Masamune Shirow Hyperpage

Very very good! :) If you thought the preview booklet was something, the actual book itself is an absolute masterpiece. Stunning graphics from Shirow Sensei and I think this time, he finally nailed the CG illustration game- the girls are well done, some monsters in the mix, and lots of little SD critters which I have not seen from Shirow for quite some time. I think he must be enjoying himself very much creating these artworks!

And the best touch is the fact that each piece is based around a folklore / mythology theme, with an accompanying essay and commentary. So its not just maximum mind-numbing sexy this time, but there's actually a story behind each picture. Magnificent! 6 stars out of 5!

Kokin Togihime Zohushi Shu
Shirow Masamune
Publisher: Seishinsha
ISBN-10: 4878923725
ISBN-13: 978-4878923722
Release Date: 2009/8/10
RRP: 2,075 Yen (Inclusive Tax)

Buy it from Amazon JP! You would definitely want this in your collection.

While waiting for Pieces to be released (Seishinsha website now says Feb 09, no problem- what's a month right?) I took some photos last weekend and thought I'd post it up. Ok, it might be more meaningful to do some reviews or article, but this takes much less effort :P

First up, quite high on my to-do list:

WTH?

I even bought a pin vice to sort this out! Will share results once complete. I'm sure some of you would know what this is :)

And, some random shots of my newly acquired VM friend ;) I try my best now to unbox and display figures. Unfortunately 99% of my collection is at home.

Motoko!

Again, the mystery part!

With RAH Motoko, hopefully photos soon!

A little bit about the VMF. Overall I quite like this Motoko. With her coat on, the joints are not so obvious, and she is quite beautiful. RAH Motoko is bigger and looks more like the Major from the SAC series, but her costume is a big let-down. Which one do you guys prefer- RAH or VMF? (I think I can guess the answer already...)

Wish me luck with the pin vice challenge! :)

A Photographic review or just an excuse to post some hot sexy Tachikoma picture? A bit of both actually :) The MOVIC Tachikoma was a really fun set of mini goodness. And I just happened to have a sexy PVC around which complements the multi-coloured Tachi-kuns quite nicely.

MOVIC Mini Tachikoma Vol.1 (6 Colours + 2 Bonus Colours)
Box of 12.
Note: Sexy bikini babe not included ;)
She is Alter's Swimsuit Saber (From Fate Stay Night series), in case anyone wanted to know.

Tachikoma, it's so cute :)

Added some more :)

Tachi-kun, blocking out the good bits...

Lucky Tachi :)

Colour... change!! :)

So which one is your favourite colour? Let me know at the comments :) Since, my MOVIC Vol 2 has arrived with more wild colours and patterns. That will be another review at another time. Wallpaper will be put up for download at the members section of the Shirow Fan Forums :) Maybe I should make wallpapers of all the Photographic Reviews from now on? Enjoy collecting!

Since I last talked about Appleseed EX for the PS2, I have received my Appleseed EX Limited Box ordered via Sega Direct from Japan together with some other Shirow goodies. Well, bad news I'm afraid...

Firstly just to introduce the Limited Box and it's contents:

Appleseed EX Limited Box

Box Contents: PS2 Game, Appleseed CG Anime Comic, Deunan Figure

For 11,000 Yen, I got the stuff listed above: The Appleseed PS2 Game, Appleseed CG Movie Anime Comic (the 1st movie, not Ex Machina), Deunan 1/8 Figure and also additionally, because I ordered from Sega Direct (I think?) I got a poster and a phone card.

Phone Card

Poster

To be honest, there's not much to talk about. The limited extra items, were ok-ish. Nothing great or anything that really impresses me. But oh my goodness, the game! The bloody Appleseed EX PS2 game is CRAP! I'm sorry to use such a harsh word, but that is the only word I know that fits my opinion of this game. For the sake of this post, I wasted a further 5 minutes of my life playing the game to take some pictures from my TV...

