Elden Ring completed! Kio is a little sad that there was no last dungeon after the boss rush, though (Note: Let me know if there is one, and I’m totally off in understanding this.)
Spotted Flower Chapter 45 is out in the physical edition of Rakuen (digital is end of March). Kio also shows off all the issues of Rakuen he’s collected.
Kio retweeted a previous tweet of his showing an old model kit of the L-Gaim MK-II that he tried to rework and improve. It’s not quite to his liking yet.
The adult video version of Kio’s 18+ doujinshi was on sale (ended 3/11). The tweet includes one old drawing, and I believe one that’s entirely new (on the right).
Kio reacts to the death of Toriyama Akira. “Ever since I discovered Dr. Slump in my boyhood days, I was happy to have the art of Toriyama Akira with me through life. May your soul find happiness.”
Kio finally finished reading through the 7th The Five Star Stories Designs book. He especially likes the character 剣聖ヴェイデリ・コーダンテ (Sword Saint Veidery Codante? I can’t find an official English spelling).
Responding to the death of Tarako, the voice of the main character of Chibi Maruko-chan (also the second voice of Monokuma in Danganronpa). “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on…”
Kio tries out a Five Star Stories Shindanmaker, and the site decides that he would be part of the Magic Kingdom Buchtgma, his Motorhead would be Batsch the Black Knight, and he would be compatible with the Fatima Harper.
Kio has apparently been shadowbanned on Twitter for the past year. When someone replies that he should consider bluesky, he’s hesitant because of how long it took him to get on Twitter.
Kio reacts to the death of Inomata Mutsumi, character designer on the Tales RPG series. “Inomata Mutsumu-sensei…I feel so sad…May your soul find peace in the afterlife.”
Reacting to the manga artist Kusada drawing the Jamru-Fin from Gundam ZZ, Kio joins in on talking about how awesome the design is. Kio remembers seeing it in a plastic modeling magazine back then.
Kio is surprised to discover there are Gundam model kits that are Real Grade Ver.2. He remembers having trouble with the fine details of the Version 1 Real Grades due to his aging eyes, but now he has Hazuki Loupe magnifying glasses, so it should be okay
Spotted Flower has a voiced manga version now! …Unfortunately, I can’t seem to register for the site no matter how many times I try. If anyone has better luck, let me know!
Kio decided to try drawing with a physical pencil again, but it’s a lot more difficult than he remembers. He feels like he’s gotten too used to drawing digitally.
Kio left a comment on the A-Koe page for the Spotted Flower voice comic, talking about how shocked he was to hear the spicy lines he wrote being brought to life. He wonders how powerful it’d be if it were ever animated.
Kio discovers late that there was a Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei talk event and exhibition featuring the anime’s voice actors as well as the author Kumeta Kouji. Tsuchiyan, a person involved with Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei’s manuscripts replies to Kio and thanks him. Apparently they’ve met before, back when stuff was original airing.
Kio enjoys a Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei afternoon movie, and plans to watch the evening one as well. (I think this has to do with the SZS exhibit mentioned above?)
A person who is staff for anime radio shows realizes Kio follows her, and gets excited. They’re a big fan of Genshiken. Kio replies that he followed her on Twitter to make sure he doesn’t miss another event like the SZS stuff.
Kio’s ideas for most of the Genshiken LINE stickers, with him asking for suggestions. I asked him if he was planning on having them available internationally, but he said he didn’t even know that was possible.
Kio drew the belly band art for Volume 2 of the manga Oshibana. He’s a fan and retweets the author Shima Tokio’s work quite often. Shima thanks Kio, and Kio mentions really liking the main heroine and wanting to draw her.
Kio got the new Panpanya manga collection, titled Yuriika. He wasn’t able to read the comics in it when they were first being published, but he still take his time and get through them now.
Halfway through Elden Ring. Kio thinks the game is amazing because when you first start out, becoming the Elden Lord seems unthinkable, but as you progress, the notion starts to feel real.
With his work for Rakuen magazine out of the way, Kio concentrates on trying to finish his ero manga manuscript. He originally wanted to get it done and ready to sell by the end of the year.
