Fenrir's Saint Seiya Blog - Myth Cloths, OVAs, Figurines and other spin offs

[Saint Cloth Myth] Tamashii Nation 2009 Autumn - Exclusive Figures!!

2009-10-01T08:59:00.005Z

The Autumn Tamashii Nation 2009 will open to the public on Saturday but as always it opens a few days earlier for press visitors and as a result, we get exclusive shots of what is being presented there and it seems at last they have started to look back at the early days of the series with, the Silver Saints, the First Cloths and the Black Cloths. Check it out:

Lizard Misty:

Perseus Algol:

Those two aren't terribly surprising, as they're the few silver saints to have been released in the old Die Cast format a few years ago before that format got discontinued by Bandai but hopefully this promises a line of all the Silver saints in the years to come.

Dragon Shiryu God Cloth:

The exclusivity here is the presentation of the Dragon Object form. Unfortunately, the angle at which the picture was taken doesn't help to see how well proportioned it is, so we'll have to wait for more shots ;)

Pegasus Seiya First Cloth + Black Pegasus

Again, I wish I was surprised to see Black Pegasus presented along Pegasus First Cloth which was revealed a few days ago but it's a bit like when they presented Alcor Bud at the first Tamashii Nation, it doesn't mean it'll be released anytime soon.

In fact there's no saying any of those will be released anytime soon, remember the exclusive figures we were shown at the first Tamashii Nation and how many of them have now been released? But still, we now know that some series are being worked on, so keep your eyes open ;)

Source: http://blog.hobbystock.jp/report/2009/10/tp0223.html

Edit: Here are some more from a different source

Seiya with Odin God Robe

Alcor Bud + Cancer Deathmask Surplice

From http://www.blog.amiami.com/amiblo/2009/10/post-194.html

[Saint Cloth Myth] Figure Oh 140, lots of News

2009-09-22T08:58:00.004Z

Hey folks, I haven't updated this for a while, sorry about that, but to compensate here are some pretty exciting news for you myth cloth-wise ;)

With the 2009 planning being set, we're now moving onto the 2010 releases and many of those will certainly be shown at the Tamashii Nations exhibit in a couple of weeks. So what's in store? Well for this year we have Phecda Thor released today, next month it's a whole bunch of Tamashii Nations specials, the OCE appendixes of Shaka and Milo, the first 3 gold pandora's boxes with Old Dohko and Pegasus Seiya Final Cloth OCE. In November we have Benu Kagaho and December Odin God Robe.

In January, it seems like it's not 1 but 2 new releases:

- Cancer Deathmask Surplice

- Zeta Prime star Alcor Bud

You can see pictures of them below, though Bud doesn't look like he's changed much since he was first present at the first Tamashii Nations (in other words, the Odin Sapphire is still there, and it shouldn't be but it's ok I suppose, after all Thor's Mjöllnir Hammers aren't quite right either)

The other "prototypes" (they look quite complete to me) presented below are:

- Dragon Shiryu God Cloth

- Pegasus Seiya First Cloth (anime version)... you know the one the majority of people have been wanting for years!!

It certainly looks pretty exciting for 2010

Thanks Cybergundam ;)

[Lost Canvas] OVA Trailer 4

2009-07-31T13:15:00.003Z

Here's the new trailer for the next set of DVDs out on 21st August posted by TMS Anime, complete with Minos, Yuzuria and the old Jamir master among others ;)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Gamma Star - Phecda Thor Tamashii Photos

2009-07-27T10:58:00.000Z

Tamashii photos are out. A little flashy but then we're used to that with Tamashii studios ;)

Thanks Sorrento ;)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Hobby Japan 9 - Figure Oh 138 - Exclusive News!!

2009-07-24T22:24:00.006Z

I know I'm a little late in the bandwagon for posting this but bear with me because rather than posting blurry small pictures, I was waiting for the high res scans of these to really appreciate what it offers, and I'm hoping you won't be disappointed guys. Thanks immensely to Trevor for providing those scans :D

So as you can see the major feature in both magazines is Gamma star, Phecda Thor, the giant of the north and what a giant. We've been shown prototypes of various sorts with uncertain ideas of its actual size. Now we have a full scale colour photo complete with facial features and size comparaisons.

In terms of size, what we can expect is just under twice the size of an average myth, which will make it truly impressive indeed! If you have a diorama to display it in, keep him on the lowest level ;)

This latest Hobby Japan comes with a few rather important announcements as well. First of them is the 3D graphic announcing the release of Odin's God Robe. While this is not a surprise so much since the name was included with the labels in the Display Stands C, it's still nice to see that its release is rather imminent. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it was going to be released for December as we know Kagaho comes out in November and nothing's scheduled for October but we already have a prototype for Kagaho as you can see below.

Next to be announced is the release of the 12 Gold Saints Pandora's boxes, made of metal (die cast as they call it) and apparently divided in 4 sets of 3 starting with Aries, Taurus and Gemini. Whether Roshi Dohko is included in the first set is not really clear but it would be a nice thought to have the first set with Dohko, the second with, say, Kiki, and then all bets are open for sets 3 and 4. Now I'm speculating here so don't go spreading roumors. Though if someone reads Japanese better than I do, a clarification on the inclusion of Dohko with the set would be appreciated.

The little window about the Upcoming October Tamashii Nations is rather interesting. Whilst we already knew about Pegasus Final Cloth OCE, there will be other St Seiya goodies as well. The first two are Appendix Milo and Appendix Shaka both OCE. You may be wondering what this means exactly, well in the manga, Milo actually has blonde hair so that'll be that, but then, so does Shaka, just like in the anime. We know from previous releases (Poseidon, Seiya God Cloth, Appendix Saga...) that OCE merely means recolouring of the cloth or the body to match the covers of the manga. So what it'll mean for Shaka is a mystery. We also have a new set of clear yellow / golden display stands appropriately lettered 'D' which were first visible at the first Tamashii Nations if you recall the exhibit on the Gold Bronze saints Reborn cloth with the Libra weapons. I'll be interested to see the labels on that one. Finally it seems visitors to the Exhibit will be given little Pegasus Objects as a token. Got one of those with my Seiya Plain Cloth, they're not much to awe about ;)

Now Figure Oh pretty much has the same announcements (though they seem to have missed Odon for some reason). Only one bit in there leads me to believe that the Gold Saint Pandora set (with Dohko?) will be only available through the Tamashii web store in the same way Seiya God Cloth OPE was. That means it'll be quite pricy for anyone trying to get it outside Japan.

I'll leave you to admire the Asgardian Giant. Thanks again to Trevor for the scans ;)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Announcing Pegasus Seiya Final Cloth Original Colour Edition

2009-07-17T13:37:00.008Z

Yep, you read that right, another Seiya to be released by Tamashii, which will bring the amount of Seiyas to 8 not counting the Appendix:

- Seiya Reborn cloth

- Seiya Damaged version

- Seiya Final cloth

- Seiya Final cloth genealogical gold

- Seiya Final cloth Original Colour Edition

- Seiya God Cloth

- Seiya God Cloth Original Colour Edition

- Seiya Plain cloth

The figure was introduced at the Tokyo Toy Show earlier as the exclusive figure for the Autumn Tamashii Nations exhibit which is due to take place between the 2nd and 4th of October 2009.
In fact it's already appearing on the Tamashii Nations website, official photo below, and will be priced at ¥5,500.

I'm also rather intrigued by the Taurus helmet appearing on the Tamashii Nations logo... Probably means nothing but who knows? A little variety in the exclusive figures would be welcome (I dunno Marine for instance???)

Thanks to Hobbystock for the exhibit photograph :)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Phecda Thor - Colour Pictures

2009-07-16T09:04:00.003Z

Shame the flash pretty much floods the figure with excessive light but it gives a decent idea of what the figure will look like coloured nonetheless. From what can tell it's pretty much spot on, the face is also very faithful (for info the dot on the face isn't a mole they gave him for grins, it's a mark they put on prototypes like these)

Thanks Cybergundam ;)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Pegasus Tenma - Tamashii Photos

2009-07-14T10:22:00.005Z

Interesting touches to note: The folds on the undergarment around the belly area, which I've not seen before. The two faces is a nice touch as well. Other than that, still a little bland in terms of the cloth colours but that's due to the original design.

Thanks Sorrento & "Capital 8", a group I'd not heard of before...

[Saint Cloth Myth] Lost Canvas - Benu Kagaho Exclusive Prototype

2009-07-02T21:47:00.002Z

Last Weekend was the yearly "Japan Expo" in Paris and by the looks of it, they had an exclusive prototype on display which is being made available even before any Toy Show in Japan.

Benu Kagaho, the first major specter to make an appearance in lost canvas and which release had been announced a few days back is actually already in the prototype stage, despite my initial doubts of a November release based on first images being a CG design.

It's hard to tell exactly and I can't say I recall his surplice to be like that but it looks like some sort of mix between a God Cloth and Rhadamanthys' surplice. It's supposed to pretty much be all black so we'll have to wait to see the coloured version but so far, it looks pretty good, perhaps a little broad on the hips...

Anyway, thanks to the guys at Ikki63 and ma-deesse for posting those pictures. :)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Hobby Japan 08-09 Andromeda God Cloth

2009-06-24T19:34:00.002Z

We continue this month's set of photos with a change of focus from Hobby Japan on Andromeda God cloth. Not much to say there that hasn't been said before. It seems he's grown quite a bit between the Underworld and Elysion, I dunno, maybe the outside dimension was a bit of a stretch...

Anyhow, this page is a bit more interesting. We finally have comparative views between Thor and another God Warrior (Fenrir in this case), and though he sits on a display stand, the size is pretty much bang on what I thought, that is with his waist at the level of the shoulders of another average-sized character.

Finally another CAD drawing of Kagaho (well the same as Figure Oh really) and if we're to believe Trevor (who kindly provided those scans), this will be released in November '09 for the modest price of ¥6,825. If it's still at the computer design stage, it's hard to believe it's due to release so soon, especially when other key Saint Seiya characters are yet to be released.

Anyway, thanks to Trevor again.

[Saint Cloth Myth] Figure Oh 137: Pegasus Tenma

2009-06-23T22:08:00.002Z

Here it is, the first myth cloth off the Lost Canvas spinoff by Shiori Teshirogi due to come out in August 2009. This coincides with the release of the first DVD of the OVAs that should be round about now.

Now, as I said in a previou spost, the animatin and graphics of these OVAs are tremendous, however, sometimes a little improvement can't hurt. What I mean by that is the overly simplistic, in terms of colour of Tenma's cloth. Sure it's quite close to Seiya's original anime cloth but it kinda lacks highlights of sorts so the blue chromium makes it look quite plain. Still lots of potential for the original anime series to create some customised figures with little work.

Also of note is a CAD design of Benu Kagaho, one of the first major specters to battle in the manga series. The result is quite intriguing so we'll see if Bandai decides to go ahead with this character and when.

Thanks to Trevor for the scans :D

[Lost Canvas] New Official Anime Teaser Videos

2009-06-04T09:15:00.004Z

You know, I don't think I ever posted the first video done by TMS Anime, the production house behind the upcoming Saint Seiya - The Lost Canvas, the animated version so here it is first and foremost:

But earlier today they published 2 new teaser videos and these look absolutely terrific. If like me you've been disappointed by the work done by Toei Animation to bring to life the Hades Chapter of the official Saint Seiya manga, then this should come as a relief. The animation is smooth and powerful and the graphics look really well done, just as you would expect from an anime in 2009.