I am seriously very very disappointed at the Appleseed team for this half hearted effort. First the game got delayed, and then the final product is just very awful. I should have known. There wasn't even any effort to produce some new graphic for the game's box art, recycling the very very over-used Briareos holding Deunan image (which makes me suspect that maybe this is the only piece of artwork that looks good coming from this Appleseed effort). The gameplay is very stiff. The character's movements very un-natural and graphics were bad. Even the soundtrack felt out of place. I get the impression that this game project was somehow a rushed product, lacking in every aspect from graphics to gameplay and just some marketing ploy to hype up the Ex Machina movie.

The SNES Appleseed game some 10 years ago was way better than Appleseed EX!

After this awful experience, I really have nothing good to say about Shinji Aramaki's Appleseed anymore. EX Machina, I'm prepared to be disappointed. It can't get any worse than this. The only saving grace from the 11,000 Yen spent is this:

We'll talk more about her in my next post. Sorry for the lack of any useful information this time around regarding the PS2 game. I am just too let down to bother anymore :(

Something really cool was delivered to my house last Friday. And I just had the opportunity to inspect these two books a while ago. They are just fantastic :D Two thumbs up for Amazon Japan. Super fast delivery, and this time they managed to send to the right address! (My previous parcel from Amazon.jp - The Tank SWAT 01 DVD was delivered to an office building next to my residence. Luckily the member of staffs there recognized my name!) To be honest, these 2 books caught me by surprise. I didn't even know about them before I saw the links on Amazon Japan.

I love GITS too! :D My box from Amazon Japan

We Love Ghost In The Shell
僕たちの好きな攻殻機動隊 (大型本)
Publisher: Takarajima-sha (宝島社)
Date Released: 17th March 2007
Pages: 144
ISBN978-4-7966-5743-3 C9476
Price: 1000 Yen

We Love GITS SAC from Takarajima-Sha

Now this is an interesting book, the title loosely translated as "We Love Ghost In The Shell". It has all the standard GITS SAC information book stuffs- characters, plot explanation, interviews, machine designs etc. But what is unique is the episode-by-episode review, each episode has one dedicated page, with weird features such as a radar chart indicating whether the story is has more SF elements, etc and things like "This Week's Motoko", "This Week's Heroine", "This Week's Guests" etc which makes quite an amusing read! The printing and paper quality however, leaves much to be desired but for 1000 Yen, I think its a very interesting book. Oh, and it covers the SAC series right up to Solid State Society :)

The This Week Fun Feature :)

Roman Album: Ghost In The Shell Stand Alone Complex
Ultimate Archive
攻殻機動隊STAND ALONE COMPLEX ULTIMATE ARCHIVE(ムック)
Publisher: Tokuma Shoten (徳間書店)
Date Released: March 2007
Pages: 207
ISBN978-4-19-720249-2 C9474
Price: 3333 Yen

GITS Ultimate Archive

Oh yes! Ultimate Archive! Spanning SAC, 2nd Gig and Solid State Society. Now this book from Tokuma Shoten is most impressive. Apart from the characters, story, plot, episode reviews, the ultimate archive also includes color pictures, printed on glossy paper of the SAC, 2nd Gig and SSS artwork done for magazine covers. Top marks for quality, and some very nice pictures. The strength of this book is in the character design and design sketches section- which offer very detailed information on each of the major characters in the GITS SAC series. At 200+ pages, there are plenty of content to keep GITS fans like myself very happy, despite not understanding all the Japanese text :) Kenji Kamiyama gives an interview too.

Sketches from the Ultimate Archive. Simply wonderful!

I am very pleasantly surprised with these 2 books, and more so the Ultimate Archive. While it is in Japanese text I think it is a great reference book, with all the materials spanning the series including Solid State Society. I am unsure whether this is the "Groundworks" book announced by Production IG recently, but it is most likely a separate publication as the concept cover and contents previewed by Production IG seems quite different.