Kio finally finished the manuscript for his next erotic work, and it turned out to be a whopping 134 pages. Someone likens his output to Ogiue’s, which Kio denies.
Whenever Kio listens to the boss music from the Elden Ring soundtrack, he feels like he makes good progress while working on manga. He’s also 50% through the story but hasn’t fought a lot of the second-half bosses yet.
Kio saw the Japanese animated film TheImaginary, which exceeded his expectations. He couldn’t help but view Rudger and Tot through the eyes of a parent.
There are some surprises with Rudger’s voice, as the character seems to change gender in the movie. [Note: I’m not familiar with the film myself]
Kio talks about the fact that he’s been using Twitter for a few years now, and if it were to go away, he’d probably return to having no internet presence. He also calls “X” a stranger/kid he doesn’t know.
Kio bought a copy of It’s All Your Fault, Sensei. While he normally skips straight to the action, this time, he watched the whole thing and enjoyed it.
He mentions that there are certain limitations to showing internal climaxes in live-action stuff compared to manga.
The Kuma Miko manga is ending, and Kio gives his thoughts. It’s a series where after every chapter is over, he feels a need to express something difficult to say. He’s not sure how he’s going to feel after it concludes, given how many laughs he’s gotten out of the series.
Kio realizes he’s been mixing up the Bastole and the Botune Aura Battlers from Dunbine, despite having both model kits as a kid. He’s not the only one either.
The author of One Piece, Oda Eiichiro, once stated that he always wanted to make amanga series where the ending is the most exciting part. Right now, it looks like his flagship series could very well be heading in that direction. However, when I thought about whether this is possible, I couldn’t help but think about the fact that the graveyard of shounen manga is strewn with series that failed to hit that goal—if they even had a chance at all.
So many shounen manga, particularly popular battle manga, usually peak well before the end. While taste is subjective, I think it’s a common opinion across various titles. In Kinnikuman, the tournament to determine the king of Planet Kinniku is actually pretty good, but it kind of pales compared to the Akuma Daishogun arc. Fist of the North Star peters out after Kenshiro’s climactic clash with Raoh. Naruto and Bleach have many possibilities as to the best arc, but it’s definitely not their finales. L in Death Note is remembered far more fondly than other rivals. Even with Oda’s beloved Dragon Ball, Majin Buu is not usually the villain people would regard as the best or most memorable.
That’s not to say it’s impossible. Two answers I received when I asked on Twitter were anything by Fujita Kazuhiro (Ushio & Tora, Karakuri Circus) and Yu-Gi-Oh! Funnily enough, these two examples also came up in a private conversation I had on the same subject. Nevertheless, the odds are not in One Piece’s favor.
The reason for this hurdle is pretty simple, I think: Most successful shounen series end up getting somewhat zombified, as they’re expected to keep going for as long as they’re popular in the hopes of bringing in more readers. No matter how creative manga authors might be, or how well they can plan, it just gets increasingly difficult to run on all cylinders. On top of that, even if an author has a brilliant ending in mind, they might still get canceled early, or their attempts to force a finale are ignored. Toriyama, for example, clearly tried to finish Dragon Ball in the Freeza and then the Cell arcs, only for the manga to keep going.
One big X-Factor is that Oda is on another level in terms of long-term planning. His signature series is basically an armory full of Chekhov’s guns situated next to a clothing store dedicated to alternating shoe drops. If anyone can pull it off, it’s surely him, but when your manga has been going on for almost 30 years (!!!), that is a whole lot of anticipation to live up to. Good luck, man.
So…Can you think of any shounen battle manga that was at its best and most exciting by the end?
In August 2022, the online anime and manga store Right Stuf was sold to the massive anime streaming and licensing company Crunchyroll. Now, Right Stuf has announced that it will cease to exist and its contents will be integrated into the Crunchyroll Store as of October 10. With that comes what I (and apparently many others) believe is the end of an era. I haven’t felt quite this way since Geocities closed.
I first learned about Right Stuf Anime around 2005 or 2006, and have been a frequent customer ever since my first order: Eureka Seven DVD Volume 1. At a time when I didn’t have much disposable income, the sales they had on the regular were a great way to get more for less. Those sales were often based around a single anime or manga publisher, so it also became a practical method for familiarizing oneself with what a particular company had to offer. Although my memory is hazy, they might very well have been the first site I bought anime online from (It was either them or Deep Discount DVD).