So have a look below, let me know what you think:

I mean just look at that Rozan Hyaku Ryu Ha!!

Edit: and here's a quick link to another trailer not too dissimilar from the first one

http://www.vap.co.jp/seiya_tlc/trailer.html

[Saint Cloth Myth] Gamma Star Thor of Phecda - due September 2009

2009-06-02T13:09:00.003Z

Here it is, the tallest myth cloth you'll ever see on the shelves. There was a pre-announce a few days ago in Figure Oh or Hobby Japan, I froget which, but we now have more details:

Size: 24cm, which is about 6cm taller than your average myth cloth. I was expecting something closer to 30cms but that's still quite big!

Release date: end of September 2009

RRP: ¥8,400 (~£53,40 / ~€61.70 / ~$87.80)

Included are both axes (aka 'mjollnir hammers'), though they're a slightly different design from the original, I suspect that's to make it easier to have him wear them on his sides as shown on the prototype

Thanks Cybergundam

[Saint Cloth Myth] Figure Oh 136 + Hobby Japan 09-07 High Res Scans

2009-05-26T12:37:00.003Z

Here's more photos of Andromeda God Cloth. You'll note that they seem to have completely done away with hinges to fix the plastron onto the chest which gives a much slimmer figure the same way they've done for appendixes. It makes me wonder if they've moved to PVC or if they've succeded in using this system with metal.

Interesting photos of Alberich as well, it seems they've tried to add extra pieces for extra mobility in order to increase the range of movements you can put him in.

Finally, take note that Gamma star Phecda Thor will be out in September for the RRP of 8,400. That's quite a bit of money but if you consider the size, it's not exactly unjustified. Speaking of size, the indications of 17cm are wrong unless we were all victims of some kind of optical illusions with the Tamashii Nations photos.

Thanks to Yodin from ma-deesse and whoever else he got those from ;)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Andromeda God Cloth - Tamashii Photos

2009-05-25T12:30:00.004Z

Here are the Official Tamashii photos of Andromeda God Cloth due for release in July 2009 with a RRP of ¥6,500. Not much else to say, I've ran out of room to bother much with God Cloths really but as all the newest myths, it's looking quite nice.

Thanks Cybergundam ;)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Andromeda God Cloth - July 2009 release

2009-04-13T11:48:00.002Z

Andromeda God Cloth

Release date: July 2009

RRP: 6,500

Prototype picture below, for colour pictures see the Tamashii Nations photos a few posts below (without the chains)

Thanks Cybergundam ;)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Delta Alberich - Tamashii Photos

2009-04-09T11:09:00.004Z

We already had a rather nice preview of it from the Tamashii Nations photos but this is quite mouth-watering. I can't find anything wrong with it personally.

Due for release in June 2009 for the price of ¥5,000

Thanks Cybergundam ;)

[Movie] on hiatus

2009-03-25T15:52:00.004Z

In light of the fact that there is absolutely no consistent information other than the IMDB page, that the producer seems to be a randomly picked up name from semi-obscure holywood productions, that half the cast is hispanic or from X-rated movies, that ages are inconsistent with characters and that the last person added to the cast isn't even an existing character, I will call this "production" an immense joke and will only report about it once there is some serious information being published.

I don't know how submitting movies to IMDB works but this just cannot be serious.

[Saint Cloth Myth] Tamashii Nations 2009 - Photo Set #1

2009-03-25T15:27:00.005Z

More closer shots of the exclusive figures presented in the previous post. Plus a set of a coloured version of Delta Alberich. Enjoy ^^

Thanks Cybergundam :D

[Saint Cloth Myth] Tamashii Nations 2009 - First Exclusive Previews

2009-03-25T13:14:00.004Z

Well there we have it, surprises like you weren't even hoping to expect... and I have a feeling this is just a taster of more surprises to come.

First of all, Andromeda God Cloth.

I don't collect those myself as, well, I don't have space and my interest for the Hades Chapter is waning but I think it's fair to say it's up to people's expectations. The lighting makes it hard to see if it has a pink tincture or if it's an "original colour" edition.

Gamma Star - Thor of Phecda

Now this is a biggie... umm, no pun intended. The expectations on this guy is its size. In the anime he's easily 3m tall (about 9 ft) but in terms of having him fit with the rest of the God Warriors, it may mean making a compromise of making him taller than the rest but not as tall as he should be. Without a regular myth cloth next to him, it's hard to tell what size they've given him. We'll have to wait and see. Other than that, the design is spot on!

Edit: Here's a wider shot with a coloured Alberich in the background, if you look at the labels next to each figure you can get some idea of the size... looks good to me :)

Polaris Hilda

Yep, some people are calling for her to be the next premium figure to be released by Bandai and it looks like they've not forgotten to implement her. How soon we can expect her on the shelves is unknown just yet but watch this space.

So far it looks like the designs kick started by Saori for female bodies are bearing their fruits and we may start seeing more female characters such as Shaina, Marin, June or Tethys.

Thanks go to http://blog.hobbystock.jp/report/2009/03/etc0088.html (slight under 18 warning for the link here) and of course when more come our way I shall let you guys know ;)

[Lost Canvas] Anime Trailer

2009-03-20T13:58:00.004Z

Well it's here. I've not investigated too thoroughly but I'm guessing it's currently on show at the Tokyo Toy Faire so if you're in Japan... ;)

Look at this animation! Even with the manner with which it's presented (a movie of something on screen, I mean) it's still obvious this is going to be miles ahead of the last 3 Meikai seasons by a long shot. In other words, why didn't these guys animate the Meikai?

I have a feeling we're underestimating the success that Lost Canvas is having in Japan if they can afford such a result for OVAs.

Little moment for me there, the scene where the cloths get put on is different from the original St Seiya anime but still it's really cool that they took the trouble to include this. I can't wait to watch this :D

[Saint Cloth Myth] Exclusive Lost Canvas Pegasus Tenma Prototype

2009-03-18T17:58:00.003Z

Well this is not entirely a surprise when you consider how much Lost Canvas seem to be growing in popularity, but here we have it at last, there is a work in progress to bring Lost Canvas characters to the Saint Cloth Myth range, thus potentially extending the duration of production for quite a while.

As I said, it's not a surprise, when I went to check the website for The Lost Canvas Anime version this morning, I noticed a "Goods" section, and well, unless they're planning to do mugs and clocks, figures are the logical promotional tool to be released along with the DVD.

What's more, this is the first Pegasus cloth that Tenma wears and besides the mask, is basically the same as the anime version of the first Pegasus cloth from way back when. Now I'm not a huge fan of those first versions but lots of people like it and it's a good opportunity to see the design of what it could look like when it eventually gets released.

Finally, remember these prototypes are from the Tamashii Nations exhibit that will open to the public this weekend. There no guarantee yet that this will actually be released but keep your eyes open.

Thanks Sorrento for the photos ;)

[Movie] Cast out of control

2009-03-18T10:25:00.003Z

Well you know a movie will be rubbish when one of its main characters is played by a porn star.

That's right, there's more cast listed on imdb and here are the names put forward for the new roles:

Ophiuchus Shaina: Ava Devine (I'll spare you a photo, if you feel like it, google her name, even with safe search on you'll see what I mean). Even better, just check her filmography on imdb, it's a disaster!

Hydra Ichi: Supla (as Juninho Papito) . Another Hispanic actor, no photo, no known movie, nothing to show for himself, not that Ichi is an important character but still.

Chameleon June: Janaina Lomboquente. No biographical info, first movie but then June doesn't make much of an appearance in Saint Seiya.

But perhaps not all hope is lost. The cast listing for Jabu has disappeared so it might reflect on the uncertainty with which they seem to be picking up their actors. Still so far this looks like it will be much worse than Dragon Ball Evolution :( Good thing it's just a direct to video release. With a bit of luck it'll only be available in dodgy retail stores on the back streets of Bangkok or something ;)

[Lost Canvas] Anime DVD release

2009-03-18T10:10:00.002Z

As previously mentioned, the anime version of Saint Seiya - The Lost Canvas will be an OVA and therefore will be available pretty much straight on to DVD.

The release date for the first volume is 24 June 2009.

For an idea of what the anime will look like here's a few links:

http://www.tms-e.com/english/search/index.php?pdt_no=329 (English)

http://www.vap.co.jp/seiya_tlc/index.html (Japanese)

http://loscan.jp/index.html (Japanese)

http://loscan.blog.so-net.ne.jp (Japanese)

I have to say, I'm not too convinced by some of the artwork. Dohko for instance is quite far off the original Teshirogi drawing. Yato looks weird too, he was given a figure that doesn't quite suit him. The most disturbing is how so well endowed they've drawn Athena again. She's not the goddess of motherhood and nursing guys...

Anyway, let's hope the animation and script will be more elaborated than the Hades Chapter OVAs from the Toei...

[movie] More cast listed

2009-03-08T23:36:00.003Z

Okay no picture yet because we're talking about some pretty unknown actors here. However, it appears IMDB has been updated again with some rather odd information.

The major news is the role of Pegasus Seiya has been given to one Rafael Bailão. Looking at his biography, and trying to find photos of someone who could perhaps be him, was a pretty fruitless endeavour. There's not even a date of birth of his imdb biography. But that's not the strangest. In the movie page the character is listed as "Seiya de Pegasos". Now why would an american production list a character name in Spanish/Portuguese when its original name works quite well in English?

The second role, whose cast is this time listed as "rumored" (and I hope it stays that way), is for the character of Eagle Marin. It is attributed to one Rita Cadillac, and if her name sounds as dodgy to you as it does to me, then you would be right as some quick googling revealed some unequivocal photos even with my safe search on... Her biography page is even less re-assuring, as it turns out she's a 55 year-old grandmother. It's either a mistake or someone is seriously taking the piss here. I agree that in the manga/anime the 16 year-old Marin does look more like she's 25 but no more than that.

Very strange indeed, unfortunately, I don't know of anywhere else to have more in-depth information on the project so we'll just have to wait and see

[Saint Cloth Myth] Hobby Japan 2009/4

2009-03-02T22:32:00.003Z

I'm on a roll, here's Hi-res scans of the latest Hobby Japan courtesy of Trevor.

With Saga surplice being released at the end of this month, this now completes the figures required for the double Athena Exclamation. If you'll attend the next Tamashii Nations, you might even be able to grab yourself a copy of the (presumably) limited edition of Gemini Appendix - Original Color Edition, which means a Saga/Kanon with blonde hair and a Pope Arles with black hair and red eyes.

I'm not too fussed about these special figures they release for these shows but something tells me Bandai was either lacking inspiration of didn't want their customers to stretch their budgets (the appendix should retail for ¥2,500 at the show... triple that for eBay, at least). Although, there will also be an "emblems set", you know those little tokens you slot on the display stands, well they're releasing them in silver and gold (only with zodiac symbols by the looks of it) fpr the modest price of ¥1,000. All I have to say is... wow, just wow...

Anyway, sorry about the rant and enjoy the pics ;)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Delta Star, Megrez Alberich

2009-03-02T22:09:00.006Z

The god warriors are getting released at almpost an unbearable rate but Bandai can't hold off forever, so here we have at last the ante-penultimate God Warrior, Megrez Alberich to be released in June 2009 for the price of ¥5,000.

So far it looks pretty good, I'm keeping my reservations for the mask but the lock of hair over the eye is of the best effect.

Come on, 2 more to go after this!!

