In case you don’t know what the percentages mean, the 400% version is 11″ high, while the 100% version is 3″ high. I think the toys look awesome, although Naruto’s just not the same without his trademark smile. Perhaps Kiba and Akamaru would have been a better fit.

You can order the Naruto x Be@rbrick figures from Brasyna Japan. The 400% sells for about $127 (USD), the 100% for $25, and a bundle featuring one of each for about $152. If you get the bundle you’ll also get a free one month subscription from Crunchyroll, which is like the Netflix of animé.

As with all Be@rbricks, this is a limited edition and will not be re-released. That and Brasyna will only be selling them for 11 days more as of this writing. So be swift, move (your cursor) like a ninja and get one now. Dattebayo!

[via Hypebeast]

In the anime series Robotech, the motorcycle transforms into a sort of robot battle suit called a battleoid. While this bike won’t do that, it still looks the part.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Makes you wonder how they will share the riding perks of this bike, or will they just display it for shows? Either way, it’s one mean-looking bike that looks just robotic enough to look like it’s from the future.

I’m still amazed that it took these guys three years. For some reason, I’d imagine a custom shop knocking out a good-looking replica in a few weeks or so. Still, it looks amazing.

[BBB Bike (JP) via DVice]

As you can see the mecha-Mendeleev who put this together used characters from several media – cartoons, movies, anime and of course video games. Unfortunately the task involved putting in other characters that are not technically robots, hence the disclaimer title. It also meant skipping out on other famous robots. For example, Proto Man and Cutman are here, but not Rock Man/Mega Man. Also absent are Voltes V and Voltron, but that octopus attendant bot from Combattler V gets a slot.

Those oversights are by no means insignificant, but it’s still awesome seeing all these characters in one place. If you guys know who made this table please tell us in the comments. Meanwhile fellow robot fans looking to burn some time can view the full-sized table here and try and name all of the characters used.

[via Sankaku Complex] (Link NSFW)

The hotel room is located in Japan, of course, at the Highland Resort amusement park by Mt. Fuji. It will cost you about $450 per night and it’s available starting March 1st.

Good or bad, and maybe slightly expensive -  if you are in Japan near Mt. Fuji and you are an Evangelion fan, then it’s time to make a reservation. Otherwise, it’s just something fun to read about.

[via Crunchgear]

Created by Japan’s Lightair, these wet suits are based on the “plug suits” worn by Shinji, Rei and Asuka in the anime film Evangelion 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance.

Is it just me, or is the guy dressed as Asuka doing the Blue Steel pose from Zoolander? Personally, I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing one of these skintight suits in or out of the water, but if you’re a huge fan of the series with lots of money to spare, and aren’t at all self-conscious about showing off your junk or your cameltoe, they’re available for the low, low price of ¥163,800 (appx. $2000 USD).

Now don’t run out and buy all of them. Save some for your friends.

[via Famitsu via Kotaku]

In case you’re wondering if this is a legit release, Toyark also spotted GoLion defending the San Diego Comic-Con:

They also spotted the Shogun Warrior version of the 2nd season Voltron, the absurd 15 vehicle mega robot Armored Fleet Dairugger XV:

AFD XV looks a lot more detailed than GoLion don’t you think? I’m not sure if it’s already available for pre-order though. But I do know that several stores are already taking pre-orders for the Beast King GoLion Shogun Warriors action figure. You can reserve it at Big Bad Toy Store for $230 (USD). Only 500 of this bad ass action figure will be made, so better secure yours now.

[via Nerd Approved & Toyark]

Apparently, this robot is life-sized, meaning that it’s quite huge. You can take your photo right next to it. This makes me want to hop on a plane and head to Japan right now.

The movie was released in 1986 and is the first movie that Studio Ghibli released. I’ve been a fan for years. My favorite Ghibli feature by Miyazaki is Spirited Away. If you haven’t seen it, add it to your Netflix queue now.

[via Le Blog De Bango (FR)]

Giant Gundam holds a beam saber in his right hand, which will start to glow when it gets dark. The only thing that would be more impressive would be if it could actually move around. Maybe next year.

