So here’s the box that comes along with the August issue of Hobby Japan. There is one thing I’ll say about the packaging though.

It’s freakin’ overkill.

While the charm is tiny, I was quite surprised by the production quality, especially when you compare it with this preview shot by Hobby Search. Now I’m having doubts hooking it up to my bag and bringing it out and around.

Did I mention it’s goddamn cute? >_<;

Yesterday also marks the distribution of the September issue of the same magazine, so a lot of people should be getting their hands on the OVA. I took an “early sneak peek”, and although I don’t have the time to give it a good look-over at the moment, the action scenes look pretty awesome. Look forward to a review soon!

…which could very well be in a couple of weeks or so, since I’ll be having field camp. Ugh.

I’ll make this real quick: I finally got my copy of the August issue, and a couple of things surprised me.

Firstly, STR’s full name is ストレンクス (Strength). I had guessed that Strength would represent the “S” in the acronym, but I didn’t expect it to be the ENTIRE NAME.

Secondly, there’s this. We all know Mato Kuroi’s and Yomi Takanashi’s voice actresses have been announced, right? That’s Kana Hanazawa and Miyuki Sawashiro respectively, in case your memory needs refreshing.

(The hand on the left belongs to Yuu, who’s voiced by Kana Asumi. My scan didn’t cut it, sorry. >_<)

But what’s this? The voice actresses for B★RS and Dead Master are listed as “???” here. WTF?

Either Ordet’s trolling just to make us keep guessing, or both the main protagonist and antagonist of the OVA will be voiced by different VAs in their different forms.

The VA of Black Gold Saw (not in the image) is also listed as “???”, so there’s no way we can make any connections to her human form just yet.

Oh well.

P.S. No, I didn’t keng from my enlistment. This is a scheduled post. =_=

I haven’t picked up my copy yet, but since these scans seem to be circulating around the ‘Net like crazy, I’ll cover them anyway.

Tony’s Heroines Works Vol. 5 – Hatsune Miku by Max Factory

Oh snap! Here’s Tony Taka’s take on the most famous VOCALOID, in a 3-dimensional form. It’s certainly a more dynamic pose than the previous scaled iterations.

Artists’ homepage: T2 Art Works

The 1/7 scaled figure’s based on this illustration Tony did. I’ve no real clue of the actual source, though; I grabbed this off of Safebooru. >_>

There’s no other release or pricing info though. I’m assuming the scale is 1/7, since the past figures in the same series use that scale as well.

Dead Master –animation version- by Good Smile Company

The second 1/8 scaled figure iteration of our scythe-wielding antagonist from the OVA is just around the corner. Probably end of this year. Probably.

It seems that Dead Master has to be suspended from a stick growing out of the back of the larger skull. I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with that; you’ll have to totally rely on the base (or some creatively-placed Blu-Tack) for a good shot.

Nope, no release date or pricing info confirmed for this one, too.

Dead Master figma by Max Factory

Finally, some (published) wind of the perfect companion for the B★RS figma! Finger-licking good!

Bad pun. I’m sorry.

The bad-ass figure comes with Dead Master’s signature weapon, and a couple of skulls with adjustable mouths. Once again, no release or pricing info.

Megurine Luka figma by Max Factory

Luka fans, your wishes have been granted! Assuming of course you wished for a Luka figma.

Luka outfit appears to be permanently affected by wind. I guess it’s better that way, since otherwise her legs would be trapped stiff.

The figure comes with a golden microphone and a giant tuna. Said tuna also comes with its own hole (for use with the figma stand), for reasons unknown.

Unlike the other figures featured in this post, this figma is scheduled for a September release this year, and is priced at 2,800 JPY. That’s about 44 SGD.

Black★Rock Shooter –original version- by GSC

This is actually just a re-release of the figure. If you’re regretting not buying this (unlikely, especially with the -animation version- around), now’s your chance!

No pricing or release date info, though. ( *A*)

Guess it’s time to start eating grass again-

OH WAIT THE B★RS CHARACTER CHARM

Image via Mikatan’s blog

There it is. I knew it was a keychain, though the prototype shot didn’t show the ring at the top, and had a stand. Strange.

Or maybe that’s an upcoming Nendoroid Petite. Maybe.

I just got a call that my copy of the magazine just arrived, too. I’ll post up pics of it, and do one last review…before I get enlisted.

Stay tuned!

Sources:

• Wcloudxkumo’s blog: [1] [2] [3] [4]
• Tomopop
• Futaba Channel (AKA 2chan)
• Figure / GK (less likely to be deleted than the 2chan thread)

Also, thanks to TP for helping me with the Tony’s Heroine Works bit.

