Clockwork Machina!

Studio Ghibli Little Nemo pitch

Amazing pilot on Little Nemo done by Studio Ghibli in 1984. Eventually the movie came to light in 1992. Really amazing camera moves without the help of any kind of computers. Wish the actual movie was this good!

Capsule Music Videos by Studio Kajino

Friend introduced me to these series of music videos by a group called Capsule. What makes these music videos special aside from the great animation, is that it’s done by Studio Kajino.  Studio Kajino might not sound familiar but you might be aware of their parent company, a small studio called Ghibli. You know, the studio that did that thing with the big cat. Apparently, Kajino is ran by the other half of Ghibli, Toshio Suzuki, and is considered the live-action division of the studio.

The PV’s are directed by Yoshiyuki Momose who’ve seemed to have been around Studio Ghibli for quite some time.

Enjoy!

Portable Airport:

Space Station No. 9:

A Flying City Plan:

Stan Lee X BONES: Heroman PV

Premiering this Spring 2010, Heroman is a series collaboration between Stan Lee and Studio BONES. BOOM!

The mech design reminds me of Yoshitsune Izuna’s. Oddly enough Koyama Shigeto ( Character Designer) also worked on Gunbuster 2. POW!

Animation looks good but that comes to no surprise since it’s BONES. I’ll probably check out a couple episodes before I judge whether I like it or not.

EXCELSIOR!

The Castle of Cagliostro (PVC)

Holy crap! I didn’t know this was going to be for sale to the mass public. It was previewed at the last Wonder Festival this summer. I was sad that I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of it since it had so much detail. Bless the man who invented the shrink ray.

Manufacturer Gelpus, has created amazing detail to the Cagliostros replication to a minute scale. The set even has the interior sculpted and vehicles to come with. From a first hand experience, the castle is pretty big last time I saw it.

Hobby Search has it up for pre-order and will run you about 355USD$. If you don’t have the money, be like Lupin and steal the damn thing!

Eden of the East 1st Movie Trailer-King of Eden

Yes!!! I’ve been waiting for this for half a year and the time is finally drawing near! First Eden of the East trailer surfaced sometime this week. Seems like Saki is heading out to New York this time around and will eventually run into Akira after a short disappearance? Release date is 11.28 and the second movie’s to follow will be out in 2010.1.9.

Black★Rock Shooter!!!!

No, I don’t have it yet!! But I got to physically touch it! Last weekend I was lucky enough to hang out with Aki-san, president of Good Smile Company for the afternoon. We went to the local toy market Frank & Sons and afterward he granted me to privilege to see B★RS herself! The sculpting is truly amazing and well worth the full price if you’ve pre-ordered it. The attention to detail is just amazing. I had to stop myself from getting my drool on figure.

The figure I photographed is suppose to be the production model. So what you see is what you’re going to get.

The paint job on the jacket is my favorite part of the figure.

For the pettanko and underboobage fans.

Just out of the box! Don’t worry, that’s not the box it’ll be coming in….I hope.

After my impromptu photo session, Aki-san blessed me again to see the B★RS 90 second pilot DVD. Below is the video of what I saw.

Here’s some interesting facts I learned from the video.

• One person did the animation for the entire thing, the animators name is Mastuo Yusuke. It took him approximately two weeks from start to finish. He’s apparently some genius layout artist and worked at Kyoani for a stint. Really young man from what I hear.
• Director is Yoshiouka Shinobu.
• Haikei (BG) done by Kesamaru Emi.
• Ordet is not pronounced phonetically, but more like Or-su.
• Huke (the original artist) is pronounce fu-ke.
• The Supercell illustrators twitter.

That’s it for now. I also got some small goods from Aki-san that I’ll post later on! ^^

RC Berg 1/8 Rei Ayanami Super Plug Suit Kit

I’ve always be a fan of the Grimrock version of the Asuka and Rei sporting the cat ears but this takes the punch! Check out this color kit of Ayanami Rei ver. nekomimi. The sculpt is well done and what’s even better is that most of the parts are already casted in color, limiting the amount of time you need to paint it. Tokyo Hunter currently is taking orders for proxy and you can get it by contacting him. Here’s the rest of the information if you want this kit:

Item: 1/8 Rei Ayanami Super Plug Suit ver. color resin kit
Height: 19cm upon completion
Series: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Maker: RC Berg
Retail price: 11,300 yen
Order period: 13 October – 24 December 2009
Release date: January 2009
Info: Figure Maniacs magazine and Dengeki Hobby magazine mail order & Dengekiya.com exclusive. Parts come molded in color.

Professor Layton Animated Movie Stills!

Kotaku released some images from the Professor Layton Movie! Released next January, the film will be called Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva. TOHO is doing the animation and Akihiro Hino drafted an original story just for the film. All the voice actors from the game will reprise their roles for the movie. Can’t wait for the movie! Too bad it probably won’t make it here stateside. In the mean time enjoy the screen grabs!

via Kotaku.

Animator Spotlight: Sushio (すしお)

Ishizaki Toshio or better known as Sushio is a talented Japanese animator affiliated with the studio Gainax. Dating back to 1995, Sushio is known for his action and effect scenes which he is a praised and popularize by.

After graduating from Yoyogi Animation Gakuin, he got his start at Gainax working on Evangelion. Afterwards Sushio moved on to Mahoromatic where he became an animation director for the first time. That same year he entered into theatrical animation working on such titles as One Piece, Sakura Taisen, and Magical Girl Doremi. He can be seen being attached to many works associated with the director Mamoru Hosoda’s movies. Later on he became a character designer for Engage Planet Kiss Dum.

Sushio also lists Yo Yoshinari, Hiroyuki Imaishi, Hisashi Mori, and others animators as his influences, and has publicly mentioned that Yo Yoshinari has influences the most especially.

Sushio also is part of a doujin circle called Henkeidou or Strong Man Shrine, where they make publications of their work.

Here are some of his works from ANN:

Ashita no Nadja (TV) : Key Animation (OP)
Digimon Tamers (TV) : Key Animation
Engage Planet Kiss Dum (TV) : Character Design
Evangelion: 1.0 You Are [Not] Alone (movie) : Key Animation
FLCL (OAV) : Key Animation
Gunbuster 2 (OAV) : Storyboard (Ep 6), Mechanical animation director (Ep. 1, 5)
Gurren Lagann (TV) : Animation director (Ep 15), Eyecatch Illustration (Ep 15), Key Animation (Ep 7, 8, 15, 24, 27)
His and Her Circumstances (TV) : Key Animation
Kill Bill Chapter 3: The Origin of O-Ren (movie segment) : Key Animation
Mahoromatic – Automatic Maiden (TV) : Animation director (ep 4), Key Animation
Mushi-Shi (TV) : Key Animation (ep 16)
Ojamajo Doremi (TV) : Key Animation
Ojamajo Doremi DOKKAAN! (TV) : Key Animation (ep 40)
One Piece (TV) : Key Animation
One Piece: Omatsuri Danshaku to Himitsu no Shima (movie 6) : Animation director
Overman King Gainer (TV) : Key Animation (ep 14)
Sakura Wars: The Movie : Animation director
Steamboy (movie) : Key Animation
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Ragan-hen (movie) : Key Animation

For more information you can drop by his Japanese Wiki which shows alot more!

If there are some animators your would like to have information on, please leave a comment!

Tora Dora-Fail Whale

Seems that everyone’s favorite palmtop tiger is on the Twitter wagon. I want that mug now!