Thanks to Lonaifaat on all4seiya :)

Edit: Full banner shows that the flaming sword will be included :)

[Movie] Saint Seiya movie casting updates

2009-03-01T01:52:00.003Z

You may recall that I blogged some time ago about the upcoming "direct to video" Saint Seiya movie, which appeared out of nowhere on IMDB. Well after a curious glimpse at the page again, it turns out that some parts have been cast already. Let's review them:

First, Dohko:

Randall Duk Kim (aka The Keymaker in Matrix Reloaded, he also has a part in DragonBall-Evolution)

Jabu:

David Walton (I have no idea who he is)

Saori:

Nadia Bjorlin (I don't know her either but she does not look the part, I'm sorry)

Nachi:

Nick Cornish (he plays in "Confessions of a shopoholic" ... if I spelt that right, not my kind of movie)

Hyoga:

Steve Byers (this guy I could buy)

Now you may wonder what's with the secondary bronze saints, well apparently the story will focus around the Galaxian Wars, the first opus of the manga series. So if you were dreaming of a wyvern surplice live on screen, I'm afraid you'll have to wait if this thing even sells any copies.

Here's the synopsis posted on IMDB:

As the world faces a dark period of violent killings, hatred between human beings, civil wars, destruction and madness, an healthy old man travels the world seeking 10 infants fated to be defenders of Goddess Athena's reincarnation on earth. These heroes, protected by the constellation they were born under, will train to conquer their Star Cloths and together defend Athena from the upcoming evil forces leaded by renegade warrior Gemini.

So the game is on. I can't wait to see who will play Shiryu personally.

Actually, my biggest worry is that if the plot does include Saga and his evil plan to destroy Athena, we're talking about the first 13 volumes of the manga, or worse, the first 73 episodes of the animated series. That's a lot of plot to condense (granted, there's a lot of filler sub-plots in the anime which are easily discarded). Therefore, I fear the silver saints will probably go down the drain of will be incidental at best. On the other hand, if it's a video release, what's stopping them from making it 3 to 4 hours long? You never know, it could happen

Yeah right... stay tuned ;)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Hobby Japan 03/09& Figure Oh 132 - Aquarius Camus Surplice

2009-01-25T12:46:00.004Z

If you're not keen on the renegade gold saints of the Hades Chapter then stop reading now because the myth cloth releases are focussed on them right now. This month sees the release of Capricorn Shura surplice, and next month, along with the Gold Cloth Appendix will be Aquarius Camus.

Now as you can see the faces are interchangable, there's the "yell", the "smirk" and the "grump" (hey if you have better qualifiers, let me know 'kay). The first two will be with the appendix, the third, with the surplice. Now I've already seen people complaining about how they will "have to" get the surplice because the "grump" is the only way they can see Camus and their full myth cloth of the gold cloth version will have to have that face. Well that's too bad, but that's the way it is. Either way, it's a vast improvement from the original face, see for yourself:

Thanks to Sorrento & youko37 (all4seiya) ^^

Oh and also, keep an eye out for ther 2009 Tamashii Nations which you can see announced in Figure Oh. I'm hoping it won't just be a re-hashing of the same prototypes they were showing last year but we'll see nearer the time.

[Saint Cloth Myth] Gemini Saga Surplice - Tamashii Photos

2009-01-07T10:53:00.004Z

I'm not sure why these are available before the full set of Camus surplice, maybe I missed something, gotta go find out.

In any case, it looks really quite nice and it would seem the second face is now becoming a trend, not a bad idea for those who wish to give different expressions to their myths.

Thanks to dickson0113 from all4seiya :)

[Kurumada] New Artwork

2009-01-01T23:32:00.003Z

Yep, there's new things tirring on Masami Kurumada's blog. As always it's kinda blurry just now in terms of the real information, and since he doesn't seem to have an English version of his blog any longer, this makes figuring things out a little more tricky.

However, these are pictures from his last two posts. The first one, I can't quite picture what it's meant to be. It could just be a standalone illustration, but then plenty of artists have done that in the past and he's never really bother with showing them. All I can analyse is that the scene is at the Sanctuary after the 5 bronze saints got their "reborn" (ie. V2) cloths.

That one however, is a bit clearer. There's been talks for some time now about a paper version of the Tenkai-hen Overture, the first instalment of the Celestial chapter which came out as a rather controversial movie in 2003.

It's not exactly a secret that Kurumada never was happy with the final product and so quite rightly he's now set himself to produce his own version. How coherent the story will be is yet to be seen. You can have a guess with the drafts below and make up your own mind but as for me, if it turns out as incoherent and badly written as Next Dimension was (is? I'm not even sure if he's still at it) then it'll be another waste of time for the fans.

Wait and see as they say.
And before I forget, Happy New Year to my readers. I hope you get all the happiness you may be searching for :)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Figure Oh 131

2008-12-23T23:46:00.003Z

Quick update to show the latest Figure Oh with comparatives between the "old" Shura and the new One as well as more pictures of Milo Appendix.

Thanks to trevor

[Saint Cloth Myth] Jump Fiesta 2009 - Exclusive photos

2008-12-22T23:47:00.004Z

From various people (tokyohunter, cybergundam, Sorrento), photos taken at the Jump Fiesta 2009 showing final (?) versions of Capricorn Shura Surplice, Aquarius Camus Surplice, Gemini Saga Surplice, the super-expensive Saggitarius object and Seiya God Cloth OCE.

[Saint Cloth Myth] Hobby Japan 02-2009 Scorpion Milo, Capricorn Shura

2008-12-22T19:51:00.004Z

Thanks to Trevor for those. A quick update to show what Milo looks like with the new parts added to the whole Myth Cloth, it's better with the mask when you look at an angle.

Also a little comparaison between the "old" Capricorn Gold Saint Shura and the new Capricorn Surplice. It would seem they made the body slightly bigger for some reason, yet the olf mask looks rather big on the new face. Well at least it's somewhat compatible, with a system similar to Shaka's appendix known as the "giraffe neck", at least we hope it won't be the resulting effect otherwise it might look rather strange.

Finally notice a new photo for the "Original Color Edition" of Seiya God Cloth, with browner hair to reflect the colours used in the manga series.

[Saint Cloth Myth] Capricorn Shura surplice - Tamashii picture set

2008-12-15T13:05:00.004Z

That's a little earlier than expected but we already have full visuals of Capricorn Shura surplice, due for release at the end of January '09.

Not much to say there, it's a beautiful piece and it will be quite pleasant to display.

Enjoy

[Saint Cloth Myth] God of Sleep Hypnos - Tamashii Photo set

2008-12-12T11:38:00.003Z

Here is the full set of the Tamashii images for God of Sleep Hypnos, due for release at the end of the month. Still not convinced, sorry...

Thanks to Sorrento ;)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Aquarius Camus appendix - Tamashii photos

2008-12-09T12:06:00.002Z

Thanks to Trevor for those promising pictures of the upcoming appendix of Aquarius Camus.

Looking at it carefully, you can notice the lock of hair doesn't fall over the mask on this. It's an issue for some fans but I think there's a logic behind it. Looking at the last photo of the Aurora Execution position, it would probably be quite awkward to have this lock of hair in the way, which is why I think the concept designers have decided to leave it more as suggestion the way it is done.

You could also argue that he smiles a little more than he should considering how cold his character is but I feel it somehow humanises him a little.

[Saint Cloth Myth] Gemini Saga Surplice version

2008-12-05T10:36:00.002Z

Sorrento reports this image that suggests the future release of Gemini Saga, surplice version. Rumor has it that it will be out in March '09 but I've yet to see any official confirmation that this is the case. This would make 3 figurines from the same "series" to come out back to back, which is a rather unusual thing for Bandai to do. This would also put the "Athena Exclamation" protagonists swiftly out of the way with Milo Appendix + Shura surplice in January, Camus Surplice in February and then Saga Surplice in March.

We'll see but in any case, this looks pretty good so far :)

[Lost Canvas] OVAs to be produced for 2009

2008-12-02T09:37:00.005Z

Cybergundam reports that the rumours that Saint Seiya - The Lost Canvas, the manga currently being produced by Shiori Teshirogi is to be made into a series of OVAs are now confirmed and they should be available for the Spring of 2009. The real news is that this won't be produced by Toei Animation but by a company called TMS Entertainment Ltd.

Here are a few scans to announce this future release:

Edit: New better quality scans added (thanks Cybergundam ^^)):

[Saint Cloth Myth] Aquarius Camus Surplice colour photos

2008-11-29T01:23:00.004Z

First colour photos of Aquarius Camus Surplice, due to be released in February 2009. There are slight aesthetic differences with the appendix such as the hair colour and the shape of it in relation to the mask. The face is also more serious looking. This should give a good array of choices for those who want diversity in the available refreshed faces.

Thanks to Cybergundam

[Saint Cloth Myth] Figure Oh 130 - God of Sleep Hypnos

2008-11-24T22:22:00.004Z

Not much else to add to the previous set of scans. Here are a few more pictures of Hypnos, which I really can't muster much enthusiasm for, I have to say (again). The first photo looks like he's squinting and I can't say his hair looks particularly "golden" more like "blonde". I'm sure they'll have done as for Thanatos and added to spakles in the hair to give it a more shimmering effect but if that's the case, it doesn't really show on here.

Also an article on the Saggitarius "you want how much?" Cloth for the road.

Thanks to Sorrento ;)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Hobby Japan 2009-01

2008-11-22T18:00:00.004Z

The stars of this month's Hobby Japan Saint Cloth Mythology pages are first of all Aquarius Camus Appendix in colour and ready to blow your mind away. It's been years since the fans have been hoping for Camus to get a facelift from the terrible original version and now the wait is finally over.

Starting February 2009, and for a mere 2,310 yens, it could be yours. The pose of the Aurora Execution is also quite cleverly thought as the original myth cloth isn't built in such a way that you can do this position due to bits of cloth being in the way.

The second is Thanatos' twin brother, the God of Sleep Hypnos, which you can see if the last few episodes of the Hades Saga that came out recently. As you can also see, as a bonus they have added the little chest which Pandora opens as a child to free the souls of the twin brothers from the seal of Athena. This myth will set you back by 8,190 yens should you choose to order it. I've decided not to myself, simply because I'm lacking room and my interest for the Hades chapter is quite frankly dwindling away.

Thanks to Trevor for the scans :D

[Saint Cloth Myth] Pegasus God Cloth - Original Color Edition - more information

2008-11-18T17:31:00.007Z

More information have been posted on the Tamashii webstore regarding their exclusive figurine Pegasus God Cloth, Original Color Edition.

This figuring is only going to be available through their online webstore and for a limited period only. Sale starts on the 25th November 2008 at 20:00 (presumably Tokyo time).

Retail price: 7,350 yen

Estimated delivery: End of March 2009 (there's a blooper on the page, it says 2008 ;))

Bonus contents: Sword of Hades with additional chest part to show the sword piercing through the cloth.

With shipping costs fixed at 525 yens, it's unclear whether this will be available for order from outside Japan. It might be that us gaijins have to wait until it appears at exhorbitant prices on eBay if we wish to acquire it... ah well.

Thanks to ycc999

[Saint Cloth Myth] Pegasus God Cloth - Original Color Edition

2008-11-14T12:17:00.006Z

The following appeared on the tamashii website:

I'm not entirely sure what the text says but I would guess we'll know more about it from the 25th of November.

So who wants yet another Seiya? ;)

[Model] Sagittarius Gold Cloth 56cm

2008-11-12T11:24:00.004Z

Well in these times of deep economic crisis, it would seem that Tamashii has come up with the most expensive Saint Seiya item ever. Due to be released in February 2009, this 56cm high replica of the Sagittarius gold cloth will go for sale at the astonishing price of, wait for it, ¥105,000 ...

