Moetan figures, books, pillows, banners, stickers and even Moetan clothing. Obsession of anime can be really wonderful. Ebay and living in Japan helps.

Well come the 27th it will be my birthday. I decided to buy myself a gift package because I do enjoy gifts quite a bit. What? Nothing wrong buying yourself a gift. So I figured I would Just make a small post about what I bought because i’m a little picky about things I buy believe it or not. Also note worthy that while i’m not a fan of any of the Gundam anime series, I do love some of their models because they look great and are fun to put together.

So first up this is originaly what I bought and only planned on getting this little cutie. As any Gundam 00 fan will know, this is Haro who accompanies Lockon Stratos inside his gundam. While I have yet to get any of these items (they arrive monday or tuesday) according to the description given, he reacts to voice by lighting up his eyes and saying a few phrases. On top of this he can rock left and right when he is on his special stand. He can also tell the time and function as an alarm clock if you want. Another feature this has is if you roll it on the floor, when it gets upright it will pop open its ear flaps and say a phrase. He comes with 2 arms and legs which you can pose him with if, like me, you wouldn’t want to ruin him.

Next up we have a Master Grade 1/100 Zeta Plus C1 Type from Gundam ZZ. Having never even heard of Gundam ZZ before last night, this model was rather surprisingly cool to look at. As you can see he is all gray with some white, silver and blue on him. Quite a welcome change from the usual white base you tend to find. When these actually arrive, I may put some pictures up of the finished results incase anyone coming here also likes to make these. He also transforms into a plane! Woo! He is like the Kyrios model I have only cooler looking.

Moving along, we have another Master Grade Gundam. 1/100 Wing Gundam Zero Endless Waltz Version to be exact from Gundam Wing. When I saw this I had to buy it as it just looks so damn cool. After seeing the Zeta gundam this one was a little ordinary with its colour scheme but it more than makes up for it with awesome looking wings. Comes with its own display stand too so He will have a place on my desk next to my already built Hi-Nu Gundam from Char’s Counterattack.

Yet another Master Grade kit here. Actualy they are all MG rank so I won’t bother saying that anymore. This one comes from the 08th MS Team series according to the site. He is a 1/100 GM Sniper. What caught my eye about this fella was the colour scheme, like the Zeta, and the fact his huge sniper gun was wired into his backpack and then is in turn, wired into a big generator (I assume) which comes with him. He was quite cheap too so it was a win win.

Next we have the 1/100 MG Strike Noir Gundam kit, from Gundam Seed Stargazer. Again this guy is pretty cool looking with his colour, which actualy reminds me of Saber’s kit I bought years and years ago from the Tekkaman Blade series. Anyway this guy has these funky Scorpion-esque whip things that come out of his hands and I thought that was so cool that I had to get him. His wings on his back open up as well to look even cooler when he is all posed up.

Finaly we have a kit from a series I have never even heard of before last night, Super Robot War. His name is Alteisen, and is the heaviest of the lot that I bought (most kits here are around 800g, this guy is 1300g) This guy is what set me off on my Gundam hunt because after reading some of the stuff he has in/on him and seeing his pictures I just had to buy him. According to details he has Individually articulated fingers, which is pretty damn awesome I think. On top of that his shoulder cannons open up which again reminds me of Tekkaman Blade’s kit. On top of that he has something i’ve never seen in a MG kit and that is when you push his “vernier” as the site puts it, an LED inside his head will light up and show his eyes. Thats pretty cool. Just wondering if you can keep his eyes on for good. That would look pretty spiffy i’d imagine but I would be willing to bet it would drain the battery and kill the LED rather fast. On top of that, this kit comes with a 12cm high PVC model of his pilot to stand next to if you wish. I’m not sure I really care about that but I may as well add it to my collection.

Note: I could only find a blue painted version of this guy but this is him none the less…

So as I said these havn’t arrived yet but when they do I may sort of continue this post and put up some finished product versions along with the collection I already have. Not sure yet.

The setting takes place in a world where chocolate and other fun things in life are illegal. Media and propaganda vehicles take the message of eating healthy to your home and streets. Much of the technology featured in Chocolate Underground is a blur between the past, present, and future. Trucks that transform into mechs and ways of detecting chocolate are just some of the future aspects. Yet it has normal television sets and helicopters. All this to enforce the law of selling, producing, and eating of chocolate and other naughty things like fireworks. Chocolate soymilk is healthy, why must they ban that? The two boys Huntley and Smudger aren’t fans of these laws, which will bring them into the illegal practice of secretly helping people get chocolate.

