season 2), and specifically the unit that worked on Ikkitousen Dragon Destiny. Thematically this would be a good fit in my opinion, though I’d like to see a bit higher quality than they managed to pull off for DD… this is pure speculation based on a single line of Moon Phase text and shouldn’t be given any credence, but it’s fun to dream – I’d bet dollars to donuts that a Sekirei anime is coming sooner or later.
Gundam Watch
Thanks to a hookup from wildarmsheero I am now watching the original Gundam movie trilogy for the first time. It’s largely been a pleasant experience thus far, though an odd one – like I’m fitting one of the few remaining pieces into the jigsaw puzzle of my anime vocabulary, and I already intuitively know where it goes. Being finally able to put faces to names like Zaku, Gouf, Char, Ramba Ral, Hamon, Amuro, and others is a lot of fun.
I’m not sure if there’s enough here to convince me the franchise was worth continuing for 25+ years beyond its initial conception, or enough to inspire me to watch more, but I’m feeling far less antipathy toward the show than I used to (based purely on the hellish experience of suffering through the first 15 episodes of SEED a few years back). Two thirds of the way through the second movie and the Amuro angst factor is getting a bit high, and it’s a bit silly how charismatic women inevitably die by falling out of their vehicles, but it’s still a fun watch and I look forward to seeing how things end.
As a side note, the knowledge that Char will go on to voice Sid Fortenmayer is a source of endless mirth.
Eroge Limiter Release
This makes a nice segue to note that tomorrow, January 25th, is the biggest eroge release day of the year thus far. 37 new and reissued titles will go on sale (by Galge’s reckoning), chief among them August’s long-awaited Fortune Arterial. The game has half a dozen figures and dozens of accessories in production as I type this, and is a virtual shoe-in for a TV anime at some point in the next year or two. I’m not sure if it will be able to stack up to the notoriety of its predecessor, however…

Other games on sale tomorrow (don’t click these links at work) include an ero-ero Prism Ark expansion, a game featuring a time-slipping heroine at multiple ages, a Shimai Tsuma expansion that essentially finishes the original game, a beautifully illustrated offering from Atelier Kaguya, and a bunch of other promising titles. I’ll be getting a shipment of games in tomorrow and will report on them when time allows.
Play-Asia Whoredom
A quick glance through Play-Asia today turned up some stuff that might be of interest, so if you’d like to support the site and something catches your eye I’d be happy if you choose to purchase through the affiliate links below.
Now On Sale



- [ERO] Max Factory POLO System Wendy from Gun x Sword
- Wave’s Tsuruya-san x Kyon’s sister set from Haruhi
- Griffon’s Kanu Unchou (china dress ver.) from Ikkitousen
New Preorders