Do let me know your impressions if you have these two books, or if you want to know more about them :) Search for Ghost In The Shell at the Amazon Japan page and you will find links to these 2 books as they are quite recent :) Too bad Amazon.co.jp doesn't have any associate programs for outside-Japan websites like mine, otherwise I would have promoted quite alot of their GITS / Shirow related products... :(

Right at the end of February 07, the Perfect Piece Tachikoma by Megahouse comes in stock. Its not a very big Tachikoma, but the novelty is in the pod. Firstly, I'd like to say that the Perfect Piece has stability issues, much like that of the Art Storm Softvi Tachi. Due to the articulation of the legs, the Tachikoma is not able to support the heavy pod with its own legs. And why is it that every Tachikoma figure comes with the wheels option instead of the legs? I suppose its to save on articulation for the ankles :(

However, the good stuff is the very nicely done cockpit. The mechanism works and is really a marvel to play with. And I think it is very cool of Megahouse to include a mini Motoko with the Tachikoma. The overall Tachikoma finishing looks nice and glossy also.

Perfect Piece Tachikoma (Completed Figure)
パーフェクトピース タチコマ アクションフィギュア
Manufacturer: MegaHouse
Scale: Non
Material: ABS
Release Date: 28th Feb 2007
Price: 9,800 yen

Sorry for the poor photo quality. Again I underestimated the lighting conditions on a Sunday afternoon... I really should re-do the photoshoot when I have the next opportunity.

Boxed Perfect Piece

Inside the box...

With Motoko and interchangeable canon.

Open sesame! :D Its a manual process though, you have to pry open the hatches with your fingers, and be careful not to snap anything.

Pilot in :)

Proof that you can actually put Motoko inside the cockpit pod.

And that's it!

Tachikoma ready to go (I did mention that the pod is so heavy that the legs offer no support right?)

Now that was quite fun :)

So, was it worth 9800 Yen? To be honest, it has potential to be worth so much. But just for being unable to stand on its feet I think its probably not properly designed. If I weren't such a Tachikoma nut, I'd skip this one and put the money in the EX Tachikoma or the GSC Diecast (but hey, these are not released yet, so I'm just assuming that they could be better).

Hope this review is sufficient to show the actual Perfect Piece Tachikoma product.

Well, there was a request to do this for new products coming out, so here's one for the recently released Art Storm Softvi Tachikoma. Sorry for the delay in posting. I've been having some trouble getting online lately :(

攻殻機動隊-S.A.C.-　タチコマ
ソフビフィギュア
GITS SAC - Tachikoma Soft Vinyl
Maker : Fewture / ART STORM CO.,LTD
Scale : Non (20cm high)
Material : Soft Vinyl
Sculptor : ART STORM CO.,LTD
Release : 2nd Feb 2007
Price : 6,800 yen

This is a really HUGE Tachikoma, and quite nicely done. However, it is a tricky one to display due to the articulation at the limbs. Without the support stands provided, it would just crumple in a heap. Even Art Storm has officially put up an online guide on displaying this Softvi Tachikoma- so don't throw away your boxes yet!

Softvi Tachikoma display guide

Here are the pictures :)

Boxed Up

Hello! Softvi Tachi Front

Side View

Look at the huge pod!

Great articulation, but really you need the stand...

Close up

Size comparison- I just grabbed the nearest Tachi I have on display, which happens to be my Black Version WAVE 1/24 Tachikoma

Hope you all enjoyed that :) Hopefully I'll have news to post for the next entry...

Well, what's new is that the Artstorm Softvi Tachikoma was released this week but the hot figure that everyone's interested in right now is the 1/7 scale Motoko Kusanagi Ninja Suit by Beagle (Vice X Alter). So here's a first on the MSHP (I dont usually do this here, but I'll make an exception for this one)- a photographic review of VicexAlter's red hot Motoko from my personal collection.

