We here at T-ONO pride ourselves on covering unique and rare news items, and during my trip to San Diego Comic-Con 2011, I got the chance to do just that. After a weekend-long team effort, we finally landed an interview with the very awesome Shigeto Koyama. Koyama-san has worked in the Japanese animation industry as a designer, illustrator, and script writer. His most recognizable works include the mechanical designs for Star Driver and character designs for the 2010 anime series, Heroman created by Marvel Comics very own Stan Lee. Over the years, he has also worked on various series produced by Gainax studio including, Diebuster (Gunbuster 2), Gurren Lagann, and Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt.

Despite the communal sweat poured into making the interview happen, the entire process was a real treat. Koyama-san is a very easy-going guy and even with the impromptu circumstances our conversation was fun and informative. I hope you all enjoy the interview, and we definitely hope to catch him next time he's down in the U.S.A.!

Figures from the series Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha seem to never stop releasing, maybe because most of them are either insanely cute and/or well sculptured. In any event, this time around Kotobukiya has released yet another Nanoha centered figure.  It is a 1/8 Scale PVC figure of Nanoha in her School uniform. Struck in a moving pose, this figure is sure to attract even the not-so-hardcore fans.

Nanoha is casted here as if she is just on her way to school; with a slice of bread in her mouth, Yuuno (in Ferret form) sticking out from her bag and a fluttering skirt, this is a must buy in my book. The face carries a surprised but very cute expression. Promo photos show a very decent paint job on the demo model; however, we shall see how she turns out on the mass production line. Kotobukiya has their hit and misses, hopefully this one will turn out to be a hit.

Scaled at 1/8 for a retail price at 5,800 yen, this figure is actually on the expensive side. There isn't much complexity to the figure and it doesn't come with an elaborate base. With the current exchange rate, this is an expensive buy. Several online retailers should have it for a little bit cheaper, so check your favorite web retailer. Even though this figure is slated to be released in January of 2012, pre-orders have already started.

More photos after the jump.

Black Rock Shooter will be receiving a TV broadcasted anime in January of 2012. Black Rock Shooter as an animation started off with an OVA that was released in July of 2010. With the continued releases of anime figures and the recent announcement of a game in production, fans will be treated to even more Black Rock Shooter goods.

A website has been set up for the TV anime and can be found at: http://www.noitamina-brs.jp/ The website currently only has a flash video, which contains already animated scenes of Black Rock Shooter.

Black Rock Shooter originated from an original character illustration made by Huke, who later joined supercell.  Ryo from supercell was inspired by the illustration and created the song that is now known as, "Black Rock Shooter", using Vocaloid 2's Hatsune Miku as the vocalist.

Japanese artist Alpha made her first visit earlier this year to Anime Expo 2011 held in Los Angeles. Alpha is an illustrator for the visual novel company, Akabeisoft2 and has worked on the award winning game, G-Senjou no Maou (G線上の魔王). While some may have never heard of Alpha, a legion of American fans lined up to meet her at MangaGamer's booth.

Hear what Alpha had to say about her experience at Anime Expo, a little about how she got started into the industry, current projects she is working on, and a special message for all her American fans!

As part of the birthday celebration of the highly popular Vocaloid Hatsune Miku, the Vocaloid 3 Korean Mascot was revealed ealier this week. Banking on the ever popular moe style, SeeU is a cat girl illustrated by Kkuem that just oozes adorableness. I know a lot of people love Hatsune Miku, but the cat ears and flowing hair won me over at a glance. She's voiced by Kim Tahi (Dahee), a super cute singer part of the up and coming K-pop group GLAM which has yet to debut.

Good Smile Company has teased us for almost a year now, originally with the unpainted version of the figure appearing at various figure shows in Japan, and finally preview photos have popped up on their blog. The figure is based on the popular Hatsune Miku song, Love is War by supercell. 

The figure will be released in 2 versions, the deluxe, "version DX," which will only be available exclusively from the Good Smile online shop for 14,000 yen, it will come with a larger tower platform complete with the megaphones found in the original art by Shirou Miwa. At almost half the price, the normal version will come with a smaller tower platform without the megaphones for 8,800 yen.

You have until September 26, 2011 to order either version, but for American shoppers, beware of the current exchange rate or you might find yourself paying more than you expected.

This has been on my buy list for some time since it was shown, which version interests you?

More photos inside that may help you decide.

Fall is shaping up to be an amazing season for anime with many titles to keep an eye out on! Supercell fans are probably already aware of Guilty Crown, with original designs by redjuice and music by ryo both members of the musical group. Persona 4 based on Atlas hit PS2 game. Personally, I am very interested in seeing what all the fuss is over Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, which is already having an insane amount of merchandising set to release in Japan. There also looks to be other awesome titles including a second season of Working!! (Wagnaria!!), the prequel to the hit Fate/Stay Night: Fate/Zero, Last Exile: Ginyoku no Fam, Mirai Nikki, and Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon.

This is still just a small sample, check out the chart inside. What are you looking forward to seeing?

(Edit: Corrected title, this is Fall 2011 not 2012...)

We had speculated the high likelihood that NIS America would release the game back in November 2010 when the company had announced they had secured the rights publish games by Imageepoch, developer for various games, most notably, the Black Rock Shooter PSP game. It was later revealed in an interview Dengeki Online held with Imageepoch, NIS America would be localizing the game in the future. NIS America officially announced last night they will be releasing the game in the States and in Europe.

Fans of the franchise is probably wondering about bundled goodies with a premium editions. Judging from NIS America's past history, we can definitely expect to see a limited or collector's edition for the game; however, it is unlikely that the localized version will contain the White Rock Shooter Figma figurine found in the Japanese White Premium Box due to costs and the exclusiveness of the original figurine. The original Petit Nendoroid figurine of Fuka made by Good Smile Company found in the Japanese Limited Edition version of Disgaea 4 unfortunately was replaced with a figure of Fuka made by Shishikuiya in the localized Premium Edition.

NIS America also started publishing anime in 2010, and as the Black Rock Shooter OVA has not been officially licensed overseas yet, it would not be out of the question for NIS America to do a bundle or even include the OVA in a collector's edition version.

Lots of speculation and unfortunately, there are no additional details regarding the localization of the game as it was just announced. We'll keep you posted on any updates or details we may happen to overhear, but the one thing we are certain is that NIS America is definitely one company who's always aiming to please their fans and we can expect an amazing bundle with the game. Press release inside.