Live action Macross? And new Macross Frontier movie trailer

I got really excited when I saw the title of one of Danny Choo’s entry, thinking there’s going to be a live action Macross movie or TV series. But it turned out to be an advert for some new Pachinko machines.

Still very cool though, I wonder who’s the girl. I guess most people would think a live action Macross can turn out truly fantastic or total disaster. I know that Hollywood is planning a live action Robotech, Robotech being the butchered version of the original Macross series for the Americans. So I have little hopes for that, though it might turn out to be surprisingly good. However seeing a proper live action Macross will be a dream come true, preferably a Japanese or Asian production.

But here’s something to look forward to for real; the feature length movie to Macross Frontier series!!! Macross Frontier The Movie: The False Diva‎:

The release date is 21st of November, but unfortunately for most of us outside Japan we’ll probably won’t see it any time soon.

11eyes: Episode 1 and 2

I came across 11eyes by accident before I knew what it was, though at the time I did think it would make a nice anime. The anime is based off an adult Visual novel and yes there includes a few panty shots, but nothing too sexually suggestive at the moment (and I like it that way). But don’t be deceived by the cutesy character designs, the plot of the anime is surprisingly dark and that’s what piqued my interest for this series.

The story tells of two high school students Satsuki Kakeru and Minase Yuka who were childhood friends. Kakeru is notable for wearing an eye patch on his right eye.  One day when of them decide to go to the mall the were suddenly transcended to alternative world where everything is the the same as current world they’re living in except it is engulfed in a red coloured sky thus the name ‘Red Night’. Not only that they couldn’t find any people at all. From then on they’re also encountered some hideous monsters and as they get surrounded the couple returned to the normal world again. Both of them were in shock after the incident has happened and did not understand what’s going on. Kakeru vows to protect Yuka if samething is to happen again.

Later on in the episode both of them find themselves back in the world of Red Night. They were surrounded and were about to be attacked by those same monsters, which lead us on to the next episode. Then just in time a mysterious girl with a sword comes to the rescue slaying all the monsters using some extraordinary powers. From a distant two dark figures stood there and watched as it happen. They decided to go to the crystal tower where it’s supposedly the centre of all the happenings, trying to find an explanation and escape from the place.  Whilst on the run they got attacked by one of the Dark Nights which they then managed to escape from. Kakaru starts getting pain on his right eye half way through.

They came to a place where a girl by the name of Lissette is trapped in a large crystal. Then suddenly the mysterious Black Knights appeared, to Kakeru and Yuka’s despair the girl with the sword happens to lose her power. Just as they’re about to get attacked like before, they suddenly revert back to the normal world again. After that we learned that the swords girl Misuzu comes from the same school as Kakeru and Yuka. She also explained there are two girls and another guy who are involved in this. I think there are some pretty obviously clues of who they might be from some of the characters who have already appeared. Through out the episodes Kakeru and Yuka had sightings of Kakeru’s sister who have supposedly committed suicide, which brings us to another mystery with the connection of her death and the Red Night.

There are still a lot of things that has yet to be explained but so far the intriguing plot and action are something that will keep my hopes high for in this series. There has been anime which have been adapted from visual novels or Eroge which I really enjoyed like Air and Clannad, despite I had very little knowledge of the original games. As an anime fan I think I’ll be the last person to succumb to the moe mania or fan service but some of these series just happened to be some of my favourite anime. Maybe 11eyes could turn out to be one of them.

The Black Nights actually reminds me of the Cenobites from the Hellraiser films. I think they look pretty cool and contrasting to the other characters.

The official website to the series:

http://www.mmv.co.jp/special/11eyes/

Life size Tetsujin 28 complete!

Yes got this from Danny Choo again because it’s the best source of information I can find :)

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cwabs/3987171320/

More pictures at Danny Choo.

I just came across this from Youtube:

I don’t know, but freakishly the robot reminds me of Jpop singer Ayumi Hamasaki.

Both look just as plastic. What do you think?

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0: Episode 11 (Final)

*This entry will contain spoilers for those who haven’t seen the series yet, but if you haven’t seen it I would highly recommend it.*

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is definitely a gem, the series thrived on good story telling and strong character development without all the flashy or ‘moe’ elements like other anime. The last episode finally shows Mirai being reunited with her parents but sadly Yuuki has passed away. When Mirai’s dreamt of Yuuki’s death it was in fact real. In the past few episodes Mirai thought he was still alive, only appearing either as a ghost or Mirai’s hallucination. It wasn’t until episode 10 that Yuuki’s death was made obvious.

Yuuki’s death was rather sad as he’d been very strong and high spirited all the way through the disaster. He was so close to seeing his parents again. Mirai also came out as a more mature person and as well as developing a caring relationship with her brother and family.  The ungrateful little girl that we saw in the first few episodes became someone who we have grown to sympathize with. Watching Mirai getting over Yuuki’s death and the reuniting with Mari was certainly heart wrenching. There are some tearjerker moments though not in a forceful kind of way.

Tokyo magnitude 8.0 is a thoughtful series even but I’m undecided to whether to consider it as one of my favourites. However it’s definately one of the best series I’ve seen this year. There’s not many anime out there that tries to deal with the sense of realism the series portray and this what makes it great. It’s more than just an anime about people are coping with natural disaster and loss but also about human relationships and how people change due to it. Sometimes it’s great to see an anime like Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 that is meaningful and not generic.

The end of full scale Gundam

Just browsed through Danny Choo’s post about the Gundam statue in Odaiba and as expected it has been taken down. It looks like it has been destroyed by an enemy, as demonstrated by the second picture in the link. However I wouldn’t think RX-78 can be taken down by a mere Zaku. Unless it’s unmanned or controlled by a crappy pilot, damn where’s Amuro when you need him!?

However that isn’t the end to the giant robot madness, in October they’ll be another life size robot of Tetsujin 28. The statue will be placed in Kobe and unlike the Gundam one it will stay there permanently. Looks like there are plenty of opportunity for future Japan travelers to see this. here’s a video:

But I still prefer to see a Gundam. Refer to previous post.