The enormous Gundam statue will be on display from July 24th, 2010, to January 10th, 2011, in East Shizuoka Square. Now that’s good news indeed. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to go to Japan to check him out, so like most of you, I’ll have to admire him from afar. Bandai, it’s time for a giant Gundam worldwide tour!

[Buloblog and Troian via Crunchgear]

Akihabara News points out that the Japanese consider frogs to be bringers of good fortune, although I’m not sure if ricepuppet did become a lucky gamer after painting his console. ricepuppet claims that he can paint over consoles without voiding the warranty, although how he does it is a “secret of the trade.” Fair enough. Check out his deviantART page and his pricelist (pdf) for more details.

[via Akihabara News]

And my personal favorite:

I know that fansubs are labors of love, done for free and for the good of millions of non-Japanese speaking anime fans, but come on. Seriously. Let’s have some standards here. Here are some more fails:

More at Sankaku Complex. Fansubbers, feel free to share your side of the story. How hard is it to sub? How long does it take? Have any of you been sued? And where’s the car?

I was pretty disappointed when I learned that the Gundam statue was going to be dismantled. I kind wished that Godzilla went postal on Tokyo for that, but no worries, Gundam is coming back with a vengeance!

But not in Tokyo this time. Gundam will be erected again this year in July, just in time for the actual date of the 30th anniversary. It will be in Shizuoka and it will have a “beam laser”, which, in my book, is a lightsaber. The lightsaber will glow during the night. Despite its short lifespan, the giant Gundam in Tokyo was visited by almost 4 million people last year. This time, Gundam will be standing for 6 months, so maybe more of us will have a chance to see it this time.

[via Crunchgear]

Made by Japan’s Agatsuma Corporation, the AnimeStudio is a standalone animation studio that lets you shoot frame-by-frame video, and store your creations on a 1GB SD card. Once captured, you can play back your animations on your television, with no need for a computer. The studio features a special swivel-mount camera that can be positioned all around a stage on which you can place either 2D or 3D subjects.

As you capture each frame, it’s recorded into a 4-frame-per second video clip you can play back on your TV. Still, it looks fun for really basic animations. While 4fps kind of sucks, you could always just shoot extra frames and then change the frame rate using some video editing software. And in case you want get your videos onto your computer, they do include companion software for your Windows PC as well. While all of the instructions for the AnimeStudio (and this silly video) are in Japanese, it looks like it’s pretty self-explanatory, and should be easy to use.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Up until now the AnimeStudio was available exclusively in Japan, but the guys over at Japan Trend Shop have started shipping the system worldwide for $194 (USD). While you could probably achieve the same with this webcam and one of the myriad stop-motion applications out there, the AnimeStudio looks like a fun toy for budding animators without a computer.

Bandai’s new Anpanman sushi maker toy lets you crank out edible nori maki faces of characters from the famous Japanese kids’ anime series. The process is reminiscent of one of those Play-Doh machines you used to play with when you were a kid, extruding rolls of colorful food through templates of faces. Except this time, you’ll be eating actual food instead of Play-Doh. The diagram below explains it better…

Ready to roll (some sushi)? At this point the Anpanman bento toy is available only in Japan for ¥5040 (appx. $55 USD), but hopefully some enterprising importer will bring them to the rest of the world for all to enjoy.

Mmmm… extruded food!

[Press Release (translated)]

The bold and badass Leiji Meter watch from Japan’s Seahope and ZERO Goods Universe will definitely draw stares when you wear it to your next business meeting. The body of the watch is constructed from a beefy metal superalloy that’s used in the manufacture of aircraft and rockets, and designed to resist oxidation.

Now I have no idea how to tell time on this thing, but I’m guessing it has something to do with those gauges, LED bars, and electroluminescent panels. Or maybe it doesn’t tell time at all. Who knows? Who cares? It just looks cool on your wrist.

You can get your hands on the Leiji Meter watch over at Seahope for ¥39,900 (appx. $462 USD).

These Gundam-inspired ballpoint pens are being released as part of the 30th anniversary celebration of the series, and come in a variety of different styles. While I’ve always enjoyed the graceful, destructive force of a beam rifle, I have to say I’d really like to show up to all of my meetings carrying a pen that looks like a 280 mm Zaku bazooka. I only wish it would fire tiny little rocket-propelled grenades at the guy who creates a 50-page PowerPoint deck that actually has only two bullet points that actually mean anything.