Yes, if you don't really grasp the extend of the value for that object, this is equivalent to £700, $1,050 or €850.

It is a nice piece when you look at it, it is also rather large, so if you have the money, you'll also need to have room. Needless to say, I have far better things to spend my money on but if you are the "must have it all" kind of fan, then be prepared to eat noodles for a very long time!

Thanks to Trevor for the head's up. For more information (in Japanese) check the official Tamashii page: http://tamashii.jp/special/tc_sagittarius/

[Saint Cloth Myth] 2 Aquarius Camus in one month

2008-11-06T11:11:00.003Z

Well we should have seen that one coming from a mile away. In February 2009, both Aquarius Camus Appendix and Aquarius Camus Surplice myth cloth will be released by Bandai.

If anyone was really looking forward to a relooking for their old Camus myth cloth, they'll have much to choose from. The appendix will come out at ¥2,310 and the surplice at ¥5,250.

Not much else to say as those prototypes don't really show much, so keep an eye out for pre-orders. The ones for the appendix are already available from Hobby Japan.

Thanks ∩i愛w○嗎 (all4seiya)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Hobby Japan 12 & Figure Oh 129

2008-10-24T08:34:00.005Z

This month's focus on the 2 major magazines promoting myth cloths are the upcoming appendix of Scorpion Milo, due in January, and Alioth Fenrir, due at the end of November.

I must say, the more I look at the photos of Milo's mask, the less I like it. It seems too big and rather squint. I'm hoping this will be corrected before it comes out but I'm not holding my breath. On the plus side note a much better Scarlet Needle nail on the hand provided, which I know is something the fans were hoping for.

Fenrir is as stated before, absolutely stunning. I do like little details such as the "fur" skirt made of flexible plastic to allow for a greater range of movements or hands designed to fit in the claw extension.

Thanks to Trevor for the scans

[Saint Cloth Myth] Capricorn Shura Surplice - in colour

2008-10-21T08:58:00.003Z

Oh my gosh, they all fall at the same time, there's no way I can spread my posts ;)

So here it is and damn am I glad to have pre-ordered it, it looks absolutely spiffytastic :D The original gold version was already really well done for one of the earlier myth cloths but this is very well streamlined and with aggressive features that really remind you of the 13 Sanctuary OVAs ... Brilliant!

Thanks linkin188 again ;)

[Saint Cloth Myth] God of Sleep Hypnos - First Tamashii photos

2008-10-21T08:48:00.002Z

Here are the first two, rather colourful, photos of Hypnos, the second twin god at the service of Hades.

Personally, I find the contrast between the purple and the off-gold to be a little clashing. I know they're only trying to emulate what was done in the OVAs but still it feels like they're mixing the colours of Dark Aries Shion and the 3 judges of the Underworld.

I also can't help but be concerned about the little flaps at the bottom of the skirt. Somehow they remind me of the flimsy flaps on Shiryu V3's belt which come off all the time. Let's hope the construction will be better there.

Thanks linkin188 for the photos :)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Appendix Milo in colour

2008-10-20T17:54:00.003Z

Here's a colour picture, presumably from Tamashii, of Scorpion Milo Appendix.

Not sure if it's the light or what but the gold looks kinda pale compared to the other appendixes of gold saints. I'm also not terribly fond of the huge mask, it just looks a little disproportionated.

Thanks Cybergundam

[Saint Cloth Myth] Scorpion Milo appendix announced

2008-10-02T09:31:00.002Z

Okay so "announce" is perhaps a redundancy as it's been announced a few weeks ago now, but this is the "official" flyer that says "yep it's going for production"

The point to note here is the photo of the prototype with the mask on. Release date is end of January.

Thanks klsy ;)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Capricorn Shura Surplice

2008-10-02T08:42:00.005Z

No photo just yet but this came out of the blue on preorder from Hobby Link Japan. The surplice of Capricorn Shura is due to be released in January for the price of ¥5,000.

Get yourself an early bird bargain at 5% off at http://www.hlj.com/product/BAN956899

Worth a post because HLJ is probably the most reliable source amongst all myth cloth providers.

More info later.

Edit: That was quick

Thanks Sorrento ;)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Alioth Fenrir - Tamashii Photos

2008-10-01T23:19:00.005Z

Okay people, it's drooling time. Cybergundam posted Tamashii photos (not quite yet available on Tamashii, makes me wonder how they get hold of those in the first place...) and they are fan-tas-tic!!

So let's have a comment for each one of them as this is my most expected myth cloth and deserves a proper bit of commentary (so bear with me ;))
First photo, first bonus. Not only do we have a much clearer idea of what Ging will look like, there is the added bonus of a hand for Fenrir to whistle for his wolves as you see him do in the 4 episodes he appears in. If that's not original, I don't know what it.

On a slightly downer side, I find Ging to be a little small for a fully grown male wolf but I guess it has to fit in the box somehow ;)

On that one, I would say the eyes are some of the best ones I've seen for lots of myths. I suspect this photo will be the one you'll see on the front of the box. He has the characteristic poised position with hands open, perhaps not as crouched as you're used to see him but still very convincing!

The Wolf Cruelty Claw attack will give me some issues as per what position to give him. It's normally a huge dillema to figure out the right position but that's going to be even worse here.

If you're a fan of the Asgard storyline, you'll probably have noticed that the Object form is slightly different from the original design of the God Robe. That's mostly for compatibility reasons I would think, but also to perhaps "correct" the original design which had a flatter, more triangular face (which can't be reproduced here due to the rigidity of the mask). The front claws are also a little too high on the legs but that's also due to design issues. Personally, I don't find that too striking.

Another thing I just noticed is the fact that the knee parts are separate from the leg parts, compared to Syd whose God Robe Object has a similar design as Fenrir. This prevents the knee to pop out when assembled in object form, which I find to be a bonus too :D

Finally the great Ging. First of all, I would like to say how much more this figure actually looks like a wolf compared to the Anime which has wolves somewhat looking like Hyenas... The details of the fur are very well retranscribed, the muzzle is of the right proportion and of course they didn't forget the crescent-shaped scar on his forehead.

Of course it will be a static figure so no options to give him different poses (that I can see) which is probably a good thing at the end of the day.

Thanks to Cybergundam and Tamashii for the photos ^^)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Poseidon Box Art

2008-09-25T16:32:00.006Z

Again seen on Daisuki-Kei's blog, here are hi res photos of the box art for Poseidon "Anime" edition and "Royal Ornament" editions.

I must admit, I find the back of the Royal Ornament Edition rather amusing. "An arrow shot upright falls on the shooter's head". Makes me feel like going, "well duh! it's like spitting in the wind...". More to the point, I know where they're trying to get at but something a little more poetic would have been better like "The arrow let loose will always return to archer", kinda like "an eye for an eye", "Karma ripens for those who sow it" etc... Anyway, photos:

Now, as luck would have it, he also included a very helpful photo of the inside of the boxes. Why helpful? Because I like to try and decipher the "Saint Myth Code" you find on the front of the boxes, and the inside inscriptions did help to solve the puzzle. Yep a simple front scan no longer helps, now you need the whole box apparently...

Now Bandai has been more and more crafty with their codes and I had a suspicion these would complete eachother and I think I was right.

So to cut things short, I'm fairly certain the code for Poseidon "Anime" is BLACK STAR COME (as it was for Kassa, I think) and for the Royal Ornament I'm pretty sure we have GEMINI AMIME (sic).

Which means, next year the second renegade to be released will be Gemini Saga. Hardly a surprise but there you go.

Of course I could very well be wrong and my interpretation not being quite as accurate as what I think but given the circumstances, that's the best I can offer. Feel free to suggest something else.

[Saint Cloth Myth] Alioth Fenrir - HD image

2008-09-25T15:19:00.005Z

Here's a large scan found on Daisuki-Kei's blog. All I have to say is, it's going to KICK ASS!!!

[Saint Cloth Myth] Figure Oh 128

2008-09-25T11:04:00.003Z

As every month, with a Hobby Japan, comes a Figure Oh, and vice-versa. This month has once again the upcoming special edition of Broken Pegasus Seiya in the spotlight... and it's been redesigned.

The guys at bandai and Figure Oh are rather clever when they put the prototype up such a long time in advance (remember it comes out next April). This allows them to gather feedback on people's expectations. One thing that immediately strikes me with this redesign is something I pointed out in a forum (which they can't have picked up unless they speak French ^^) regarding how "clean" the body of Seiya is for such a damaged cloth. So sure enough, if you look at the new grey prototype, you'll notice slashes in the legs and damaged arm-bands. This truly enhances the feeling of damage sustained through relentless battles, not just "putting on a cloth I can't be bothered looking after" :p

The Pegasus Object has also been redesigned to be more stremalined and more pleasant to look at compared to the original Pegasus V2 Object.

Almost makes me feel like getting a copy... We shall see.

Thanks to Sorrento for the photos ^^

[Saint Cloth Myth] Hobby Japan 11 - 2008

2008-09-24T22:15:00.004Z

This is the high quality scans of the relevant pages of the latest Hobby Japan I posted the other day showing the first prototypes of Milo and Camus appendixes.

Come to think of it, I do find Milo has rather long hair at the front, which looks rather strange. I'm kinda hoping they'll fix that but it's hard to tell, sometimes it's a bit hit and miss what they fix and what they don't.

Anyway, it would seem that according to Sorrento (can't find relevant text of these pages) they are due to be released in January 2009, for the price of ¥2,310, which was the price of Mu when it came out. It must be all that hair...

Thanks to Trevor for the scans ^^

[Saint Cloth Myth] Epsilon star, Alioth Fenrir - in colour

2008-09-24T13:47:00.003Z

Look at that, finally a colour version of the upcoming myth cloth of Alioth Fenrir. I have to say, he looks a little static on this one, we'll have to wait another month for the Age of Myth shots to get a better idea of what he looks like in a more dynamic position with ging by his side.

Thanks to Sorrento ^^

[Saint Cloth Myth] Appendix Series Volume 3 - Scorpio Milo and Aquarius Camus Prototypes

2008-09-22T16:09:00.003Z

Whoah, look at that, at last some decent face for one of the most charismatic Gold saints: Aquarius Camus.

We'd already seen what the Appendix for Scorpion Milo would be as it's been available for all to see since the Tamashii Nations last March, but Camus was really up in the air. There was even speculation he may be released as a renegade. Clearly this won't be the case, and all the better as they've also made it in a position he can't actually take with just the myth cloth. That's very well thought of from Bandai and will definitely enrich our collections.

I can't see if those scans reveal a release dat. I would speculate for a March 09 release though as this would follow the pattern of the previous appendixes.

Thanks to Cybergundam for the photos

[Lost Canvas] Possible Anime version coming soon

2008-09-06T17:14:00.004Z

Hey folks,

Here's some intriguing news. The Spanish website Ice Planet reports from a source only known as "Sasshi" that the adaptation of the previous Holy War by Shiori Teshirogi The Lost Canvas, will be made into an anime. It would seem that Akita Shoten, the publisher of Lost Canvas, has agreed for the adaptation to go ahead.

Unfortunately, I don't have any other reliable sources that can confirm this so we'll just have to wait and see what other bits of information crop up in the future.

The manga is currently gaining in popularity. After being adapted in countries like Argentina, Brazil and Italy, a French version started being published last June with volume 3 due for release in October. Of course an English version at this stage is unlikely, unless the anime goes ahead and proves to be popular in countries like Britain or the US.

Saint Seiya goes to Hollywood ?