Right Stuf didn’t always necessarily offer the absolute best deals. For example, in the time it existed, Amazon grew into an even bigger juggernaut of online retail. It wasn’t uncommon for items on Amazon to be better priced, but I stuck almost entirely to purchasing on Right Stuf because the company showed a lot of care for its products in so many ways. You almost never had to worry about damaged packaging, and they even went out of their way to eliminate the use of plastic and make it more environmentally sustainable. If you bought an item the day before it was part of a sale, you could email them and request the order be revised. And at the end of the day, the sales were still really good.
Not everything was rainbows, of course. I once had a package go missing and had to jump through a ton of hoops—including filing a police report—but the positives outstripped the negatives by a country mile.
Another strength was that the company always maintained something of an old school feel. A lot of the American anime culture over the past 15 years or so has been to incorporate more and more aspects of general geek fandom/media, and while those things are great, they can often overshadow the anime and manga aspects. The fact that Right Stuf was still dedicated primarily to Japanese pop culture after all these years (while still incorporating that more general fandom) was something I really appreciated.
I’m definitely concerned that without the Right Stuf brand and the weight of the customer expectations its fans expected, the savings just won’t be the same. I’ve looked at the Crunchyroll Store, and while I won’t knock them for providing merch in an easily accessible fashion, I never once thought of buying from there as long as Right Stuf existed. And even though I’m in a far different place in life compared to 2006, I know that’s not the case for everyone—especially younger anime fans (at least those who care about physical media) who’ve had to deal with things like a terrible economy wrought by a once-in-a-generation life-changing pandemic. And I just don’t expect the Crunchyroll Store to provide that more personal touch Right Stuf had.
Crunchyroll could surprise me. They could maintain a lot of what Right Stuf did, well, right. But the fact that they’re even shelving the Right Stuf name does not bode well in my view. I might give them a chance, but a chance is all they get. With Right Stuf, what I had was trust and faith.
Terada Takanobu is a veteran game producer, and has been involved with the Super Robot Wars franchise since the 1990s. This interview as conducted at Otakon 2023 in Washington, DC.
Hello, it’s great to meet you. I’ve been a long-time fan of the Super Robot Wars series, and I’m very glad that is finally easy for people to play around the world.
My first question: You recently announced that you were becoming a freelancer. How has that change been for you? Have there been any particular advantages or challenges that come with it?
There were lots of interests I wanted to pursue, so I decided to step down from the producer role to become a supervisor, and use that time to do the things I’d like to do.
I want to make toys and plastic models, and original robot animations—ones that are not Super Robot Wars OG.
Do you have any all-time favorite anime or even tokusatsu works?
My favorite super robot is Mazinger Z. As for tokusatsu, Ultraman and also Masked Rider. And more and more.
Original Kamen Rider, or…?
It would have to be the first Masked Rider, fundamentally.
One signature element of SRW is the continued use of very creative 2D attack animations. What are the reasons you have stuck with this style even though so much has changed about video games over time?
In Super Robot Wars DD, we’re doing 2D animations and something between 2D and 3D too, so we’re diversifying.
In SRW DD, the idea behind going for 3D animation is to better capture the original. But more than when I was a producer, I can now better create the content I make compared to before
What has it been like developing mobile games, as well as having multiple games out there? Is it part of a broader strategy?
With regard to the overall strategy of creating mobile games, that lies with the publisher, Bandai Namco, so I can’t really speak to it. However, as for challenges in mobile games specifically, I’d say one that having a deadline every month is a bit challenging. For example, before, if it was for a console, you had three years to get the battle animations and the scenarios and put everything into one package. But now, with the mobile games, you have everything packaged every month.
You started at Banpresto in the 90s. Are there any staff from that era still at [its successor] BBSoft?
There are some.
Do you have any specific series or character units that you thought turned out especially well in terms of their presence in SRW? Or do you think there were any storylines that were executed very well?
It’s a bit difficult, because all of them are a lot of work, and I’m mainly putting effort into making what’s there. It’s a cyclic process of making and releasing and making. More than myself, it’s ultimately the users who decide what’s good.