Gundam Ballpoint pen weapons sell for ¥990 (appx. $11 USD) each. You can grab the entire collection over at StrapyaWorld now, but you’d better move fast before they sell out.

According to the article, unlike the corporate-commissioned Gundam statue the Tetsujin 28-go statue was “planned and led by a nonprofit organization made up of local shop owners, who decided to build the monument as a symbol of the area’s reconstruction.” The shop owners managed to raise a whopping ¥135 million ($1.5 million USD) to build the statue. Tetsujin 28-go’s creator, legendary manga artist Mitsuteru Yokoyama, was born in Kobe.

The Manichi Daily News further reveals that Kobe was hit by “the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995″, and  that “today, its population has declined to about 80 percent of pre-quake levels.” Let’s hope the statue brings in commerce and people to Kobe. And because Tetsujin 28-go was granted permanent residence at the park, giant robot statues should consider migrating to Kobe as well.

But seriously the shop owners are real heroes; their idea might not be original but their intentions are pure. I think. Go Tetsujin 28-go! May you be of service to the city and its people.

The picture above is from Flickr user kanegen. It looks like something fired a puny missile from above at RX-78-2, and he’s saying, “Is that all you got?”

That one’s from shuichi. Apparently the enemy admitted that the puny missile was all he had, thereby enraging RX-78-2. Super Saiya- oh wait.

And that’s from the equally mighty Wikipedia. The unworthy opponent has been dispatched, and the people are thanking their savior. All before lunchtime.

Read the full article for more pics and trivia. Here’s one that I particularly like: I already mentioned that the Gundam statue will be taken down at the end of August. But RJ mentions that both the Eiffel Tower and the London Eye, which are also colossal but are infinitely lamer than Tokyo’s champ, were originally put up for temporary display only. And yet they’re still on display. But only because it would be a bitch to take them down. I kid, I kid. I hope that the Gundam statue enjoys the same fate.

[via The Presurfer]

So yeah, here’s the Iron Man trailer:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The evil dude’s transformation was awesome. He looks a bit like Guyver. Mmmm Iron Man vs. Guyver. And here’s the not so awesome Wolverine trailer:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

So many things went wrong. So many things. The anime is supposedly an expanded version – that’s one way of putting it – of a 1980s Wolverine vs. ninjas storyline by Chris Claremont. Details which are now moot because of that trailer. It could be the tale of a power balladeer ninja for all I care.

A 59-ft (18-m) statue of the grandfather of giant robots will be installed in Kobe’s Wakamatsu (“A giant robot statue will be placed here after the giant Gundam statue is finished”) Park. I don’t really know why it’ll be built there but I think it’s because the creator of Tetsujin 28-go, Mitsuteru Yokoyama, was born in Kobe.

If all goes as planned the statue will be finished in September and formally unveiled in October. Also, the statue will be permanently installed, unlike the Gundam statue which will be dismantled in August, a decision that is in my opinion the biggest mistake that Japan will ever make in the history of the universe. Why would you remove something so awesome?! Seriously.

Unfortunately, unlike the edgier Gundam statue in Tokyo, Kobe’s giant robot will have no moving parts. Probably because he’s so old he can barely stand up. heheh. But it does have a more awesome and battle-ready pose. If we push it and the Gundam statue towards each other Tetsujin 28-go win because he’s already in a punching stance. Naisu! Here’s a video of the on-going construction of the statue.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Check out ToysREvil for more pics and details on the statue. Voltron statue next please!

[via The Awesomer]

Okay not really but it’s still awesome. It looks like a chunkier Exia. Of course it does. They’re both Gundams. Giant Robot Statue is making me stupid.

And its head moves too! *sobs*

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

It doesn’t just do “Look at me I’m awesome” poses too, it can also be dramatic, as shown in this shot:

I take that back. He’s actually a bit creepy in that shot. But still awesome. Check out Pink Tentacle for more hi-res pictures.*wipes tears*