- Valkyrie Profile Lenneth
- [ERO] Tandem Twin Annerose
- [ERO] Sekirei Musubi (race queen ver.)
- Wafuudou’s Manyuu Chibusa
- Wafuudou’s G-L Yoko
That’s a wrap for today’s edition of Mainichi Junk!
I’m not sure if future posts will be quite this highly produced, but might as well aim high from the start. Things will be changing for the better in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!
haha i tried to watch the original Gundam movies before, but for some reason or another everytime I would start watching it I just couldn’t stay awake to finish past the first movie. Eventually I traded it for some credit towards some ps3 games lol. Wonder if I made a good decision, since I kind of want to see if I can get started on it again.
Hey, you really should keep on with Zeta trilogy next. Although its best to follow the whole 50eps
Nothing can convince me to watch Dragonaut again after enduring the first 2 eps of pure crap XD
Looking forward to the redesign though! Bought the Guilty Gear I-no figure through your link a couple of days ago, she’s sold out already but perhaps other readers who are as appreciative of your useful otaku news updates might want to buy other new listings like Alter’s Nadie or the MF suit Saber ^^
Hey shingo, just question in regards to the Yoko PVC, how good is the craftsmanship of Wafuudou’s figurines like? Care to share a little on your experience, if any? Thanks again for the updates btw ;)
Hell yeah, Sekirei anime! And produced by the same guys that did Ikkitousen.
Though, I do hope that they can keep the plot apart, while still being able to afford all that fanservice..
Who cares about the plot or story? Just give me more Uno Makoto and Kaneko Hiraku fanservice character designs. 8D
p.s. Just kidding. I do like animation with a good story to tell. But since anime with character designs from Uno Makoto and Kaneko Hiraku are getting rare, I can overlook the shortcoming for the eye-candy. 8)
I’ve been waiting for Annerose. She’ll look great next to my Topaz.
Coincidently enough I recently finished watching the Gundam movie trilogy for the first time. I thought the editing was choppy in a few places, but I was surprised at how epic and badass the ending really was. When compared to a lot of shows these days it’s interesting to see how well Gundam has stood the test of time.
And I’m probably one of the few people who actually enjoys Dragonaut. The beginning was more “it’s so bad it’s good,” but I find it actually good now. Nothing stellar, but fun overall.
Everyone hates on the cabbage scene in that episode, while ignoring the amazing Iron Chef parody that followed that scene. You know what I’m talking about.
Garma… ;_;
>>suneo
I’d recommend checking out the Gundam movies again if you get the chance, if just for the historical interest factor. They’re an interesting watch in themselves, I’d say, and I’m really enjoying the craftsmanship exhibited in the old school cel animation. They don’t make ’em like this any more.
>>e-jump
That’s what I hear, that the Zeta series is worth watching in full (and better than the movies). If I can find the time I’ll seriously consider it.
>>byaku-chan
I wouldn’t recommend watching Dragonaut in itself, I agree with you completely. However I would very highly recommend watching Kaneko Hiraku’s animation (which at this point means episode five, and the second ED). You could even put it on mute and turn off the subtitles if you don’t want to have the asinine dialogue inflicted on you… his work is pure prurient animated bliss in its highest form, and definitely worth suffering through the dross that surrounds it (in my warped opinion).
Thanks for choosing to pick up Ino at Play Asia, by the way. :3
>>cloudkun
Wafuudou is one of the intermediate makers with a history of some hits and some misses. Their work is generally decent in my experience, not as consistently good as Goodsmile or Max Factory but not as bad as Yujin and probably a bit above Atelier Sai. HD reviews of Wafuudou figures include:
HiMM Izumi
Princess Waltz Iris
Princess Waltz Angela
Hope that helps!
>>meganeshounen
I just hope they put the Genshiken budget into it instead of the Ikkitousen budget, as Sekirei deserves more than what they gave the poor girls in Dragon Destiny… ;_;
>>blacklotus
There has never been a Kaneko Hiraku-designed anime, though I’d love to see one; he’s an animator by trade, where Uno Makoto provides the base designs. I’m sure they’re both working as hard as they can on the projects they’re assigned to and I’m just happy when new material shows up, though I’m with you in wishing they both made more frequent and visible contributions.
>>Al
Agreed, I think it’s a nice alternate color job. :3
>>Demian
I’m hoping to make it to the ending tonight, I look forward to the ensuing badassery. I think one of the reasons the show has been so enduring is that back when it aired it was revolutionary in its presentation of the subject matter, and became the foundation for a new genre – it’s fun to watch with the knowledge that when it came out it was raw and cutting edge, though the themes explored in it now seem pretty well-worn.
Having not watched Dragonaut past ep. 5 I can’t comment on the later part of the series, but I have a feeling that if I ever watch more it will be in the company of some very snarky friends whilst highly inebriated. It’s just the kind of show that asks for drunken haranguing… ;_;
>>Terry Bogard
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of the kyabetsu. A spherical cabbage with concentric rings – it’s brilliant! When food scientists finally engineer a cabbage-onion hybrid we’ll know who to thank.
>>lostdog
GARRRRRRMAAAAAAAAAAAAAA……!!!! ;_;
He wasn’t a bad guy, he just wanted to impress his sister and marry the girl he loved. So sad. :(
Hooray! Mainichi Junk is back!
Some of you won’t know that the original Gundam movie trilogy was released earlier, but with new voices. This of course got the hardcore Gundam fans up in arms, and that’s why the trilogy was released again, with the original VAs. Or at least so my expat friend tells me. Anyway, I asked him if this compared to the furore that went down when George Lucas said he was only making the expanded editions of the original Star Wars trilogy available, and he said- “close”.
>>Shingo Do you game to take a break from watching anime or do you watch anime to take a break from gaming?
Valkyrie Profile Lenneth Now this is my style. If I was only going to buy one figure this year, this would be it but 08 is going to be a busy year for me and I started buying early:)
[…] manga site at Square-Enix’s Young Gangan Magazine brought the announcement last night: as previously rumored, the bishoujo fighting-themed manga from Gokurakuin Sakurako (Ashika Sakura) will become […]