Pre-orders for this figure opened yesterday, so if you’re getting it, get your wallets out!

I’ve already given this figure enough praise in my previous posts about it, so all there’s left is the image-spam!

To reiterate, the figure is retailing for 9,800 JPY (about 150 SGD), but you can pre-order it from Hobby Search (7,467 JPY) or AmiAmi (7,280 JPY).

So, are you getting this Dead Master, or waiting for the –animation version-? XD

Via Wcloudx’s blog.

It’s not often I involve myself with online communities (not counting social networks like Twitter or Facebook), much less challenging their beliefs.

Before I start though, here’s the first part of the post, simple and sweet.

Danny’s going to bring along some exclusive B★RS footage with him to Anime Expo in Los Angeles. It’ll be 10+ minutes long (more than 20% of the OVA), which is pretty long for a preview.

The only thing I can say to this is why not us Singaporeans?! *sniff*

Anyway, on to the other topic at hand.

About a month or two ago, I looked up the Black★Rock Shooter page on MyAnimeList.net, and I was quite surprised by the synopsis:

The famous 3DPV by Anomaro-P gave Black★Rock Shooter a plotline and backstory, which involves her sister betraying her and turning evil and Black★Rock Shooter being forced to kill her sister to stop the destruction. This plot eventually became the inspiration for the upcoming 2010 anime.

I ignored it at first, since it didn’t seem like a trustworthy source to start quoting from. No other blog or site made any mention of this “fact” too. Eventually I forgot about it. At least, till I saw this same synopsis copy-pasted into a certain Wikia recently.

A few Google searches eventually led me to the source: the B★RS fanclub on MAL. Coincidentally, I happened be following the founder on Twitter too, so we exchanged a few tweets before agreeing Anomaro-P’s “version” of the story had little to do with the OVA’s.

Got that? Good.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying Anomaro-P should be disregarded completely. I’m just saying a plot in which B★RS gathers her friends to take down Dead Master after being betrayed wouldn’t inspire another in which Little Miss Matou is searching for her best friend in a world where everyone is out to take her down.

Then there’s the argument about whether the PV gave B★RS a real plotline and backstory.

The problem is what you consider canon and ‘official’.

When huke drew Black★Rock Shooter, and ryo composed the song, they defined the character. However, while she wasn’t exactly a clean slate, B★RS was still very open to interpretation. When the song became a hit, the fans began to dream about the exact plot B★RS could be involved in.

I’ve seen a lot of their imaginings. An illustration in which B★RS was “swapping” between the human realm (coincidentally it was on the grounds of a high school) and the “checkerboard world”. A VN-style video (read: lots of text) in which B★RS chained up a human and brought him to her world for some reason. At least, that was what I thought it was at the time, since I didn’t bother to translate.

Anomaro-P’s PV is just another take of the B★RS storyline. So is Ordet’s OVA. Personally, I’ll be taking the OVA as canon from this point on, since huke himself is involved in the whole monopoly franchise. Unless of course the OVA sucks, or if a more awesome reboot is made.

In any case, I don’t hate the 3DPV; in fact, I think it’s rather awesome, down to the transforming bike. I do think the whole “gather all my friends to kill the Big Bad” theme feels a little overused. Like the whole schoolgirl theme isn’t overused, heh heh. >_>

It’s not to say that the MyAnimeList.net entry is totally inaccurate and useless though; it identified the “mystery girl” in the last trailer as “STR“, and described her pretty well. I knew huke would foreshadow it from one of his artbooks. And while Insane BRS is also our little fantasy, I haven’t heard anything about that either. :/

Despite the recent shortcomings, though, I’m still looking forward to the OVA’s release on DVD. =3

Sources:

• Danny Choo
• Anime Expo’s tweet

Also, thanks to Panther and ANN for reminding me to post about this. ^_^;

Behold! I can now glimpse into the future!

…okay, you got me. Anyway, quite a bit of stuff was (or will be?) covered in this issue.

For instance, they revealed a third human character. The magazine is referring to her only as “Yuu” (ユウ), and has revealed her voice actress as well. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the scan, I can’t make out what it says, so till I can find a higher-res scan, we’ll have to keep guessing. :<

Yuu appears to be the hyperactive loli-ish type, and there’s no confirmation on whether she’s just a side character, or directly involved in the story.

UPDATE: A little bit of speculation, but Yuu may be played by Kana Asumi (阿澄佳奈). A blog post pointing to a certain article seems to indicate the case, at least, and her Wikipedia article confirms it.