1/7 Scale Pre-Painted Figure
草薙素子 Kusanagi Motoko
Sculpted by Takahashi Tsuyoshi (Ichigonoeiga Ippainosake)
攻殻機動隊 S.A.C. 2nd GIG
Maker : Beagle / Vice / Alter
Scale : 1/7
Material : PVC
Sculptor : Tsuyoshi Takahashi
Release : 26th Jan 2007
Price : 5,800 yen

Personally, I'm very very impressed with this Motoko. Very nicely done! She's 1/7 scale, about 20cm (8 in.), a decent height. And she's also surprisingly light for her size. Probably a very good thing for display purposes. Anyway, let me know if you all enjoy this, if the pictures are too small, too many, should I do this for other upcoming figures... etc. let me know via the comments :)

Boxed Kusanagi Motoko

Kusanagi Motoko

Kusanagi Motoko

Kusanagi Motoko

Kusanagi Motoko

Kusanagi Motoko

Kusanagi Motoko

My only dis-satisfaction is the fact that her Seburo's so small. So I fixed The Major up with a big gun. Take a guess whose gun she took ;)

Kusanagi Motoko

So how was it? Was that enjoyable?

Christmas is just 'round the corner, and usually at this time of the year we (were) celebrating with new Shirow calendars but alas it was not meant to be again for the 2nd consecutive year. Well, personally for this Shirow fan, this end-of-the-year wasn't so bad :D Manage to get myself a bunch of "presents" in the mail this week. Yeah, no one bought me any Shirow gifts so I had to get them myself. Take it away, Santarina Motoko!

(c) Production I.G.

1. WAVE 1:24 GITS SAC 2nd GIG Tachikoma No.1 Plastic Kit (With Motoko Kusanagi) At the top of the list has got to be the much anticipated WAVE 1:24 Tachikoma! Finally, eh? Hobby Search emailed me on December 14th that my reserved Tachi was in-stock and after a speedy shipping process I got mine yesterday from the postman. Official release date is listed as 22nd December 2005. It's really cool, even in bits n pieces :> Here's how it looks like inside the box: This set is selling like hot cakes I tell ya! And like many of my fellow collectors I have a second set on the way. This 2nd is from HobbyLink Japan, shipping notice was informed to me today. A bit slower than Hobby Search, but still in time for Xmas if all goes well :D More about the Tachi in a later post, definitely...

(c) Production I.G.

2. Galgrease 001, 002, 003 Posterbooks Hardly news, but hey this is actually my first ever Galgrease merchandise :P I understand these Posterbook series (001 Wild Wet West, 002 Hellhound and 003 Galhound) are pretty difficult to find these days. So its quite a treat to finally get to see what the fuss was all about. Got mine from Japan, but unfortunately I havent had any luck tracking down the rest of the Posterbooks (004, 005 & 006). Have a Wild Wet Xmas! (errr... that just doesn't sound right!!) Oh, and I got a Takara 12" Jin Roh Midori Washio Cool Girl too with this parcel too. You can slightly see her foot (behind the Galgreases) in the picture up there. But that's not so important in a Shirow site...

(c) Production I.G.

3. GITS SAC Series Doujinshi Oh yeah! I got these delicious doujins last week: Melancholic Vibration Number: 09 No Reason by Amanatsukajuen Individual NINE3 by Easy All are GITS SAC series doujins though, a mix of SAC 1 and 2nd GIG. Its always great to see fans artworks, especially comics like these which are very well done and nicely packaged. I would have a bunch of them if I stayed in Japan, but unfortunately that was not the case so I have to depend on luck to collect these. They will join my other Shirow doujins in a special shelf, after I finish admiring them :D Maybe I'd do a review of the doujins I have in my collection... let me think about it though, cos' that would take time... This actually reminded me that I need to do something quick about Project Motokoma! I have some idea in mind but they are quite damned hard to implement! Sorry to those who have contributed, I will do something about this soon!