Are there any titles you are especially proud of being able to obtain for SRW or thought you’d never get for the series?
Space Battle Yamato, aka Star Blazers. As for recently, too many. Hmm…recently, Gridman, Mobile Suit Victory Gundam, and Gun x Sword. In SRW DD, Devilman and Koutetsu Jeeg. What’s it called in English?
Translator: [Steel] Jeeg.
Oh, just that directly.
Ogiue Maniax: There isn’t much of a Jeeg presence in America.
Ah, I see. Oh, and there are two Jeegs now: [Steel] Jeeg and [Steel God] Jeeg.
The impression I have about SRW is that there are the “main” games—Alpha, F, F Final, V, X, T, 30, etc.—and then there are smaller ones that tend to be a little more daring with game mechanics and what series they include. One title I think of is SRW Neo, with Jushin Liger. Is there any truth to the idea that you see the smaller games as more experimental?
Before, yes, there was a difference with the more experimental ones. But now, SRW DD is the only one out, and in there, we try all sorts of things like Jushin Liger and Granzort. SRW DD does embrace the style of SRW, such as the game stages and the scenarios and everything.
I know that you cannot reveal any unannounced information, but has there ever been any consideration to include giant robots from non-Japanese media?
I’m not allowed to say what it was, but there were past attempts. There’s lots I would like to license, but it didn’t work out.
Do you receive feedback from the directors and other staff involved with the titles included in SRW? For example, have you ever had to interact with directors Tomino or Anno?
Yes, there has been some feedback—and actually, there have been some ideas that came from Tomino-san and Anno-san. And actually, I came across some suggestions that Kawamori-san of Macross had earlier. But I had to tell him that’s not something I have control over.
One last question: Over the years, you’ve worked with many voice actors, and unfortunately, some have passed away. Sometimes, they are replaced by new actors, and other times, you re-use existing voice clips. Do you have any say in who gets recast in SRW, or is it outside your control?
If it’s stated by the original source material, I will do as the source material requests. Otherwise, I have the freedom to choose.
Aramaki Shinji is a creator known for his mecha design work on Bubblegum Crisis, Genesis Climber Mospeada, Megazone 23, and more. He also designed many of the toys that became Transformers, including Soundwave. Aramaki is also an anime director who has focused on pushing 3DCG animation since the early 2000s.
You have a lot of experience as a mechanical designer, and I understand that different mechanical designers have different processes for designing. For example, Kawamori Shoji has talked about how he uses Legos. What are the key aspects of your approach?
Well, it depends a lot because I get different requests for each project I work on. For example, you mentioned that Kawamori Shoji-san uses Legos, but I think that’s mainly for designing transforming mecha. Should I answer just based on transforming ones? It’ll make it easier if we narrow it down to a certain genre.
Sure, let’s go with transforming.
So we initially choose two or three shapes/forms, and we ask, what are we going to transform and how. But we start out with the two coolest forms.
Would you say you sort of work backwards from the final designs/silhouettes perhaps?
Initially, we don’t really get into the details. We just think, oh this is what a cool bike looks like, and this is what a cool robot looks like. So we just start off with what looks cool and don’t get into the particulars of how it transforms yet.
It gets difficult from there. In the past, I used to study how things might transform using papercraft. Nowadays, though, we can use 3D programs. We start off with simple blocks, but using them, we can join them and see how these volumes move around.
If we use 3DCG, we can study how these forms look from varying perspectives, so it makes the process much easier.
The next work is one that you might not be as known for. I looked up your credits, and it said that you’re responsible for conceptual design on the anime Star Driver. The style of the mecha there are quite different from what I typically think of when it comes to your work. How far removed are the final designs compared to your originals?
Actually, for Star Driver, I didn’t do much mechanical design, and I didn’t really touch any robots. But I actually designed the landscapes and backgrounds—the stage design—for Star Driver. The series is set on an island, and I designed what the island is like, and what the school is like. I did it based on discussions I had with the director, Igarashi, to set the mood for the anime.
