Votoms is one of the definitive “real robots” out there, we have been getting great and accessible 1/35 “desktop-scale” kits of various armored trooper units from Wave. Band…
May 12, 2023 • Subscribe
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It’s Back! Shizuoka Hobby Show 2021: Bandai Spirits
Of course, I’m not forgetting Bandai Spirits for this very biased Shizuoka Hobby Show 2021 coverage. Technically, they are branding this as “Hobby Next Phase 2021 Spring”, but…
All Japan Model & Hobby Show 2023: Bandai Spirits New Hobby (Non-Gunpla) Items
All Japan Model & Hobby 2023 is right around the corner and around this time, the Bandai Spirits Hobby Division usually does a Hobby Next Phase Autumn online…
Surprise, it’s not Premium Bandai! Hobby Next Phase 2023 Spring: HG Ryujinmaru
Continuing the train of reveals from Bandai Spirits’ Hobby Next Phase 2022 Spring, is the next HG kit from the Wataru franchise, and it’s not a Premium Bandai…
It’s Back! Shizuoka Hobby Show 2021: Gunpla
I admit to be quite disappointed with the Gunpla reveals during Bandai Spirits’ Hobby Next Phase thing, which was timed around Shizuoka Hobby Show 2021. I thought they’d…
It’s Back! Shizuoka Hobby Show 2021: Kotobukiya & Aoshima
Moving on to the next vendors on the show floor, we have upcoming releases from Aoshima and Kotobukiya. Now, I’ll be upfront and say that I’m quite underwhelmed…
Shizuoka Hobby Show 2022: Kotobukiya Busou SHinki Arnval
Kotobukiya is currently at the fore front of “mecha musume” or “bishoujo plamo” with their Frame Arms Girl and Megami Device lines. With more manufacturers following suit, K…
Bandai Hobby Next Phase 2021 Autumn: HG Chou Mashin Ryujinmaru
Bandai Spirits has completed their Hobby Next Phase 2021 Autumn event to varying degree of excitement with the announcements. That said, there’s one that has me curious, and…
It’s Back! Shizuoka Hobby Show 2021: Max Factory PLAMAX
Yes, the Shizouka Hobby Show is back after its absence last year due to reasons we’re very familiar with. This means we’re now getting our Spring 2021 hobby…
Shizuoka Hobby Show 2022: New MODEROID “Brain Powerd” Kits
If you’re in the hobby of collecting and building mecha model kits, then one of the more exciting events of the year is Shizuoka Hobby Show where manufacturers…
HG Aussenseiter When? Hobby Next Phase 2023 Spring: HG DyGenGuar
Hot off the heels from the last Super Robot Wars OG High Grade kit, the HG Huckebein Mk-II, Bandai Spirits follows it up with possible one of the…
Shizuoka Hobby Show 2023: “Gundam Build Metaverse” is basically Gundam Build All Stars
With Shizuoka Hobby Show 2023 happening this weekend, Bandai Spirits has started their reveals with upcoming Gunpla from the Gundam Build 10th Anniversary project Gundam Build Metaverse. They…
Gundam Build Divers Re:RISE, Gundam Build Fighters, Gundam Build Fighters Try, Gundam Build Divers
Shizuoka Hobby Show 2024: Takara Tomy is Going Premium Collector with T-Spark!