2008-09-03T12:02:00.004Z

Well we're not quite sure and if we're to believe the scraps of information we can make out from the link below, it's not even likely to go on to the silver screen, more like straight onto DVD.

But still, a Saint Seiya movie could be interesting... or not. When I see how rubbish the upcoming Dragon Ball movie is looking out to be, my hopes aren't great for a Saint Seiya one, certainly not from Holywood.

Square/Enix would make a great job but they won't have the licence :(

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1273232/

[Saint Cloth Myth] Saori Kido / Athena Premium Myth Accessories

2008-08-25T16:37:00.003Z

New photos of Athena have been posted on the Tamashii Website and they show a really promising figure to come ou next February. This really makes you wish they had not pushed it back a few months as normally premium myths are released in the autumn. However, this will really be worth the wait, the figure is absolutely superb and just look at the size of this throne, I'll never find space for it on my display cabinets (lol).

Check out the pictures posted so far on the campaign website at http://www.jp-network.co.jp/saori/

[Saint Cloth Myth] Hobby Japan 10 - Poseidon & Athena

2008-08-25T08:35:00.004Z

Here are the scans of the latest Hobby Japan. I must say the Poseidon family shot looks rather colourful with the various shades of hair and the variations in the scales' colour.

And a few screenshots of the last Elysion episode, if you've not seen it yet.

Thanks to Cybergundam ;)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Figure Oh 127 & Athena Premium Throne

2008-08-23T09:16:00.004Z

We'll start with the throne shall we?

This little beauty has been presented in the staff diary of Tamashii as the painted prototype of the throne which will be included with the Saint Cloth Myth Premium of Athena. It's quite a gorgeous little example of royal upholstery. If I compare that to Pope Arles' throne... well there's no comparison really ;)

Next we have this month's "Age of Myth" section of Figure Oh, which introduced detailed photos of the upcoming special edition of Pegasus Seiya Broken Version. It does promise to be a nice alternative of what we've had so far, now remember the magazine sells it for ¥5,000 (postage included) so if you see shops selling it for significantly more than that (I did, and won't say where), then be sure you're prepared to pay the extra money for something which a lot of people don't seem to show much interest in.

However, there's one little plus you can see if you look carefully, there will be an extra set of shoulder parts which are more damaged so you can choose your level of brokenness if you so desire ;)

This shows us that the head of Seiya Appendix will be adaptable on broken pegasus. Finally the extras included with Poseidon Royal Ornament Edition, which we saw previously from Saint Myth Chronicles are presented once more here.

Thanks to Sorrento for the images ;)

[Interview] Masami Kurumada interviewed in Saint Myth Chronicles

2008-08-21T21:17:00.007Z

Okay, I still suck at Japanese, but a kind person from the Ikki63 forum who goes by the pseudonym "archange" has translated Masami Kurumada'sminterview in the exclusive magazine Saint Myth Chronicles into French. So this is my translation of, umm, his translation. Second degree translations aren't the best but it's the best I can do for now.

Anyway enjoy ;)

-----

1. Ring ni Kakero also has the Twelve Gods of Olympus in one of the teams, could you tell us since when you've been interested in Greek mythology?
Actually, I don't have a particular interest in Greek mythology, just like anyone else. I get inspired by it simply because there are interesting ideas. Greek mythology has a lot of characters, and gods both powerful and graceful are a part of it. That's why I used it in Ring ni Kakero. That way, I can create scenarios with enemies more cool and powerful than the heroes, and I find this approach much better. Prior to Rinkake, I knew a little bit about Greek mythology but I had to read a book on mythology to fill the gaps of my knowledge when I started. When I began Saint Seiya, I had to go deeper in my research however. In this kind of manga, you have to bring enemies in constantly, which can be difficult to imagine, but for Saint Seiya, ideas were easy to come up with. The reason is Greek mythology is so full of characters such as Poseidon, Hades or Zeus.

2. How did you define the characteristics of the five Bronze Saints, who are the main characters of the story?
I though of the classic balance of the Shonen. One hero hot blooded and stubborn, a serious guy, a cool guy, another more "kawaii" [cute] and finally another who is the very powerful guy, which explains how we arrived at Seiya, Shiryu, Hyoga, Shun and Ikki. However I thought it wouldn't be very interesting if the five were one group from the beginning as in stereotypical stories, and that's why Ikki was first introduced as the common enemy. Moreover, it was also my intention to make Hyoga into an assassin sent by the Sanctuary who would have given them a hard time.
Seiya and Ryuji (from Rinkake) are two different kinds of heroes. In fact a character like Ryuji is difficult to use. He's not one to go straight for the enemy but tends to wait that they come to him, otherwise he doesn't do much, which makes the scenario difficult. In Saint Seiya, it's Shun who is more like Ryuji, whereas Seiya would tend to be more like Ishimatsu (from Rinkake), if an enemy shows up, he'll go and face him straight away.

3. Why did you choose the constellations of Pegasus, Draco, Cygnus, Phoenix and Andromeda for the heroes amongst the 88 potential protecting constellations?
Actually there aren't that many usable constellation amongst the potential 88. For exemple, I can't pick up constellations like Pyxis [the Ship's Compass] or Antlia [the Air Pump] (laughs). Of course, the 12 constellations of the zodiac were reserved from the beginning for the enemies to be introduced. So, in the beginning I took 10 constellations which seemed usable. But I had to pick up 5 amongst those, which was a shame for Hydra Ichi or Leo Minor Ban (laughs). Actually, in the beginning I intended to make Jabu one of the main characters but Seiya already had the role of the hot-blooded boy so he ended up with Ichi and the others, outside the main group. Even nowadays I still think about it sometimes but I'm convinced I made the right choice with Pegasus.

4. Is there a character you had clearly defined from the beginning, well before he appeared in the story?
There isn't really such a character. In the beginning, I intended to have Milo being Hyoga's mentor, but eventually I thought that ice should be related to water and so I changed it to Camus. In the beginning, I had not yet decided whether Marin would be Seiya's sister. If I had made the choice from the start, the reader could have seen it coming and would not have been surprised.

5. Who is your favourite character?
That's a question that often comes up, but I like all characters and I don't mean just in Saint Seiya. I invested a lot of myself in each of my characters and they've all left me with a feeling like a painful birth. I can't make a choice.

6. How did you determine which constellations would go with each character?
I first thought about the characters, then I picked up their constallations. The Twelve Gold Saints are however an exception as in their case I rather defined the characters based on the constellation. For example Leo (the Lion) suggests a strong masculine character, whereas Virgo has feminine traits.

7. How did you create the concept of the Cloths?
In the beginning, before I started this manga, I imagined suits of armour close to those worn by the samourai and a style of combat close to karate. The idea was that their attacks were so powerful they would need protection during their fights. But the basic suits of armour weren't great and while I was pondering on the idea, Greek mythology started to emerge in my mind. I thought if I could find inspiration from the constellations, I could come up with a pretty cool result. That's how I started to design ancient european-style suits of armour with curvaceous lines. Aiolia's Gold Cloth is was resembles this idea the most. With my assistants we were constantly debating how to design new cloths, it was really exhausting. In a classic manga all you have to worry about is the story (laughs).

8. Tell us a little about the conceptual design for the Scales now.
The Scales are protections inspired by fish scales. The result when drawing them with lots of scales was pretty unpleasant, so I only drew a few that way. The Scales represent sea monsters of course, but I had to select as much as I could those who seemed to render best. Obviously, I couldn't use a sea anemone, though if I'd had to do that its technique would have been "I swallow everything around me" (laughs). I have however given a lot of thought to Isaak, his Scale and its design based on his common past with Hyoga.

9. Why are Scales golden?
To be honest, I don't really remember (laughs). In the beginning, I did intend to make the Scales blue but they weren't really giving a feeling of power. I think I must have wanted to make them golden so they could look like the Gold Saints. Since the Anime was being shown at the same time as this part, it could have been a suggestion from Toei or Bandai.

10. And what about the Surplices?
For my ideas, I gathered the 108 stars of the novel Suikoden and associated them with all sorts of monsters. During this chapter, the design of the suits of armour was really difficult to imagine.(laughs)I'd imagined the Surplices as being jet black but the Anime added colours with a purple hue. Whichever the version, I think they look like they come from the deep. A plain black colour would however have made them look too much like the black saints from the beginning. For Minos, Aiakos and Radhamanthys I used the names of the juges from the mythology.

11. How did you come up with the idea of the God Cloths?
Actually, to keep pushing up to the next level, I didn't have much choice but to introduce them (laughs). They were necessary to defeat Thanatos. Ah, maybe I've gone too far? (ironic laugh). To begin with, the twins call them Kamuis but looking at them more closely, they call them God Cloths. The God Cloths are the ultimate stage of evolution for the Cloths... maybe (laughs).

Second Double Page

12. The God Cloths are placed beyond all Cloths including the Gold Cloths aren't they?
Regarding the ages, the Bronze saints would be roughly in middle school, the Silver saints in high school and the Gold saints would be students. Regarding heights, the Bronze saints are approximately 165cm, the Silver saints go up to 175cm and the Gold Saints are above 180cm [not from me, if you want the measurements in feet you'll have to calculate it yourself, sorry ;)]. The appearance of the Cloths very distinctly differentiate their ranks just like in the army. There are admirals, colonels and captains. The God Cloths have a design that clearly sets them apart and are equipped with wings too, all this showing that they are ultimate cloths.

13. What kind of protection are the Kamuis? Could you share with us the image you have of them?
Those are protections worn by the Twelve Gods of Olympus, and therefore Athena herself has one. However, I think it's more cool if Athena only uses a cloth like her army. Though Athena says she only wears a cloth, it could very well be that this is her real Kamui. In the same way, it could be that Poseidon's scale and Hades' Surplice are their real Kamuis.
I more or less intend to reveal the Kamuis in the near future so watch this space.

14. Which cloths were the hardest to design?
I always managed to figure out what the Leo, Cancer and other cloths based on animals would look like. However, Gemini or Libra and others of the same kind were more of a problem and I worried a lot trying to work out what the Gemini cloth would look like once worn by Saga. As he first appeared as the ultimate evil, I had to think as much as I could to come up with a beautiful result.

15. And so, which one is your favourite cloth?
If I'm forced to reveal it, it's the Gemini Cloth, though I like all of them. In those days, the people at Bandai were quite worried about the design, because of the two faces on the helmet of course. But eventually, they liked the result. By the way, there is a fan question that comes back quite often. "Which one is the most powerful ?". Even 30-year old+ men ask me that question [note from me... I'll go hide now], just as young children do, they want to know. Whichever the age, Saint Seiya remains a story close to their hearts.

16. And so, who's the most powerful?
You too (laughs)? It's a very hard question. I drew the twelve Gold Saints intending to make them all cool and powerful, but I would say that each have their strengths and their own personality. I really can't tell who is the most powerful.

17. What is your opinion on Myth Cloths?
The old toys were quite simple but these are very clevery designed. You can really see the techinal progress. Amongst the Myth Cloths, I find Lyra Orphee to be truly unique. The texture really suggests a sheen similar to silver. I also find the 3 judges of the underworld magnificent and imposing. The surplices really have an excellent rendering. I do feel for those who collect them however, there are so many it takes a lot of space in people's houses [note from me. yeah you have no idea...]

18. Tell us a little about the Hades Chapter.
This part is inspired by Dante's inferno and I've always liked this part. In the beginning, Saint Seiya had a very raw male design, just like Ring ni Kakero or Fuma no Kojiro, but it's towards this part that my drawing had become graceful and the textures for the Surplices were very detailled. I spent a lot of time on this part to make it a success.

