One of the most renowned and influential mecha of all time, that of Tetsujin 28-go, has been given the life size treatment in Kobe. The reason that it’s been erected in Kobe rather than Tokyo is because the creator of the series, Mitsuteru Yokoyama, was born there.

Tetsujin 28-go is also the first real Japanese mecha series, pre-dating the likes of Gundam by almost quarter of a century. Naturally, the series has seen many remakes and sequels over the years, with a new CG film very likely on the way courtesy of Imagi (the same studio behind the upcoming Astro Boy remake).

Personally, my favourite interpretation was the 2004 TV series, as that retained the stylistic overtones from the 50’s and 60’s whilst keeping contemporary production values in terms of the animation. It was also decidedly bleak in terms of the narrative, much more so than the original. The 2004 series also received a video game tie-in (which we’ve reviewed). Interestingly, Tetsujin 28-go has never been featured in a Super Robot Wars game.

Unlike the recent and temporary RX-78-2 Gundam that was in Tokyo, this statue will be a permanent fixture next to Shin-Nagata Station.

The recently released Robot Damashii toy of the ARX-7 Arbalest from Full Metal Panic! has been covered over at R-Side. Much like all other Robot Damashii toys, the Arbalest looks suitably poseable and well sculpted despite the cheaper cost and smaller size. The Arbalest was featured in both Super Robot Wars J and W.

Interestingly, the mecha designer responsible for this design, Kanetake Ebikawa, also penned the titular mobile suits in the recent Gundam 00 (notably that of the Exia and the 00 Gundam itself). In addition, Ebikawa has helmed the mecha design for the upcoming PSP shooter, Darius Burst.

Over on the Little Big Planet Central forums a poster by the name of “donkey show” is on the way to making a Gundam themed level, along with an Exia-esque mecha. Separately, he’s also done some nice customised Gundam Sackboys, seen above. The video below shows the level in action and it’s pretty impressive.

The recently released Soul of Chogokin GX-49 Mazinger Z toy has been given a lovely bit of coverage over at R-Side. This is the recent re-design of the classic Mazinger Z utilising the now new God Scrander featured in Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z Hen. The main aspect of the new God Scrander is how it can transform around Mazinger Z to form a giant fist, known as the Big Bang Punch. Considering how epically potent this attack is in the series it will be interesting to see how Banpresto handle this in a forthcoming Super Robot Wars game (as the Mazinger series is a staple in terms of mecha its line-up).

Separately, R-Side has also covered the recent toy releases of the Big O and Devilfish, both of which were featured in Super Robot Wars Z.

There is some decent, though shaky cam, footage over at Ruliweb for the new Gundam vs Gundam Next Plus on the PSP (right click here for the movie file). It looks much like the previous Gundam vs Gundam PSP port, so solid basically. The presence of the 00 Raiser is a nice addition though and it looks suitably beefy in game.

The Tokyo Game Show brings us another set of hands-on impressions, from Kotaku this time.

There’s not too much in the way of new information, and Kotaku’s impressions take a turn for the negative near the end, but I’d guess some of their complaints could stem from either the playable demo being made easy so as to be more ‘accessible’, or them simply not having enough time to get acquainted with the movement and attack options.

It’s nice to see the wanzers’ rollers making an appearance to speed up the combat and give the player more tactical options. That, along with the previously mentioned on-foot combat will definitely invite comparisons to certain other games, and it looks like the Front Mission Evolved team has their work cut out for them.

Joystiq has some hands-on impressions of Thexder Neo from the Tokyo Game Show. As someone who missed out on playing the original Thexder, reading how the new one plays has gotten me a lot more excited about it. Sounds like the transformation ability is being used as more than just a gimmick but instead as an integral part of gameplay.

A few years ago I was lucky enough to interview a then aspiring mecha designer by the name of Junji Okubo. At that point his work included games like Tekki (aka Steel Battalion) and the Gundam remake For The Barrel. His designs were unique as they depicted machines that looked almost palpably real. Since then Junji has worked on a few anime works, notably that of Appleseed Ex Machina and Viper’s Creed and also contributed to games such as Infinite Space. It seems that his work is finally garnering the appreciation it so sorely deserves.

Not long after this interview was conducted, Junji contacted me to let me know that he was publishing a book of his work and that could he use the interview I did. Naturally, I was happy to oblige. So the following interview is the English translation of the one you read in his book, Izmojuki Industrial Divinities.

Enjoy!

The SRG-03D Ryukooh from Super Robot Wars Alpha and Alpha 2 is getting the toy treatment courtesy of Volks. This was the OG mecha piloted by Kusuha Mizuha and is not to be confused with the later version Shin Ryukooh. The toy of Ryukooh will be available in February next year for a pretty steep 15,750 yen. To see the mecha in action, here is a compilation video of it from Alpha 2.

Over at Game Watch there’s an interesting piece about the upcoming anime series Halo Legends, apart from having a nice trailer there’s also a breakdown on each of the episodes and their directors. A few people have already noticed the presence of Shinji Aramaki (seen above) but few probably appreciate the fact that Aramaki is more renowned for his mecha design prowess, as he made a name for himself during the 80’s creating things like the Garland from Megazone 23 and the Madox-01. His work is very much on the real end of the mecha design spectrum.

In any case, Aramaki is a big bike nut (he also designed the transforming ride armors in Mospeada in case you’re wondering and supervised the designs in the recent Viper’s Creed) and in his Halo Legends episode “The Package” it looks like the Master Chief is effectively sitting on a “space bike” (seen here). That said, the design for this does look awfully reminiscent of the shoulder section of White Glint from Armored Core For Answer. Anyway, considering the powered armor focus of the Spartans it’s nice to see that someone who effectively helmed that part of Japanese mecha design is now finally making his mark on something originally birthed in the West (though if you ask me the the Master Chief does look an awful lot like Yutaka Izubuchi’s work, namely the ARL-99 Helldiver as well as the GM Sniper II and GM Command).