Shizuoka Hobby Show 2024 is in full swing and Takara Tomy decided to go all out with their hobby and collector-oriented releases as they launched a new label…
![Featured image for Taking Bandai Hobby Head-on: SMP [Shokugan Modeling Project] 100 Next Evolution](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20220524/1653376376.36779.65729.jpg)
Taking Bandai Hobby Head-on: SMP [Shokugan Modeling Project] 100 Next Evolution
As preluded in a previous post, the SMP [Shokugan Modeling Project] line is reaching its 100th release milestone and along with it are several announcements that would take…
Shizuoka Hobby Show 2022: New Kotobukiya “The Brave Fighter” Kits
Next in my selective coverage of the Shizuoka Hobby Show 2022 reveals would be those from Kotobukiya. I’ve been following them closer today than in previous years mainly…
Let’s Go to the Marsh! “Votoms” 1/35 Marshydog from Wave
Totally unrelated to this post, but if you have watched How I Met Your Mother, then the title should have some familiarity to you. Anyway… While Bandai Spirits…
Bandai Admitting Their Lazy First Attempt: HG Dunbine (2023)
When Bandai Spirits released a new HG Sirbine kit in 2021, it was intended to go alongside the old High Grade Aura Battler kits released 20 years ago…
Marked Safe from Bandai Hobby: Q1 2025 New Kits Revealed
A couple of days ago, Bandai Spirits Hobby Division revealed their upcoming releases for the first quarter of 2025. Compared to their most recent showcase, this one didn’t…
New Mecha Series from Sunrise Beyond ✕ Bandai Spirits: “Kyoukai Senki”
We are getting quite the number of new mecha series in 2021! Back Arrow is currently on going, season 1 of Pacific Rim: The Black dropped a couple…
Cockpits and Coffins? Hobby Next Phase 2023 Spring: HG “#SYNDUALITY” Kits
Around September 2022, a new multimedia science-fiction project called Project SYN was announced and it will be comprised of a game and an anime series. You can check…
This One’s Darker, Literally: Hobby Next Phase 2023 Spring: HG Protogouyo
A couple or so weeks back, Sunrise Beyond announced they’re doing a sequel to the 2021 mecha anime Kyoukai Senki or AMAIM Warrior at the Borderline as it…
Keep Them Coming! Hobby Next Phase 2023 Spring: HG Durandal Valkyrie
Continuing on this thread of reveals is what I think one of the best things to come out of the High Grade line recently. Making Macross kits more…
Time For Some Mid-Season Upgrades! Hobby Next Phase 2022 Spring: HG Kenbu Zan
The last day for Hobby Next Phase 2022 Spring is focused on Kyoukai Senki or AMAIM Warrior on the Battlefield, especially with its latter half making a return…
Hobby Next Phase 2022 Autumn: New HG THE WITCH FROM MERCURY Kits
Okay, I know there were announcements for the new MG Zeta Gundam Ver.Ka. and MGSD Freedom Gundam. But High Grades are my bread and butter in this hobby,…
The Third Anniversary Post; Some Unsolicited Advice from a Hobby Blogger
As I’m writing this, I finally feel somewhat qualified to actually do this. Give advice on blogging of all things. During my time in this hobby, three years…
Marvel Comics & Bandai Spirits Collaboration: “Tech-On Avengers”
Around late last year, Marvel announced Avengers Mech-Strike, where the Earth’s mightiest heroes will see themselves battling larger-than-life threats (literally) using mech suits. The concep…
Bandai, The Post-Gundam Wave, and the Year 1985
With the gunpla boom in decline and TV robot anime losing its luster, in 1985 Bandai began to look for new ways to embrace older fans and early…
Bandai Hobby Next Phase 2021 Autumn: Entry Grade Nu Gundam
Let’s play catch up with a couple of days’ worth of announcements from Bandai Spirits’ Hobby Next Phase 2021 Autumn week. Kicking things off is the next Entry…
All Japan Model & Hobby Show 2023: Good Smile Company MODEROID
Now before anyone points a finger and tells me that I’m such a shill for Bandai Spirits, here are some MODEROID kits from this year’s All Japan Model…
Drift off with some Balloons from Sala!
Sala has a way of channeling a lighthearted playfulness in her music and she found the perfect metaphor for that in Balloons! It’s just the kind of track…
P-Bandai Being P-Bandai: HG Gundam AGE-1 Razor & Gundam AGE-2 ArtEmIs Set
Earlier this week, Premium Bandai announced the HG Gundam AGE-1 Razor & Gundam AGE-2 Artemis Set as a late cash-in to the Gundam AGE 10th Anniversary celebration, I…
SHIZUOKA 静岡 Shizuoka Prefecture
At the end of July, I found myself in Shizuoka City. I was originally there for a purpose, but I’m not one to go somewhere and not visit…
Show Some “Class”
It’s time for another episode of “Anime Wheel of Fortune”, so let’s spin the wheel and see what theme of show we’ll be getting. Round and round it…
Articulation Innovation! Bandai Hobby Next Phase 2021 Autumn: RG God Gundam
Bandai Spirits saved their best reveal, I guess, for last as they close the almost week-long Hobby Next Phase 2021 Autumn event which featured a whole bunch of…
Funuke, Show Some Love
By Tom Wilmot. The family drama is a staple of Japanese cinema and has been for many years. From the shōshimin-eiga (lower middle-class films) of the 1930s to…
OSMcast! Show #156: Ride Your Wave
Oh, hello there! Fancy world we live in now. It's sure has had a lot of ups and downs lately! And what better way to make your way…
OSMcast! Anime, Games, Interviews, & More!
