A Post-Hiatus Recap

After making it back to the country in one piece -- traveling over 20 hours completely feverish was anything but pleasant -- I wanted to track back and see what I missed over these past 2 weeks. Rather than re-state what's been reported, I thought I'd jot down some initial reactions on select headlines. But before I start, I had to post this photo I took while I was in India out looking for postcards, I was surprised to find a little Naruto homage hidden within the shelves of a gift shop.

Well first of all, I'm excited to hear that 3 titles by Eiji Otsuka will be continuing in a new magazine this summer: MPD-Psycho, The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, and Yakumo Hyakkai. The title migration was brought on as a result of Comic Charge ending its 2-year run, ending with its March issue.

Zakka Films has released its first DVD entitled "The Roots of Japanese Anime: Until the End of WWII. This english-subtitled DVD is a compilation of 8 cartoons created by various Japanese animators between 1930 and 1942. Their goal of bringing out early and lesser known Japanese films has definitely caught my attention. I can't wait till the DVD arrives at my doorstep. Currently, the DVD is only available for purchase through FilmBaby.com

Another item I'm itching to see is Quentin Tarantino new 7-minute Kill Bill sequence of Chapter 3: The Origin of O-Ren. Seems like Production I.G. has finished producing the new sequence.

I just saw the promotional video for Ichigo Mashimaro Encore (Strawberry Marshmallow), adapted from Barasui's slice of life manga...totemo kawaii!!!

On the figures realm, Moon Toys has released a very beautiful figure from Tome Kei's Skit Scooter title featured in Range Murata's ROBOT anthology. My eye was immediately transfixed on the scooter.

But the figure that definitely caught my attention was via Medicom's latest figure in the RAH series of Evangelion's Shinji Ikari. This figure merits its own blog post, so look out for more details (and photos) soon.

Then there's the ever awesome vintage design robot Chubu 01 by Kazushi Kobayashi (pictured). This no doubt lands extremely high on my aesthetic meter. You can immediately see some anime influences in the design -- like blending the best anime has to offer.

I was going to jump into the video games, but that may take longer than I expected. Right now I've got my eyes set on F.E.A.R 2 and Resistance: Retribution.