Oh, and Dragon posted this sweet deal by Right Stuff for those of you who are in the US: Click here

Well, I just thought I'd pass this on to everyone able to order stuff rom this website. Right Stuff is holding thier 12 Days of Christmas sale, and for the 2nd day, the Dark Lord gave to me Two Tachikomas...

Basically, they bundled together all seven of the regular edition volumes of Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex season one for only $89.99 USD. I believe you can use coupons in conjunction with this sale and it easily complies with free Media Mail shipping for those within the US. I don't know if the Got Anime discount can be applied to this however.

You can see the bundle here: http://www.rightstuf.com/1-800-338-6827/catalogmgr/cooTYLpwAA-iW4b2BN/browse/item/68664/4/0/0

Thanks Dragon! :D So which 2 Tachi's did the Dark Lord brought you? By the way, if any of you have some good deals, please post in the comments so we could all take advantage :>

Have a good one!

(c) Production I.G.

p/s: Actually that's not all... I've received some other Shirow-related items together with some of the stuffs I listed here, but I'll save the surprises for another post next time ;)

Well, I've been away for many days and guess what... More Shirow stuff~ ^_^ Here's a quick summary of what I managed to add to my collection this last week: [Figures] - SEGA Ghost In The Shell Figure Collection Vol.2 (Set of 3), YAMATO Intron Depot Ballistics [Books] - Appleseed 01&02 (Kodansha), Appleseed 1 - 4 (Media Factory Mini Comic). Time for some quick pictures (sorry for the quality, I'm still no good at photography). I still haven't unpack the figures, but eventually I plan to do a photo collection of the figures I manage to get... anyways, have a look:

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Group Picture of the New Stuffs added to my Shirow collection this past week ^_^

No.1 SEGA Ghost In The Shell Figure Collection Vol.2
This item is pretty "outdated" (well, still can be considered new I suppose! ^_^) which I've talked about in previous post. Anyway, after much searching, I manage to get myself a set of this delicious SAC series figure set. They are really lovely! I particularly like the Motoko and Batou Ninja suit figures. Pose is so cool~ ^_^ SEGA PRIZE remains my favourite GITS Figures maker ^_^ Top marks! Great reputation!

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Motoko (Opto-cam), Batou (Ninja Suit), Motoko (Ninja Suit)

No.2 YAMATO Intron Depot Ballistics
This is another figure that was just recently released by Yamato Toys. Its based on the Intron Depot 3 Ballistics covergirl and the details on this figure is outstanding! Very beautiful figure and I am really glad I reserved this one. I didn't get the Galhound figures (financial consideration mainly) and I am regretting that quite abit. But anyway, since this character (Ballistics) does seem to have some kind of history with Appleseed and Shirow himself gave fully satisfied approvals of this illustration in his ID3, I decided that this is a must-have for me. I'm a happy Shirow fan just looking at this fine figure ^_^~

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Ballistics Girl, BIG GUNS included! ^o^


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A close-up look at the detailed (and pretty) face

No.3 APPLESEED 01 & 02 (KODANSHA KCDX), APPLESEED 01 to 04 (MEDIA FACTORY)
I simply couldn't resist a new Masamune Shirow Appleseed cover! The Kodansha Appleseed 01&02 re-prints Shirow's original 1985 Appleseed 01 & 02 published under Seishinsha previously. Apart from the large size format, the Appleseed comic itself is nothing new (Anyway, detailed review, I leave it for another day). The new cover by Shirow was nostalgic and offers a glimpse of what Appleseed could have been if Shirow decided to continue... The Media Factory (MF) versions of Appleseed books were the opposite in terms of size. I thought these petit-sized Appleseeds were novel adaptations initially but after a quick browse at Kinokuniya after unwrapping, they are comics! So I grabbed all four books without the least bit of hesitation :P (again, review I save for later).

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The New Appleseed books in my collection

Well, that's enough pictures for now. ^_^ A week full of Shirow goodness and excitement is pretty distracting I must say!