Black Clover, Legend of the Crystals: Final Fantasy, Listeners, Ride Your Wave
We’re Getting the AM Boxer Next, right? Premium Bandai Exclusive HG AM Gunner
Earlier this week, Bandai Spirits announced the HG Huckebein Mk-III, and I wondered if they’re going to do the auxiliary units like the AM Gunner and AM Boxer.…
It Should’ve Been Gundam ✕ Transformers! Bandai Spirits ✕ Takara Tomy Collaboration: Chogokin Liger Zero
A couple of days ago, Bandai Spirits and Takara Tomy, two companies holding the licenses for two of the largest robot-based properties, released an overly dramatic teaser video…
Stuff on the New Hobby Storage Room Desk, and Some Updates
If you’ve been following this blog for a good while, then might’ve noticed that beginning in late 2022, I’ve been doing a series of “Stuff on the–” posts.…
Sneak Peek Straight from Korea: HG Cybaster
If you’re one of those people who can’t wait for your Super Robot Wars OG fix with Sen-Ti-Nel’s RIOBOT SRX, then Bandai Spirits has you covered by June…
DIY: Find a New Hobby with Anime
Hunting for a new hobby? There's an anime for that! Ember Reviews takes a look at the sporty, casual, and artistic hobbies featured in our favorite shows.
Robust Anime Business Drives TV Tokyo to Record Profit in 2023
TV Tokyo, one of the owners of the Yu-Gi-Oh! property, reported on May 15 its financial results for the 2023 fiscal year (ending March 31, 2024). The Japanese…
Spring 2021 – Week 5 thoughts (with some leftovers from Week 4).
In some ways it’s almost a good thing that I didn’t really get a post out last week. There’s a lot of episodes where last week and this…
Tree Spirits Grass Spirits
Tree Spirits Grass Spirits collects twenty-one autobiographical stories about plants by the celebrated Japanese-American poet Hiromi Ito. As translator Jon L Pitt explains in the preface, these sto…
Another Day 1 Pre-order! Hobby Next Phase 2022 Spring: HG Amplified IMGN Ryujinmaru
Continuing my selective coverage for the opening day of Hobby Next Phase 2022 Spring, we have yet another interesting model kit. This is obviously a spin-off of the…
OtakuGeneration (Show #387) Origin: Spirits of the Past
Shownotes :: (show 387) :: () :: () :: () :: () With Origin: Spirits of the Past, recorded live November 7th, 2012. This week we watched Origin "Spirits…
Bakemonogatari, Berserk, Cluster Edge, Golden Boy, Maria Watches Over Us
OtakuGeneration.net :: (Show #664) Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
Shownotes :: (show 664) :: (website) :: (podcast feed) :: (direct download) :: (direct iTunes link) With Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, recorded live February 25th, 2018.…
Legend of the Crystals: Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
All Japan Model & Hobby Show 2022: Let’s Talk MODEROID
One of the more active companies and product lines in recent years, or at least that’s visible to me, is Good Smile Company’s MODEROID line of plastic models.…
Box Art Extravaganza: HG THE WITCH FROM MERCURY
Let me say this upfront, I am not a graphic designer, nor did I study any courses on graphic design. But I do have some design sensibilities that…
Malevolent Spirits #01 — Let’s Hear From The Audience
Let's not and say we didn't. Ayakashi Triangle and some godawful cheat power reincarnation thing still remain, but I need to do some work stuff briefly that…
Arabashi – Sake Spirits with Soul – Final Thoughts
Back in December of 2020, I reviewed the first volume of this series. You can read that here. Afterwards, I largely forgot this series was still publishing. I’d…