UPDATE AGAIN: A friend (who definitely knows his moonrunes) confirmed that the article does say that Kana Asumi’s playing Yuu. There’s your confirmation. Anyone willing to prove both him and me wrong, go ahead. ^_^;

There’s an article about the B★RS character charm that will be distributed with the August issue (lookie here for details). Apparently it was intended to be a keychain (according to the top illustration), but it’s apparently going to be a tiny figure instead (like a Nendoroid Petite), base and all.

Also, the 3koma, which sorta explains the character charm’s origin, is just too cute. Dead Master glomping B★RS <3 ｏ(≧∇≦)ｏ

The lucky draw for the premiere screening of the OVA is covered too. Most of what I’ve mentioned is already there, though since I can’t read moonrunes I’ll have to leave it at that.

There does appear to be a cut-out though, which may influence the lucky draw in some way.

Aaaaaaand here’s the Dead Master 1/8 scaled figure!

This is the Original version, and was also spotted at the B★RS event back in March. I gotta admit though, it’s somehow badass and creepy at the same time. I’m getting goosebumps while blogging this, too. @_@

Other than that, I love the way the base looks like it’s been split by the scythe. This might mean the figure can’t be posed with the weapon in hand without the base, though. Anyone thinking of getting this? According to Wcloudx, it’ll be expected to release in November.

Credit goes to Shion963 for giving me the heads up.

P.S. I edited the cut-out slightly; no cheating you buggers. :3

P.S.S. Yes, I get the feeling I’ll have to learn Japanese soon if I want to start posting anything substantial. (;*A*)

On the 27th of May (4 days ago), the pre-orders for the third Black★Rock Shooter scaled figure opened, and boy, is it a beaut.

Unlike the first one, this figure is based off of Matou’s alternate form in the upcoming OVA, and features her dashing forward, giant gun in hand.

So here are 6000 more words on the subject matter:

The pose is certainly more dynamic; you can almost see B★RS actually sprinting through her monotone checkerboard world.

Mikatan also posted preview photos of the figure a couple of days prior to the preorder opening day.

As expected, her eyes are much brighter (like in the OVA), and the detail on the gun (apparently known as the “★Rock Cannon”) is <3 again.

It's a great improvement over the first; admittedly, I thought the first (and the second) were a little too static for my taste. It doesn't mean I'll be getting it though; I'll be reserving my money for the ★Rock Cannon charm instead. At least, if I can still preorder it. XD

The figure will retail for 9,800 JPY, though as expected it’s going for slightly cheaper at other figure sites, such as AmiAmi (7,450 JPY) and Hobby Search (7,933 JPY).

So, man enough to burn another hole in your wallet?

Also, digressing a little, but I hear the Tokyo Trooper’s planning on bringing some B★RS footage to the Anime Expo…? I have no real clue whether it’s real, but hey, cross your fingers and all that.

Not that it applies to an Asian like me. ( -3-)

Sources:

• Wcloudxkumo
• Danny Choo

Yup, it’s official: the DVD distribution with the magazines has been delayed for exactly a month.

OVA Delayed to End of July

To be precise, the DVDs will be distributed with the September issues of said magazines. The official release dates are now as follows:

• Monthly Hobby JAPAN (September issue) – 24 July 2010
• Megami Magazine (September issue) – 30 July 2010
• Animedia (September issue) – 10 August 2010

If I had to guess, CHAN×CO was involved, too.

To make up for the delay, merchandise will be bundled with the August issues of the magazines (in place of the DVD). They’re as follows:

• Monthly Hobby JAPAN (August issue) – B★RS character charms (pictured above)
• Megami Magazine (August issue) – Drawn pinup by huke
• Animedia (August issue) – B★RS Weiß Schwarz PR Card

There’s no reason stated for the delay, though I think Ordet just ran into a serious snag. Or maybe some of them caught a cold or something. (; >_>)

The way I see it though, we’ll probably see one of 2 end-results:

• The anime comes out really polished and stellar, gets voted anime of the year, etc.
• We get to see some QUALITY (in non-internet-meme terms, that means it’ll suck).

While I really hope the former happens, I’m more inclined to believe the latter will happen, since I’m such a pessimist. Prove me wrong, Ordet, and I will proudly kowtow to your awesome-ness.

OVA Premiere Details Released

Also, details of an early premiere of the OVA have been announced, too. The details (though still tentative) are as follows:

• Date & Time: 7 July 2010, 7 PM
• Venue: UDX Akihabara Theater

While this is the only chance of watching the OVA before the DVD gets distributed, don’t go celebrating just yet. Only 150 lucky readers of the three magazines will be selected in a lucky draw, and I’m assuming the draw applies to Japanese citizens only.

More information will be released in the July issues of the three magazines, which will be published near the end of May for Monthly Hobby JAPAN and Megami Magazine, and early June for Animedia.

