A full scale 1:1 replica of Amuro Ray's RX-78-2 Gundam was recently completed in Odaiba, Tokyo as seen in the picture on the right.  The replica was completed just this June 09. 

I have been watching the progress of this replica since I first read about it from dannychoo.com.  And just like an avid otaku, I waited and waited till someone would start posting pictures of the completed model.  It stands at about 18 meters tall.  The base of the model is anchored by to steel pipes inside the legs and feet of the Gundam. 

By just looking at the picture on your right, you can see how it towers over trees and really looks lifelike.  In fact the amount of detail that came into the construction is amazing even to the tiniest of decals.  What surprises me is that the project only began about a month or so ago and progress was made so quickly.  Even night pictures of the Gundam shows the work and effort that has been put into making a realistic design.

When news first hit the blogosphere about the full size Gundam, people were all jittery.  This came after a fully functional giant beetle robot and giant spider robot were introduced in Japan just a few months ago.  There was immediately talk of giant combining robots and Gundams would surface next.  Low and behold, a Gundam was suddenly a realization.  Some were even saying that they are ready to sign up in the Japanese Defense Force.

The PlayStation Portable Go or PSP Go was unveiled last Electronic Entertainment Expo 2009 (E3 2009) last June 2, during the Sony Press Conference.  It is the latest addition to the Sony PlayStation family and 4th version of the popular hand held device.  The unit itself will initially be available in Pearl White and Piano Black.  It has most of the features of the PSP 3000 with a few additional stuff for the tech-savvy gamer.

Some of the features of the PSP Go includes:

• 43 % lighter than the PSP 3000
  
• 3.8" LCD screen
  
• slide up feature
  
• Bluetooth capabilities
  
• 16 GB internal flash memory expandable using a Sony Memory Stick
  
• completely digital content - UMD drive has been removed.
  
• Gran Turismo, LittleBigPlanet, Jak & Daxter and Metal Gear Solid are all either confirmed or mentioned already

It has been confirmed that the popular music manga, BECK, will have a a live action movie adaptation.  Tsutsumi Yukihiko is going to direct while Mizushima Hiro is set to play the leading role in the movie.

beck is a 34-volume manga by Harold Sakuishi that ran from 2000-2008. The manga tells the sotry of a group of Japanese teenagers who form a rock band.  The series was later adapated inot a 26-episode anime that was aired from october 2004 to March 2005.

Unlike the manga and anime series, the movie will focus on Minami "Ray" Ryusuke instead of the series lead protragonist, Tanaka "Koyuki" Yukio.  Minami is to be played by Mizushima Hiro while the role of Koyuki is to be played by Takeru Sato.  Mizushima is probably best known for his role as Namba Minami in the 2007 live action drama, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e.  He also recently portrayed Shibata Rihito in another drama, Mei-chan no Shitsuji (as seen in the magazine cover photo on the right).

30 original songs are going to be written for the movie.  The actors are going to perform the songs themselves with real instruments.  To ensure the realistic portrayal, Mizushima and the rest of the cast is to undergo rigorous training for a month.

The movie will start filming in July with a movie release date around fall 2010.

SOURCES:
Tokyograph
DramaWiki

Last Friday, May 29, 2009, a cosplay and fashion show event was held at the Prince of Jaipur at the Fort.  The event was called Zyphie Friday 2.0 and probably the first of its kind.  For those who don't know, Prince of Jaipur is a night club with dancing and drinks.  The event was organized by Jabtitude Productions, Team Eventistas and the UE Red Shieldz.

The entrance for the event was suppose to be PhP100.00.  It was even advertised on their website.  But when I got there, I was asked if I was either on the guest list or a cosplayer.  When I said I was neither, they charged me PhP500.00.  You know, that's a lot of money.  It was as if I was paying for a regular entrance.  It appeared to me that only guest listers and cosplayers paid PhP100.00.  I wish they made that clearer because what they said on the website is that it would be PhP100.00 for the entrance plus PhP50.00 if you are joining the Cosplay Competition. 

Ticket prices clearly stated above but was not followed

The night started with a fashion show from Sugar Free and Blue.  They had two themes.  One was inspired by Japanese street fashion and the other was anime inspired with a cutesy feel to it.  I personally like the items they sell because they're different and not something you would usually see in department stores.  And the stuff they sell seem to appeal to the general anime community.   They also featured two dance groups performances from Krumpinoy and ADT (Ama Dance Troupe) before the cosplay contest actually started.

Last May 23 was Free Comic Book Day at Fully Booked. On this day, all branches of Fully Booked gave away free comics to anyone who came to their stores.

Free Comic Book Day is a promotional effort to encourage readers to patronize new titles and encourage "newbies" into the joys of comic book reading and collecting. This is an annual event in the US and Canada which is scheduled during the first Saturday of May. It is often tied to the release of a major film adaptation of a well known superhero franchise such as X-Men Origins: Wolverine this year or the upcoming release of Iron Man II on May 7 next year.

As early as 6:30 AM, there were already people lined up and waited in front of Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street branch. By the time I arrived, around 10 AM, there was a long line already stretching from the bookstore all the way to the car park. Kids, their parents, and adult comic book fans waited in line in the heat to get their free comic. It took me almost an hour before I could even get in and pick a comic that I wanted. There were so many titles to choose from that I wished I could pick up more than one title. Some of the titles they had included, Shonen Jump English, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Simpsons and a Wolverine Origins comic. I personally ended up choosing an Avengers comic.