You directed works such as Appleseed, which was, at this point, decades ago. I remember seeing them first start to show up, and that was a time when directing in full 3DCG wasn’t nearly as convenient as it is today. What are some of the challenges you faced in the early 2000s?
Back then, we actually had a lot of problems. There was no standardized software for design, so the character design software was different from the landscape design software. That made it really difficult to organize everything and keep it together as one team.
For one scene, when we decided on the camera angle and looked at the scene, the table and the character were sort of shifted because they were designed using different softwares.
These seem to be simple problems, but back then, Japan wasn’t as advanced in the field of CG. So we faced challenges every single day.
My final question: I actually have fond memories of the cartoon M.A.S.K. and its toys, and I was excited to learn that you worked on it. What designs were you responsible for, and what did it feel like to work on a foreign production?
This series involved a lot of transforming vehicles such as trucks and boats, but the original designs came from the toy company, Kenner. Back then, I was working in LA, but I went to Chicago where their company was based, and took a lot of pictures of the prototypes. We did drawings to help with animations.
Most of the mechas were designs provided from the toys, but some were not from the toys, so I got to design them.
I don’t remember all that well where they appeared in the show, but they let me design two transforming vehicles back then, where I got to pick the car types and how they transform. They were called the Manta and the Shark.
Thank you for this interview. It was great to have you at Otakon!
Back in January this year, I posted about a crowdfund by the anime studio Nippon Animation to digitally preserve one of their obscure giant robot anime from the 1970s, Blocker Corps IV Machine Blaster, and avoid being left with only the original deteriorating film prints. While it looked to be in danger of not making it, the crowdfund was successful. Now they’re back to raise money to archive another one of their quirky 70s mecha series: Super-Transforming Magic Robo Ginguiser. Unfortunately, I only discovered this crowdfund very recently, and now there’s only 24 hours left to fund it as of this post!
Ginguiser, like Machine Blaster, is not exactly the most timeless anime around. But it’s still a part of anime and mecha history, and I feel it’s important to make sure we make even the possibility of a high-quality release someday a likelihood. I mentioned it briefly in my overview of 1977 for the Golden Ani-Versary back in 2013, but mainly to share the amazing image above. Check out the opening by Sasaki Isao of Space Battleship Yamato and Getter Robo fame!
Readyfor.jp is a Japanese-only site, so it can be tricky to navigate, and it doesn’t make donating from abroad easy. For the convenience of those who want to contribute but hit a language barrier, I’ve provided the same guide to donating as in my previous Machine Blaster post.
First, you’ll have to make an account on the site. At the top-right corner is a red button for logging in and creating an account. From there, you can either choose to register directly with readyfor.jp by clicking the red button on the right, or via Facebook using the button below it.
The blank spaces above, from top to bottom, are “user name,” “email address,” “password,” and “password again.” Then you’ll get a confirmation email, in which you’ll have to click a link to confirm your registration.
From there, if you go back to the Ginguiser project, you’ll see another red button to the right of the main image. That’s the donate button, and it’ll take you to a page where you can choose how much you want to put in. Unlike other crowdfunding sites, you can only select along preset amounts, so the minimum is 3,000 yen, which gets you a thank-you message and updates via email. The most expensive one, at 70,000 yen, is Ginguiser soft-vinyl figures. At the bottom, you’ll have the choice to pay via credit card or bank account. For payments outside of Japan, it’s probably better to use a credit card just because bank info in Japan can be very specific and have aspects that other countries don’t.
This is where it gets tricky. After putting in your credit card info, you’ll have to add your address as well. However, the form is not formatted for non-Japanese addresses, so you’ll have to work around it. Thankfully, if you just kind of fill it in as you would a normal address (and ignore the actual meanings of each form space, in case you can read Japanese), then it works out. Another crowdfund on readyfor.jp has provided a helpful screenshot, which I’ve also provided here. Note how the postal code in Japanese is just filled out as 111-1111. The only blank spaces this image isn’t showing are for your name.
From there, you hit the last button at the bottom and confirm your contribution! You can also write a message in the space provided.
I hope Ginguiser can make it! And if you’re the curious sort, there’s actually a Ginguiser tag on the Japanese art site Pixiv. Warning: Some images are NSFW!
OGIUE MANIAX 