And yes, inb4 video leak. ( *w*)

Thanks to yunamon for the heads up. Also, additional info from CloseUp NetTube.

Remember when I mentioned that the new 1-minute trailer would be airing during the Tokyo Anime Fair 2010? Someone went ahead and leaked it.

After watching this, I have another question to add to that speculation list:

• Who is that tailed character (at 0:14)?

huke hasn’t released any illustrations of her (assuming all characters are female) on his blog or pixiv account (as far as I recall). It may have been drawn in one of his artbooks, but since I missed buying all of them I guess I’ll have to wait and see.

Regardless, I’m beginning to worry that 50 minutes might not be enough to tell the entire story (effectively). However, I expect that we’ll be surprised one way or another. And seeing Black★Gold Saw animated is <3. Too bad B★RS can’t seem to take her on. o_o

I’d comment more, but I have a presentation later today, and you know how those go. >_<

(Thanks, pKjd!)

UPDATE: The girl is only known as “STR”, and was first sighted in huke’s “Black Rock Shooter Visual Works 2 – Black Side” artbook. (Via MyAnimeList.net)

I knew I should have kept track of and bought the artbook. =(

There was an production announcement party held yesterday (24th of March) for the upcoming Black★Rock Shooter OVA at the Akihabara UDX Theater.

To receive a ticket and attend the event, you’d have to apply at the official home page and be randomly selected by Good Smile Company. Lucky buggers.

Shinobu Yoshioka, director of the OVA production, made an appearance, along with Aki Takanori (CEO of Good Smile Company) and huke (THE artist). They held a panel, with Shinobu commenting that he really liked supercell’s music and thought the PV was amazing. Or something like that; I’m relying on Google Translate here. >_<

Anyway, after that they showed a minute-long exclusive promotional video made up of footage that were used in the making of the OVA. There is no leaked video at the moment though, so all I can show you are these images:

Love the quality here. It’s definitely a big leap over the lack of quality seen in the DVD we bought last year. *cough*

YES! These shots pretty much confirm my suspicions about Black★Gold Saw being in the OVA! Claws + big jagged sword is <3. Also, let’s not forget about Dead Master!

The seiyuus (voice actresses) behind Black★Rock Shooter and Dead Master were also (finally) revealed, along with their (human) character names in the OVA.

Black★Rock Shooter, AKA Mato Kokui Kuroi (黒衣マト) will be voiced by Kana Hanazawa.

Meanwhile, Dead Master, AKA Yomi Takanashi (小鳥遊ヨミ) will be voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro.

The voice actresses made an appearance at the event, too, and talked about their experience auditioning for and voice-acting their roles.

Upcoming Black★Rock Shooter figures were also showcased in their full-painted glory. Here we have the Black★Rock Shooter Nendoroid, figma and Anime (scaled) versions, as well as the Dead Master Original and Anime versions (scaled) respectively.

All of that aside, the OVA itself will be a single 50-minute episode and will be streamed for free on the Internet as part of a promotional campaign running from the 25th of June to the 31st of August this year. It will also be distributed as a free DVD with every copy of the July issues of the Hobby Japan, Megami and Animedia magazines.

UPDATE: The free DVD distribution has been delayed to the September issues of the magazines.

There will also be Blu-ray and DVD Special Edition discs, though (obviously) you’ll have to pay for those. Pricing details have not been released yet.

ryo will also be behind the music used in the OVA, so I’m expecting an epic soundtrack out of this. I haven’t been following his recent album(s), but I did love Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari, so that counts for something. >_>

The afore-mentioned 1-minute promotional video will also be screened at the Good Smile Company booth in the Tokyo Big Sight anime fair later today (25th of March).

The Black★Rock Shooter website has also updated with the main cast details, and there doesn’t seem to be any information regarding Black★Gold Saw. I guess they’re keeping mum about that till the OVA’s release in June.

I’ve posted the images that flash in the site intro for your reference. =3

Speculation time!

• Who (or what) is Black★Gold Saw? Another human-turned fighter? Or something else?
• Will the henshin (transformation) scenes be awesome?
• Will there be any Miku references?
• Will Miku even sing any song used in the OVA?
• …Insane Black Rock Shooter…? >_>

This post may contain errors (especially regarding on the intricate details on who showed up and the ‘unimportant chatter’), so feel free correct me if you can understand the source better. The details regarding the OVA (length, streaming for free, seiyuus, etc) have all been confirmed by several other sites, so no problems there. >_<

Source: AV Watch, Anime News Network

Also, thanks to k1y0 for the initial translation of the names; J-Talk isn’t very good at it sometimes.

You may also view more images at Akiba Hobby.

EDIT: Apparently Matou-san’s first name is Kuroi. Whoopsie.