Is there interest in watching a Gunpla documentary if it's subtitled? It's old by today's standards, but it does have some neat tidbits.

If you're just looking to read the story, sometimes bringing up the source code (ctrl+U) before the paywall appears helps...

Have you tried any incognito tab? I find sometimes that works

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ARCHIVE SCANS
Newtype (June 1989)
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Starting off today with a few scans I was working on archiving. Illustrations are by Naoyuki Katoh (Zaku) and Masanori Ishii (Alex).

I can see this going one of two ways: it's a sleeper hit, and Bandai has no clue what to do with newfound popularity, or it tanks and they basically throw their hands up and scale back any future attempts at ENG market growth (thus adding to the bitchfest).

...that will capture old and new audiences without plucking too liberally from existing material and just recycling it. I can't begin to put myself in the headspace of the poor writer/director undertaking this. Seeing the stupid amount of vitriol spewed at a project with no plot summary is just sad.

On the back end, Bandai is placing an inordinate amount of focus on this project, but I fear that people will be so far into the "this is shit" column that when it does come out, there will be zero chance of an unbiased take. It's already frustratingly hard enough to come up with something...

I have to rant (as usual!). I've never seen a "fandom" work as hard as they have to try and make something dead on arrival until this came along. It's been nothing but pissing and moaning since 2018 when it was first announced, which wasn't a great start.

I'm pretty sure @toysdream.bsky.social has gone over it with them many times, but they just love doing their own thing sometimes. I feel like there's a general disconnect somewhere, depending on who is manufacturing what. Then again, I don't think the average Japanese fan would blink at the name.

I get that it's a reissue, but c'mon, it's 2026, and we're still going with VAJEENA?

gundam-official.com/news/pgwi8hk...

I totally forgot that someone half-commissioned me for it back in 2024, before dropping off the face of the planet entirely. Is this something people would want to read? I got through almost half the book... probably should just finish it after my SEED/AGE commissions.

And I'm still missing like two or three of his published works (but I keep collecting all the versions of them like a weirdo)

At my current pace of two Fukui novels a year, it'll only take me over a decade to translate all his non-Gundam stuff. 🤣 Still have zero idea of anyone is even interested in his stuff.

Series vs OVA is irrelevant. There's still a production schedule. And sorry, but Wing handled it WAY better on a weekly basis than 08th did with "months" to pivot. 😅

08th MS Team, but the death of a director would do that. Still, it changed the entire tone of that show too.

It's so weird not seeing ©Sotsu on the official artwork anymore. Times have changed.

I wouldn't paint it as a "disaster." A disaster would've yielded a failed series. And Wing was anything but that (second most popular/profitable after First until SEED came along). It was rife with challenges and production hell like all titles.

I swear, Audibles algo must be dorked or someone is paying beaucoup bucks to push Harry Potter because I don't listen to anything other than sci-fi and it's always the "free preview based on your listening." Like WTF how do you jump to that?

soundcinema01: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmci...

soundcinema02: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG5Q...

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G-SAVIOUR
Soundcinema 03
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youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Despite it happening out of order, it's time for the last of the radio dramas to go live! Here's the complete third CD, graciously timed for me by MechaSalesman!

Moon's Cocoon A Turn A Gundam Fansite

I forgot to renew Moon's Cocoon's domain, so it was down for a few weeks, but it should be up and running again! Thanks to @zeonicscans.bsky.social for the heads up.

tsukinomayu.com

...I wouldn't have put it past him to borrow some off-the-cuff Nagase note and scale it up. The hexagonal-column artificial sun was taken from his notes and visualized for the first time, so who knows what else random there was. Nagase's take on Newtypes is unique in itself too, so... *shrug*

Hey, if you have an issue with the psycho-field, point your finger at Tomino for that one! Ogura is the guy that did the (ridiculously rough) math to figure out moving Axis away 😂 Still, I don't consider NT shenanigans anymore batshit than what we've seen anyway. Given his design doodles for UC...

Ogura was just as deeply involved in all of the minute details for the novel (which was mostly just ported over to the anime). The attention to detail he showcased so that continuity/plausibility still existed is astounding. Even the orbital charts they used were based on Nagase's settings.

I think one of the fascinating things from the Unicorn production side (novel & anime) is just how much of it was repurposed conceptual design work from Nagase. Ogura leaned heavily on a lot of the Zeta material, from the conceptual to design stages. But, ya know, it's always all Fukui's fault.

@feez.bsky.social So uh... did your site domain expire by accident? Not sure how long it has been like that, but I just noticed when I went to look something up.

Huh... so that little PV they whipped up to promote the Unicorn novels, the one that debuted at C3×HOBBY? Yeah, that thing wasn't finished until the NIGHT BEFORE. I swear, Gundam is cooked no matter how big or small the project...

People often attribute the Laplace Incident to Fukui, but the inspiration for it actually came from Yoshitaka Kawaguchi, setting manager/producer on Turn A Gundam. During a drinking session between the two, he tells Fukui:

I'm finishing up the last two hours of what is probably my sixth or seventh listen of The Expanse, and I get sad every time it comes to an end. I really wish we got a Gundam novel series this fleshed out... I love the worldbuilding, the highs and lows, etc.

Not a lengthy explanation, but: zeonic-republic.net?p=12834