Huntly = hunt and Smudger = smuggler?

Each episode is short because the anime is an ONA, anime that originally airs on the Internet. Chocolate Underground is lightly based on the British novel called Bootleg by Alex Shearer. For an anime not aired on television or in theaters the animation is pretty good. The start shows how seriously these laws are taken, even for something so little. Personal property means very little.

Youtube Interview Contest

If you’re willing to answer questions from the community and are willing to have it on Youtube, we’re looking for you. Just need a webcam or way to record yourself. Comment, send a message, or post in the Community Kinship forum for info. There will be a prize.

Know of a forum, site, or Livejournal community willing to have a joint graphic contest? The idea is that users of both places give their works, then votes are counted up from both. Ask for details.

Anime publisher ADV ended the magazine Newtype USA and replaced it with a general media magazine PiQ. Of course subscribers weren’t happy getting something unrelated to what they paid for. It also didn’t help that a reputation of insulting and poking fun of its reads was growing. Without much shock PiQ has ended after four issues. This could also be another sign that ADV as a whole is having problems and perhaps near an end themselves?

The mainsite for PiQ does hint at more news coming soon. Newtype USA was making profits when it was published, why ruin it? But it’s true that it was expensive and in theory it didn’t help grow interest in anime and manga with non-fans.

It is quite unfortunate that amazing manga like this will rarely see the light of day outside of japan. Wether it be the series is considered too short or that people don’t believe that it would do well, it is when you come across a manga like this that you really just hope that someone notices it’s brilliance and decides to pick it up for translation. For those who have read this series you no doubt enjoyed it and agree with what i’ve said. As for everyone else, if you are a fan of romance then I cannot recommend this enough. It rivals Kanon 2006’s Makoto story arc which (IMO) was 1 of the 2 best and saddest romance stories i’ve encountered. This is a short series that only runs for 5 books, and was made quite awhile ago but it still remains a brilliant work. However lets get on with the point of all this.

STORY

We follow a man by the name of Yoshizumi Ikuru who lives in the future. As I read this series over 4 or 5 months ago I cannot remember exactly if you find out how old he is but he seems to be around his eairly 20s. Unfortunately due to a major traffic accident when he was young that claimed his parents, he is now close to dying. He was able to survive and avoid his imminent death by scientists grafting body parts of another person onto/into him. This allows him to live but not for much longer. As he only has short time left to live, he turns in his application for an Ai-Ren. What is an Ai-Ren? Well as the manga puts it they are

“Human beings made out of artificial genes with the purpose of relieving the mental despair of a patient during his/her last moments of his/her life”

They are custom grown to suit the person they are given to. Unfortunately their life span is also not as prolonged as 1 would hope. They usualy die a few months after being “born” which in itself is quite sad but in this case is just worse. Ikuru decides to name his Ai-Ren simply Ai, as that is all she can say for the first few hours after taking her home. With both of the main characters introduced, the story now follows them together as they experience life together and eventualy fall in love with each other.

Characters

I figure more information on the main focus of this series wouldn’t be too out of order so i’ll go into some further depth of the characters. There are more that you meet but Since 90% of the story is based on 2, I will only go into detail about them.

Ikuru: He is a rather intelligent person who often has dreams/nightmares about his impending death and about his body’s deterioration. Sometimes these are so severe that they leave him unable to eat or even move due to bodies reaction. He doesn’t seem to mind cleaning and is pretty good at cooking too. He is an exceptionaly kind and understanding character that unfortunately feels cut off from the rest of the world. He seems to feel guilty about applying for an Ai-Ren but that later disappears through time when he becomes truly happy he did.

Ai: Born/grown at the request of Ikuru in a lab. She physicaly looks about late teens, eairly 20s but since her mind requires a short span to mature to her physical age, she acts very childish at first. Drawing on walls and never being able to stay still and the like. Although her personality is designed to compliment Ikuru’s, she seems to enjoy flashy things in life such as rock music which Ikuru doesn’t. She learns to play the piano thanks to Ikuru but soon passes him in skill and picks up the guitar as well. Together with Ikuru they grown vegetables outside of their country house. She keeps a diary of her life with Ikuru and always writes in it about her day and what happened.

Final Comments

Unfortunately that is about as much as I am able to write up about this due to it being short. However don’t take that as a bad thing has writing any more would just spoil it for the people who wish to read it. If you are looking for a great romance series that wont suck up too much of your time then I cannot suggest a more perfect book. It has great artwork in it that is minimalistic at times, but really shows a sense of the atmosphere and surroundings. A great read that should be on everyone’s list of “must read” manga.