Review: Katsura Masakazu x TIGER & BUNNY – Original Drawings & Rough Sketches Collection LIMITED VERSION

Katsura Masakazu x TIGER & BUNNY:
Original Drawings & Rough Sketches Collection
LIMITED VERSION
Publisher: Shueisha
ISBN: 9784089081532
Size: A4 / 176 pages
Price: 6800 JPY

I reviewed the regular edition of Tiger & Bunny’s character designer Katsura Masakazu‘s art book some time ago. I thought I wouldn’t be able to get the limited version because it was made to order and the preorders sold out in just two days. However, at least CDJapan has it in stock at the moment, so when my finances allowed I grabbed it before it sold out again.

The book itself has the same contents as the regular version, so please check out the earlier review for it. The ISBN number and print date are different on the limited version, and it also has “LIMITED VERSION” printed on the cover and title page. I’m a little bit disappointed that even the limited version isn’t hardcover, but the overall quality of the book is still excellent. Continue reading

Tiger & Bunny Special Broadcast on Ustream 3/24

To commemorate the start of ticket sales for the first Tiger & Bunny movie and the series landing in Hong Kong, Premium Bandai is presenting a special report on Ustream on March 24th. Hirata Hiroaki, Morita Masakazu, and executive producer Ozaki Masayuki are making appearances. They also plan to show the trailer for the first movie.

Broadcast times:

USTREAM: 3/24 at 23:40-24:10 JST (rerun on 3/25 at 11:40-12:10 JST)
TOKYO MX: 3/27 at 23:00-3:30 JST
BS11: 4/6 at 24:30-25:00 JST

As usual, the Ustream broadcast is probably region locked. I can understand why the series broadcasts were locked, but I don’t think it’d hurt them to unlock the stream for the promotion stuff. The trailer will probably pop up on Nicovideo and/or YouTube soon after, though.

And if you’re looking for more ways to spend money… Bandai Namco Live TV‘s shopping program Item Thursday had a T&B special this week and the reruns are this weekend at 20:15 JST on Saturday and 19:00 JST on Sunday. (Worth watching. They have more cake.)

Breaking The Radio Silence, And Some Movie Info

It’s been a while since the last post, though I admit not much has happened, apart from Hirata Hiroaki winning a seiyuu award for his role as Kotetsu (we’re still hoping for Morita to get an award for his role, because damn he was good). Also, Aki was busy with her studies and I was sick for almost two weeks so the time&energy haven’t been on our side.

My wallet started to feel a bit better and more supportive of my shopping habit when I got a full time job for two months starting this week. Then I celebrated my new job by ordering the limited edition of Katsura’s artbook and now my wallet has a nervous twitch. (I had been lusting for that book for months so it just couldn’t be helped.) The downside is that due to my new working hours, I may miss the preorder window of chibi-arts Kotetsu tomorrow.

Ok, enough personal blogging, and on to…

Movie Info

Some magazine spoilers are popping up on 2ch, here’s what we got so far via /a/:

  • The first movie is a partially a retelling of the TV series integrating Kotetsu’s past; the movie is centered on Kotetsu’s past and the unknown side of Barnaby, and provides a deeper look into the two of them. Directed by Yoshitomo Yonetani.
  • The second movie is an all-new story, which will also contain some new characters, though the old supporting cast will be explored too. The two movies are standalone.
  • The ticket sales start on March 24 and there will be a live programme on Ustream the same day.
  • Satou will not direct either of the movies due to schedule conflicts, but he is participating in the planning.
  • The first movie incorporates a different POV than the TV series and has a lot of “behind the scenes” happenings.
  • Two thirds of the movie is new material.
  • Heroes will have their moments.
  • Matsui: We will see a different side of closed and revenge-focused Barnaby. It wasn’t seen that much within the TV series, but it has been present the whole time. I think he will be shown as an even more fascinating individual.

SOLD OUT: The Tickets Edition

Nishida on the movies:

  • Q: What should we expect from Kotetsu and Barnaby? What about the two of them would you like to show?
    N: The two movies are set at different points chronologically, so writing about the different distance between them is very enjoyable. They are bound by a very close and firm bond, but I would like to write about how their different ages and circumstances will be causing trouble.

So I was right when I suspected Satou wouldn’t be directing, he’s just too busy. I hope Nishida won’t rewrite what doesn’t need rewriting. There’s no reason to retcon anything.

Update: More stuff from Animage.

  • The first movie’s script is completely done, but Nishida is still writing the second’s.
  • Nishida not only writes the story/script, but also checks the storyboards.
  • Tamura about the first movie: The events connect to one incident seen in the TV series as well. And as the events and memories unfold and are added, the character exploration takes place. We hope that even people who have never seen T&B before will be able to say “Oh, so this is what the story was about.”

Movie site is now open!

Tiger & Bunny Awarded At Tokyo Anime Fair

Tokyo International Anime Fair 2012 announced award winners, and Tiger & Bunny is receiving three awards: TV Anime Excellence Award (shared with Puella Magi Madoka Magica), Seiyuu Award (Hirata Hiroaki as Wild Tiger), and Character Design Award (Katsura Masakazu).

Last year’s Tokyo International Anime Fair was cancelled due to the earthquake, after all the initial controversy with the boycott threats caused by Tokyo Youth Development Ordinance. This year the actual fair will take place in March.

(Personally, I’d have given the seiyuu award to Morita, he went above and beyond all my expectations as Barnaby. Or it should have been an ensemble award, because you can’t have Tiger without Barnaby.)

Tiger & Bunny KING OF WORKS Delayed To June

https://twitter.com/#!/TIGERandBUNNY/status/168907352739811328

The official Tiger & Bunny Twitter announced that KING OF WORKS archive has been delayed, new release date is June 29th. Due to the change, preorder deadline has been extended to April 25th.

The reason of the delay is that they are adding more content and increasing the quality. Instead of three books, there’ll be four, and the total page count has gone up from 400 to 800. They are also adding some new illustrations to go with the archive. The special calendar that comes with it has been changed to start from September 2012 and run to August 2013.

The price of KING OF WORKS remains the same.

( I was really hoping this wouldn’t get delayed. Although I am in glee of getting even more material, the increased page count will mean increased weight and thus increased shipping costs… Ouch. The calendar date change sounds like they’re padding some extra incase they have to delay it again, the calendar was originally supposed to be April 2012 – March 2013.)