19. How did you come up with the idea of bringing back Saga and the others from the dead for the Junikyu [Hades Chapter Sanctuary]?
When the crossing of the Twelve Temples was over, the Gold Saints had become very popular characters. Later when we came to the part where Hades rules over the dead, I thought it would be a good idea to bring them back and add the fact that they want to have Athena's head to create a shocking revelation.

20. Why didn't you include Aiolos amongst the other ressucitated Saints?
Aiolos didn't die at the same time as Saga and his companions, so he seemed a little out of place. Moreover, the members of Saga's group were Gold Saints who were serving him. If Aiolos had been brought back to life, he would probably have had to oppose Saga. Kinda hard to imagine them side by side in this part, isn't it? (laughs)

21. And the return of the old pope?
It's also a character I then thought about using. The Pope was one of Dohko's friends, also a survivor from the previous war, though as we hadn't had the chance to see his face yet, I decided to include him amongst the ressucitated Saints. As for the idea of making him Mu's mentor, it simply comes from the fact that the temple guarded by Mu is the first one which has to be crossed. If I'd made someone other than his mentor he would have been kicked out of the temple of Aries. That's actually why Deathmask and Aphrodite get thrown out (laughs).

22. Regarding Dohko's return to youth?
This is something that was planned long ago. For the transformation, I got inspired by the golden sword of Fuma no Kojiro. (黄金の剣　ôgon no ken)

23. Are the situations of Shun becoming Hades and Kawai in Ring ni Kakero similar?
It's not the same. To be honest, I didn't believe the part where Kawai becomes an Ashura would be successful. Regarding the "revelation" for Shun, it was just an idea to surprise the reader. In my mangas, there is no leading framework of story as opposed to most other mangas. What's important is to suprise the readers. To this end, I don't forbid myself any idea, even if it's strange, which also means each week I torture myself wondering what I could come up with to create a surprise (laughs).

24. Did you think you would make Kanon a protagonist of the holy war from the conception of the character?
In one scene Milo tests Kanon with his Scarlet Needle and concludes that there is no enemy here but just another Gold Saint and his name is Gemini Kanon. It's a scene I intended to draw. The personal feelings of the protagonists are key in my mangas. This kind of story is also very popular in France, incidentally there are a lot of Saint Seiya fans in this country.

25. Could you tell us why you name Saga's brother "Kanon" ?
Until the end I wondered if I should make Saga into a man suffering from a double personality disorder or someone with a twin. I eventually chose to do both. His name comes from that which naturally separates humans in two groups: sex. [translated note from the original translation: The kanji representing the sex meaning male/female is 性 which can be pronounced "saga"]. Regarding Kanon, since he's Saga's little brother,I first wanted to call him Sega, I'm just kidding (laughs). Truth is, I didn't know what name to choose, I then opened an atlas and found Kanon island (カノン島). I thought the name sounded nice so I chose that.

26. What's your feeling about the animated adaptation of the "Elysion" chapter?
With that release, the adaptation of Saint Seiya is finally complete. I find the Elysion anime cool, gracious, warm. I think it's the ultimate level of animation. What's more I wrote the lyrics and participated in the writing of the ending song "Kani no sono - DEL Regno". Please, you have to listen to this music. [note from me... he must be talking about a different Elysion no one else has seen...]

27. Finally, what's your message for all the country's Saint Seiya fans?
Thank you for remaining faithul to Saint Seiya and keep on carrying this dream in your heart. The world of Saint Seiya continues to grow, keep an eye out for what's happening there.

Edit from me: Typos corrected

[Saint Cloth Myth] Alioth Fenrir - Ging

2008-08-14T01:06:00.003Z

And here we have it, the announce I have been waiting for since I started my collection. the Epsilon star, Alioth Fenrir will be released in November 2008 for the recommended price of ¥5,250. Now if only Mr HLJ could hurry up and set up their pre-orders for it, I would be very grateful. ;)

And what do we have below? Yes the confirmation, with pictures that the wolf Ging will be included with Fenrir, which is very good news indeed as I'd been hoping they would complete the picture this way. Now the photo isn't very clear but hopefully you can see it well enough.

Thanks to Ideo (Ikki 63 forum) and tidkong

[Saint Cloth Myth] Athena / Saori Premium Myth Cloth

2008-08-14T00:52:00.003Z

We've known for a while that there was going to be a few little pluses with the upcoming Premium Myth of Saori / Athena, due for release in February 2009. so now here's some visuals of what they are and how they compare in size.

There's the jar for Poseidon and the jar of Hypnos, the latter which seem like it could allow for a scene similar to that of the Elysion chapter (which is kinda the whole point if you ask me), though not shown in those pictures, so something else to find out later.

For those three, the photographer seem to have put some kind of emphasis on poor Saori's cleavage :p Just remember folks, this isn't a Barbie doll okay! ;)

Thanks to, ermm, cybergundam, Tamashii and other all4seiya folks ^^

[Saint Cloth Myth] Figure Oh Special Release - Broken Pegasus Colour Version

2008-08-14T00:33:00.003Z

Again taken from the Saint Myth Chronicles, here's the colour version of the Special Figure Oh Figure: Pegasus Seiya, Broken Version.

It makes a world of difference when you see it in colour like that, even more so when you compare it to the official "clean" version of the V2 cloth, the first ever Myth Cloth. almost would make one want to get it.

Though be prepared for a long wait, it's not due to be released before April 2009. The price mentioned in Figure Oh is of ¥5,000 (inc. postage). The question is, will there be any bonuses of any kind? Last year, Crystal Saint had the "frozen legs" add-ons which was a pretty cool bonus and for this kind of price you could perhaps hope to have a little extra, though in all honesty I can't quite think what...

Thanks to my friend Milo 06 on ma-deesse ;)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Julian Solo / Poseidon - a few more goodies

2008-08-14T00:13:00.002Z

The following page is an excerpt from the Saint Myth Chronicles where you can see on the left-hand side a few of the things which will, at least, be included in the "Royal Ornament" edition of Julian Solo / Poseidon , namely:
- a set of imperial robes
- 2 pairs of hands to be used with Kanon plain clothes (Damn now I have to buy Sea Dragon :p)
- a pretty extensive set of hands

Thanks to Sorrento ;)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Figure Oh 126 + Hobby Japan 9

2008-08-13T23:43:00.003Z

Oh hey look, I'm way behind in posting these again. Sorry folks but I have so much stuff going on life at the moment that I have to wait evenings like tonight to post all the jucy stuff which is currently going on. So bear with me.

We start with the Age of Myth section of Figure Oh, where you can see a pretty impressive set of shots of the upcoming Julian Solo / Poseidon Myth Cloth. I have personally opted for the "Royal Ornament" or "blonde Julian" version ;) What can I say, I like deities to have somewhere to sit :pNotice a few things on this page. One is the various concept designs of Kassa's hairstyle, as he's never seen without his helmet either in the manga or the anime. The other is more detailled pictures of the prototype of Figure Oh's special Myth Cloth: Pegasus Seiya, broken version. Since these came out, a photo of the coloured prototype has been released and I will put it in a later post but you can already see a pretty good job at reproducing the shattered cloth, even though it is "yet another Seiya"...

Finally for Figure Oh, the cover of their special edition "Saint Cloth Chronicle", which I have ordered and having seen some scans, promises to be a must-have for a comprehensive review of Saint Seiya official figurines.

The Hobby Japan scan show more or less the same as above, so I'll just let you enjoy the photos.

Credits to the usual suspects, Sorrento and the guys at all4seiya ;)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Pegasus Seiya Figure Oh Special Edition Broken Version

2008-07-23T22:16:00.003Z

Here's the full version of the prototype for the Figure Oh Special Edition of Pegasus Seiya Broken Version. It's quite well made actually when you look at it carefully. There's various bits from changes Bandai have made over the years to improve the sreamlining of the cloth, such as hiding the hinges of the chest part towards the back (as seen in Seiya God cloth) but also using the new body and a decent face. You can see it is a "V2" of the cloth (as seen in the first 11 episodes of the Hades Sanctuary chapter) but unlike the boxset released last year it's just just a new paint job, there is some kind of creative effort there.

I'm still not entirely sure what the Japanese says but it still shows a price of ¥1,600, which is a little dubious, we'll see when we find out more. And there's still no indication when this will be released so as always, wait and see ^^

Thanks to Shido/Iknowkungfu for the photo ^^

[Saint Cloth Myth] Figure Oh Special Release - Broken Pegasus Prototype

2008-07-17T22:23:00.003Z

Remember a couple of posts back, I talked about the upcoming Figure Oh exclusive figurine for this year? We had a shadow of what looked like a V2 version of Seiya and indeed the text did say "Pegasus Seiya, Broken Version".

Not much else to say about it, this figurine has virtually no interest for me, if they are to merchandise broken versions of cloths, they should include them with either myth boxes or the appendixes as they did for, ermm, Seiya last year... yeah... him again.

A shame really, last year's Crystal Saint was a nice initiative but this year it's pretty pointless...

Thanks to Trevor for the images ^^

[Saint Cloth Myth] Japan Expo Appendixes

2008-07-05T12:11:00.004Z

Most of you probably remember the exiting previews we had in March with the Tamashii Nations Exhibit in Japan. Among all the Saint Seiya goodies exhibited there, one of them showed a complete diorama of the Double Athena Exclamation scene from the Hades Sanctuary OVAs. Well it seems, somehow this diorama made its way to the Japan Expo currently taking place in Paris.

Now for some reason no one seemed to have been able to take really good pictures of Milo, Camus and Shura in that particular diorama at Tamashii Nations. This has now been rectified with some pretty awesome pictures of Milo. I suspect this is what we can expect to have when his appendix will be released. Of course we still don't know when it'll be released and for how much but we can now appreciate what the trio looks like with better faces:

Camus is rumored (I'm yet to see any confirmed annoucement that this is indeed the case) to be released as an appendix at the same time as Milo. It's not clear at all if it'll be an appendix of the Gold version or the renegade version as pictured below. Personally, I'm not too fond of this version as it pretty much limits it to the Athena Exclamation pose and not much else.

In any case, thanks to PeJ and Tsume for the photos :)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Lyumnades Kassa - First Tamashii Photos

2008-07-05T11:12:00.003Z

According to the Tamashii Website, Lyumnades Kassa is due to be released on 9th of August 2008 (regular price ¥5,250), which is a lot earlier than I expected. It kinda makes me wonder if there's something else which will be released at the end of August that we don't know about.

In any case, check out those photos from the tamashii pages...

[Saint Cloth Myth] Figure Oh 125

2008-06-24T08:35:00.003Z

It's that time of the month when we're told whether something amazingly new is pointing to the horizon or if it's just going to be more photos of things we've seen before.

Well this month it's a little bit of both. First of all, there are the "age of myth" photos of Lyumnades Kasssa. I've said it before but this figure really doesn't inspire me, and those photos are somehow not quite as appealing as the ones from the Tokyo Toy Show. I find it rather funny that they tried to give him a somewhat bent posture by just bending the torso forward and keeping the legs straight.

Below are the same photos of Poseidon and Athena we've seen before as well as a glimpse of the box art of Pegasus Seiya God Cloth... And there I thought this box was a badly made fake...

Now the real surprise is what's below. Last month Figure Oh hinted at a new exclusive figure similar to last year's Crystal Saint figure. Well, though we only have a silhouette, the text says that this year it will be "Pegasus Seiya Broken Version". And here we were hoping for something really exclusive, you know like a silver saint or another Anime exclusive character (or even a specter if they're going to squeeze the most out of the Hades chapter). But no, instead we're getting a, umm, 6th version of Seiya. Now what would be really funny is if they wouldn't bother getting him a proper face. It's obvious from the silhouette that this will be Seiya V2 and if the size of the diadem is something to go for, it seems there won't be much re-work there.

One things which I do find puzzling though is that it's only priced at ¥1,600, which is even cheaper than an appendix. So perhaps it will simply be the cloth provided without a body for Seiya V2... Unfortunately my japanese really isn't up to speed so I can't tell what the text actually says
Thanks to Cybergundam for the scans

[Saint Cloth Myth] Tokyo Toy Show - Alioth Fenrir, Hypnos and more...

2008-06-19T13:22:00.005Z

Okay folks, so that wasn't a particularily long wait (I wasn't really expecting it to be to be honest). Photos from the Tokyo Toy Show that we saw some glimpses of yesterday have started emerging... lots of them. Well not "Tamashii Nation" -lots but still enough to make me all giddy and excited about the upcoming releases.

So without further ado, I present my greatest expectation:

Epsilon star, Alioth Fenrir:

He has a certain air of "don't mess up with me or else", which to my mind (and trust me, I know something about this) does transcribe rather well the feeling of being a lone-wolf rejected from the world, ready to take on whatever comes at you.

Now on more design issues, I have to admit of being quite please overall. There are separate knee parts which, despite it generic similarity with the Zeta God Robe, make the leg part a lot tighter in design and thus more sleek. The claws seem to also be a separate part which either gets clipped on the hand parts or the end of the forearms. This should help clipping the hands in more easily I hope. The fur skirt has also been included (it wasn't on the Vintage figurine), though it is made of plastic, so we'll se how it looks overall with the colour on. The mask's proportions seem to be just right and give a well balance overall look to the figurine (Hagen's for instance was too high to my liking). Finally, the face and hair seem to be really well worked. Now it'll be a case of waiting to see the coloured version and what he looks like without the eyepiece of the mask, or just without the mask.

One but can dream but if only they could include Ging his wolf companion as well as a blue tunic to allow for a "casual clothes" version, it would be fantastic...

Next on is

God of Sleep, Hypnos

That particular photo make him look almost transparent. There's not much else to say I don't think, other than confirming it will take a hell of a lot of space, especially because of the side peacock feathers but overall, it will nicely complete the twin pair of Elysion lower gods...

Lyumnades Kassa

Those are rather better quality images than what's been available so far. The face is still the same, and I doubt they'll change it now (though you never know, they did change Syd's at the last minute last year) but the scale is rather well done. What's more is that the colours seem to be consistent with Scylla Io's, that is to say, quite faithful to what we saw in the original anime. Now of course that mean they'll both clash with the 5 other sea generals, ah well. Not quite sure what Bandai was thinking there...

Saori - Athena

No new image of the figurine itself as of yet, but a nice bonus to be included, the jar in which Hypnos traps her as she arrives in Elysion. It makes me wonder if the head part will be adaptable to the jar now...

Julian Solo / Poseidon

The first two are of the "Royal Ornament" edition and the last two, the regular edition. I'm quite impressed that they're including a face with closed eyes, they seem to have gone back into the habit of doing so and that's quite a welcome little bonus as we sometimes mostly picture some of these characters with their eyes closed.

Other than that, the colours are quite spiffy and I can't wait to get mine (though I'm yet to work out where I'll put it ...)

Thanks again to Sorrento and all the guys on ma-deesse who relayed the photos ^^

[Saint Cloth Myth] Tamashii teasers - Hypnos and Alioth Fenrir

2008-06-18T13:42:00.003Z

As it was the case for Poseidon, the developers at Tamashii have posted another set of teasers for upcoming myth cloth and, as you might guess from the subject line, one of them is very exciting ^^

First is Hypnos, which is quite obvious from the photograph:

Together with Thanatos, they'll probably require an entire shelf just for themselves so as to be displayed in their full glory. No indication as per when it will be released, though I have heard rumors of October, November. I'll keep you posted once more is known on this.

The second and probably most expected Myth Cloth of them all for me, is of course Alioth Fenrir.

Now I know it's not showing very much (that's why it's a teaser ;)) but from the design, the God Robe of Epsilon is immediately recognisable. I'm trying not to be too anxious about this upcoming myth cloth but since lately Bandai has either done exceptionally well (Io for instance) or was quite disappointing (Hagen, Bian...) it's hard to know for sure how well crafted it will turn out. I'm also hoping for Ging, his wolf friend, to be included in the box. We shall see.

As for release dates, again, this is just a teaser so we don't know for sure but a rumour I heard a few weeks ago suggest it might be out in December, as always I'll update when I find out more about it.

[Saint Cloth Myth] Lyumnades Kassa - Object photos

2008-06-09T01:11:00.004Z

Okay folks, this is a continuation from the previous post, this time with photos of the Lyumnades object, a somewhat salamander-looking thing. Makes me wonder what happens when you chuck it in the fire ;)

And finally, the whole 7 sea generals finally gathered together:

As before credits and thanks go to Cellsenshi and to Milo 06 for reporting the news.

[Saint Cloth Myth] Lyumnades Kassa - Exclusive Photos

2008-06-07T14:18:00.004Z

One thing I should point out before saying anything else, these photos are still at the prototype stage. You'd think it surprising for a product due to be released by the end of August but that's the case.

Having said that, I can't say it will matter either way as far as I'm concerned as I'm not really fond of this character and will therefore not bother purchasing it. However, if you are keen on Kassa, this is probably what it will end up looking like. Personally I found his face hilarious but since Kurumada has never shown him without his helmet on, it's hard to tell what he's supposed to look like "civilly" (not that this adjective applies to him but there you go)

Thanks go to Cellsenshi on Ikki63 for these exclusive photos, oh and for those who care the shoulder parts will be die-cast ;)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Saori Athena Premium - A new version

2008-05-30T15:13:00.004Z

Okay folks, here's today's Big Shock in how Tamashii can surprise us by remodelling their prototype from an ok figurine to a superb collector piece.

You may remember the visuals at the Tamashii Nation Show showing Saori as a pretty yet somewhat chubby goddess of war and wisdom:

Well now the campaign is being launched with the release of Sea General Scylla Io and the new and improved Saori is magnificent, see for yourself:

Admittedly there's something about her that makes her look like a fragile little doll but it somehow adds to the true image of what Athena is to her Saints, something precious, something to be protected at all costs.

Now the bad news is she won't be available until the end of February 2009, as stated in the official campaign page. Still I think it'll be worth the wait.

Thanks to Tsume for the heads' up on this ;)

Tamashii launches english version of its website

2008-05-29T17:15:00.003Z

And it's available at http://english.tamashii.jp/

That's fantastic news as far as I'm concerned, despite the fact that I've been trying to learn Japanese for some time, it's still good news that some information will be more available to us. You might think it'll just be simple product descriptions such as price weight etc... but it's more than that, they have interviews of designers and such information you can only read if you're fluent in Japanese and subscribed to magazines such as Figure Oh or Hobby Japan.

I look forward to browsing it through :D

[Saint Cloth Myth] Julian Solo / Poseidon - Larger Images available

2008-05-29T16:30:00.002Z

Thanks again to Sorrento for finding us those little treasures.

You can see a little bit more clearly the differences between the Deluxe version (top) and the Normal version (bottom)

Now it seems that the Deluxe version will not just comprise the one scale, but both the manga and anime version of it. Suddenly it makes the steep price of ¥10,000 a little more justified. It's unclear whether there will also be two bodies with this packaging but I'm sure we'll find out in due course.

Meanwhile, to buy or not to buy is going to be a bit of a dilemma for me. Whilst the face is a little too "gentle" a la Orphee, I'm quite fond of the orangey colour of the manga version of the scale, not to mention the throne which would accompany Shun/Hades quite well in style...

[Saint Cloth Myth] Seiya God Cloth - Tamashii Photos

2008-05-28T13:36:00.001Z

Sorry it looks like I'm about a week late on these ones. Still better late than never.

It seems the art on Seiya God Cloth's box will be quite tremendous, check it out:

[Saint Cloth Myth] Julian Solo / Poseidon, First full visuals

2008-05-27T19:17:00.002Z

Ok folks, hold on tight to this one. The myth cloth of Julian Solo / Poseidon will not only be released as early as this coming September but it will come in two different flavours:

- The first one, priced at ¥5,500 will be a "normal" myth meaning one body and its armour (scale in this case) which you can re-assemble in its object form.

- The second one, priced at ¥10,000, will be the "DX" version with a few more goodies added for good measure. Not only does it come with a throne, a trident with the ribbon around its shaft, a better quality cape, a stand for the trident, an extra base for the legless form of the object (the original one) and some kind of hidden compartment in the throne for an undetermined purpose so far, it also has blonde hair and its scale coloured in accordance with the manga, as opposed to the Anime version of the "normal" release (yeah I know the colours aren't quite right but we're used to that now with the marinas... ;))

Check it out, and thanks to Sorrento again for the pic ;-)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Upcoming Poseidon Scale Myth Cloth ??

2008-05-22T15:45:00.003Z

Ok folks, here's a taunting image that was posted on one of the Tamashii staff diaries announcing some new Myth Cloths to be exhibited at the Tokyo Game Show next month:

I think we can all agree that it looks like a myth cloth of Julian Solo / Poseidon is in the works. There has been no mention on when it would be released, although some rumors have mentioned September or October. It also looks like it will come with a throne, which would be the third character after Saga/Pope Arles and Shun/Hades to come with one. Save having to get a display stand if nothing else ;-)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Hobby Japan 7 - Seiya God Cloth

2008-05-22T15:21:00.002Z

Apologies for being out of touch so long, here's a couple of fresh news you guys should be glad to hear about:

We'll start off with the first images of Hobby Japan 7, kindly provided by Cybergundam:

First off, the upcoming release for August 2008, which is the last of the 7 Sea Generals, Lyumnades Kassa. On here, you only see a pictorial representation but a photograph of the prototype has been circulating for about a month now, and here it is:

(Thanks to Sorrento again for this one)

Personally, I'm not overly fond of this character so as all the other sea generals (except Io), I shan't be acquiring it. However, I am looking forward to seeing the final product...

Also note that the premuim myth for 2008 is confirmed to be the Athena figure which was seen at the Tamashii Nation exhibit. Apparently this is not necessarily the final product and some re-adjustments are likely to be made before final production begins. Hopefully they'll add more grace and less visible articulations though overall it is a rather pleasing figure.

As you can see on this, the emphasis is on Seiya God Cloth, aka Seiya V4, aka (wrongly so) Seiya Kamui. It's a truly magnificent piece, and I daresay much more pleasing than the bootleg custom from Hong Kong which was released last year. The wings are enormous, quite probably larger than the Sagittarius Gold Cloth, especially considering that the packaging is going to be the same size as Thanatos'. Unfortunately, its size alone means I probably won't be acquiring it either, mostly due to space contrains, and I'm not the kind to buy figures and leave them in their boxes.

Edit:
Here are high res images to better view some of the details (Thanks pope_shion):

[Saint Cloth Myth] Scylla Io - First Tamashii Pictures

2008-03-26T12:53:00.002Z

Release date: End of May 2008.
Recommended Price: ¥5,000

Thanks youko37 @ all4seiya ;)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Figure Oh 122

2008-03-25T00:29:00.003Z

Here are more visuals of Benetnash Mime from the latest figure Oh.

As always lots of thanks to Sorrento ;)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Hobby Japan 5, High Quality Scans

2008-03-23T13:49:00.004Z

Someday, I will really learn to read those Japanese texts without having to wonder what each Kanji mean :/ Meanwhile, enjoy those better quality visuals ;)

Thanks to Trevor at all4seiya

[Saint Cloth Myth] Hobby Japan 5

2008-03-21T10:26:00.004Z

Medium-resolution images of the new Hobby Japan showing new photos of Mime. Those confirm that there will be a second face with closed eyes, which I am quite pleased about. Lots of hands to play with as well, which gives a large array of positions for him to be displayed in.

You can also see a first official visual of Scylla Io. Chances are what you see here is what will appear on the front of the box.

Also exclusively presented are prototype pieces and conceptual art of the upcoming Appendix of Scorpion Milo. No indication of a release date as yet but based on what was shown at Tamashii Nation, the points on the shoulder parts are going to be quite sharp. If the model matches the drawing, this promises to very nicely complete the Athena exclamation trio...

Finally, the shadow seems to confirm that the upcoming Premium figure for 2008 will be Saori Kido / Athena. Let us hope that the definitive figure will be an improved version of that which was displayed at Tamashii Nation, in particular for the arm parts...

Thanks to green0540 from all4seiya for the images

[Saint Cloth Myth] Tamashii Nation 2008

2008-03-20T09:35:00.002Z

This is probably the most expected exhibit of the year in terms of Saint Cloth Myths. Tamashii, the branch of Bandai which deals with the conception and release of our figurines is presenting in Tokyo many of their creations.

Unsurprisingly, there has already been lots, and I mean, lots of photos posted of what is being presented there. As far as I can tell, there are 3 kinds of figurines, so let's start with what we know is going to be released:

We can distinctively see, Seiya Gold line (out now apparently), Benetnash Mime, Pegasus Seiya God Cloth, Scylla Io and Thanatos among those we already know.

Let's look at those specific ones in more detail:

Benetnash Mime:

Pegasus Seiya God Cloth:

Scylla Io:

Thanatos:

Until now, Seiya God Cloth and Scylla Io were only available as prototype images. Now we can see what they will look like and one thing that stroke me immediately looking at Seiya God Cloth is how they seem to have integrated the hinge-less plastron as part of the Cloth. I'm not sure if that means it will contain more plastic parts or if the've worked out a viable way to do this with metal parts but it makes this normally heavy-looking cloth quite slender and attractive.

As for Io, well, I'll only say that he's the only Marina I will have in my collection and I'm not regretting it ^^

Let's move on to what I would call "Concepts". It's unclear (for me anyway) whether those are figures which are planned for future release, abandoned projects or tasters to see the reaction of fans.

Sagittarius Gold Cloth Premium Edition (labelled "Fake")

Esmeralda & Guilty (labelled "Death Queen")

Mizar Syd and Alcor Bud (labelled "Light and Shadow")

Sky Cloth Toucan Sho (labelled "Man made cloth")

Libra Dohko young and old (labeled "Misopetha-menos")

Aries Mu Casual Clothes and Appendix Kiki (Labeled "Appendix")

Saori Kido Athena (Labelled "Saori")

One thing I should mention about that one is the fact that it would seem that Athena will be the 2008 premium release based on a flyer included in the box of Death God Thanatos. However, this figure was clearly displayed in a different area as those announced future releases so it's best to leave it among the concepts until we have more information from Figure Oh, Hobby Japan and so on.

Sagittarius Gold Cloth Redesign (Labeled "Sagittarius (I)")

Life-size Sagittarius Cloth (labeled as "Sagittarius (II)")

Gold Cloth Pandora's Boxes (labeled as "Cloth Box")

Bronze Saints Golden Cloth (labelled as "Power of Gold")

As I said it's better to remain cautious about the above. That's why it's safer to call them "concepts". Still for those who feared that the Steel Saints may one day be released in Myth Cloth, at least you know that Bandai is thinking about it ;)

Ok the third type of displays is what I will call "Dioramas". Some of them contains unreleased Myth Cloths as well:

"Freezing Coffin"

"Will"

Double Athena Exclamation (labeled as "Forbidden Attack")

Orphée Recital for Hades

To finish, this salon will have an exclusive pack of Aries Shion Surplice + Pope Shion and here's what they look like:

I would like to give heartfelt thanks for the guy(s) at Toycan for posting the majority of those images, Gamu Toys for the photos of the labels, Dengeki / online.com, Yesou, GA Graphics, tom.com, Toysdaily, Sorrento (as always) and Icereef at ma-deesse

For all the photos I have gathered:

Tamashii Nation 2008

[Saint Cloth Myth] Benetnash Mime - High Resolution photos

2008-02-26T09:06:00.002Z

Same as yesterday, only in Higher Definition. This is starting to really look good now.

Thanks to Sorrento for the photos ^^

[Saint Cloth Myth] Eta Star Benetnash Mime - First official photos

2008-02-25T09:28:00.004Z

There they are at last, the first colour official photos of Benetnash Mime. I have to say, I'm really looking forward to this one, even though Mime isn't my favourite God Warrior. The colour is well retranscribed and the face looks well done, though the hair could use a little bit more work. The object form is also very nicely put together.

Thanks to Sorrento for the photos :)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Hobby Japan 4 - High Res. Scans

2008-02-25T03:24:00.003Z

As always, thanks to Sorrento for providing those pictures:

I have to admit, Thanatos looks absolutely divine. Notice also the special pack exclusive to Tamashii Nation of Aries Shion Surplice + Pope Shion available for pre-order at the exhibit for ¥8,000. Noticeably the surplice has been recoloured to a greyer, more smoky colour. It is unclear whether this pack will also be available to the general public through (as is often the case) Hong Kong retailers of it will really remain exclusive to Japan. So far, no myth cloth product has remained exclusive to Japan so it's unlikely this will be the case here.

The Medicos figurine are also worth mentioning, if nothing else because they seem to have been in the works for about a year now and while some have been released, others like the 3 Version 1 Cloth bronze saints are still without indication of RRP. They do look good though so watch this space ;)

Back in 2008 - Lots to catch up with

2008-02-23T03:47:00.013Z

Hey folks,

I know I've been away from writing in there for about 2 months or so. I apologise, especially since as I've been following the news in the Saint Seiya world, there is lots I need to catch up on, so we'll keep things to their utmost important.

So we'd left it at Hagen and Baian but since then, in the Saint Cloth Myth release calendar, there has been loads of juicy new characters due to come out. Let's see if I can dig photos for you.

- January had Seahorse Baian released and here are the Tamashii photos:

The reviews so far have been rather mixed about this myth. Some love it, others find it rather plain, the majority seem to agree on the object form not being the best thing Bandai has done to this day...

Anyway, let's move on to more exciting things

- February 2008: Appendix Leo and Aries

Now that's something due to come out officially today so keep an eye out for those pre-orders. Meanwhile, have a few more Tamashii pictures:

- March 2008: Special Edition Gold Plated Pegasus Seiya & God of Death Thanatos

While we've already covered the former with relevant images (save for an extra item which will be available in Hong Kong, that is a display case with integrated lights), the latter has only been recently announced.

Apparently, the box will be larger than normal. Seeing how the wings seem to be shadowing everything, this does not surprise me much. Here's a few pictures, including recent scans of Figure Oh:

And the latest Figure Oh:

- April 2008: Eta Star Benetnash Mime.

The God Warrior series goes on slowly but surely. The 4th god warrior has been not only announced but is available for pre-order in most major retailers.

However, so far all we have is this:

It seems a trend since Hagen to show as little as possible about the upcoming God Warriors. This one is coming out in April and so far this is all the photos we have....

- May 2008: Scylla Io

Now that's the only Marina worth having (and the only I will buy for myself). Just seeing the prototype makes you go mmmhhhhhh. See for yourself:

Again, not much to see but enough to realise that there is a great fig coming out... makes you wonder why it's the brainless characters who get the best armour... ;)

- June 2008: Pegasus Seiya God Cloth

Yep, well with the Elysion chapter coming up in OVA format, this was to be expected as they always start with Seiya anyway.

This again will most certainly won't disappoint. The big question is what colour? I'm guessing silver blue as in the animé but it may be different...

That's all for now. I'll post some more as news come through, hopefully this is enough ;)

[Saint Cloth Myth] Gold-plated Pegasus Seiya Final Version Photos

2007-12-03T09:30:00.001Z

Scheduled for release in March 2008, this gold plated version of Pegasus Seiya Final Cloth will be a limited edition of 20,000 pieces. However at ¥15,750 RRP, this really will be for the Die-Hard, Must-Collect-Everything collector because as pretty as it is, the limited numbers don't justify the price.

If you're interested in alternate means of investment this may be a figurine worth getting to sell back at 3 times its price in 10 years. Unless of course the limited edition is for Japan only and the exact same will be available in Hong Kong. Pure speculation on my part but this would not surprise me the slightest.

Thanks to Sorrento for the info and the pictures :)

[Saint Cloth Myth] God of Death Thanatos - first prototype visual

2007-12-01T01:16:00.001Z

I don't believe it, these news are sprouting like blossoms in spring. A few hours ago we found out that yes, they are going to release Thanatos in myth cloth format and now bam! a prototype already. (must.not.rant.about Hagen...)

Anyway, so at ¥7,000 (plus tax) this is going to be quite massive. I'm already curious how they're going to make those enormous wings in a normal box. In any case this first visual of both the Robe worn and in object format is quite promising and when his twin brother Hypnos comes out, they're going to take up quite a bit of room in display cabinets ;-)

Photo courtesy of DVF Store :)

[OVAs] Elysion Chapter - Promotional Poster revealed

2007-11-30T16:54:00.001Z

The Toei Animation corp have at last revealed the first visuals related to the upcoming Elysion chapter and as far as I can tell, this doesn't look too bad.

I was wondering if we'd see the gold-plated God Cloths as we see them in the Manga / Taizen but this would be a little inconsistent with the way the Pegasus God Cloth was depicted both in the extra scenes of the Hades Chapter Sanctuary and the Tenkai Hen.

As as you can see the first episodes will be shown on the 7 March 2008. Let's all cross fingers that they will be of the standard they deserve to be...

[Saint Cloth Myth] God of Death Thanatos to be released in March 2008

2007-11-30T14:59:00.000Z

The rumours have been steadily growing in the last couple of days, now the mystery of the bright star from the Saint Myth Code on Kryshna's box is revealed to be the God of Death, Thanatos.

His release will coincide with the first set of the last 6 OVAs centered around the Elysion arc of the Hades chapter. That is March 2008. Expected retail price is ¥7,000 which is ¥1,000 more expensive than Gemini Saga was. Speculations as per what justifies such a leap in price will fill many discussions I'm sure since even though his God Robe is quite massive, there has to be a little more to it than that. We'll know more in due time as always.

The following release table kindly provided by petit_dragon (from the store Fougniworld.com) confirms this release.

[Saint Cloth Myth] Official Release Dates for December

2007-11-29T18:29:00.000Z

Well we know when the most expected myth of the second half of 2007 will be released... it'll be much earlier than I expected in fact. See for yourself:

- V2 "reborn cloth" Bronze boxset: 8 December
- Beta star Hagen of Merak: ~~15 December~~ Edit from 30 November: Looks like it's now been pushed back to 22 December. Don't you love Bandai and their ever changing release dates...

Some folks may even have it for Christmas (E: if you live in Japan :/) (I won't but that's ok)

Source: Tamashii calendar