Following on from our previous post about a forthcoming E-MF-LZ-00X-2 Layzner Mk2 toy, it turns out in fact that we will be likely getting it as a Soul of Chogokin Spec iteration (something we hoped and suspected). On top of that, it seems that demand is high enough for the suitably bling SPT-ZK-53U Zakarl (shown above) to get the same treatment. What’s interesting about this is that fans wanted continuity from the previous, and thoroughly excellent, Soul of Chogokin Spec Layzner. We wholly endorse this request. No word on pricing or release as yet but once we know more we’ll let you know.

Courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan we’ve been sent the Robot Damashii Nu Gundam and Robot Damashii Sazabi as seen in the climactic film Char’s Counterattack. In addition, we’ve also included some game and anime footage of the mecha in action at the end of the review.

Following the Tamashii Nations 2012 poll where the wonderful Layzner came out on top, Bandai have been working hard to fulfill the wishes of their fans. As we already have a thoroughly excellent Soul of Chogokin Spec Layzner toy, it now looks like we’ll be getting an E-MF-LZ-00X-2 Layzner Mk2 figure too. This was the designed but never animated version of the titular upgraded and transformable Layzner that was meant to appear at the end of the second season. Due to all manner of funding issues, the series was cut short and the Mk2 never appeared. However, as is always the case in gaming, the Mk2 has graced many games over the years. From Super Robot Wars to the Another Century’s Episode games and as such the Mk2 is very much a fan favourite (so it makes sense to have a figure made of it finally). No word on release, toyline or price but Bandai have followed this announcement up with asking people to fill in an online questionnaire. It is interesting to see Layzner still endure like this though. Especially as the series is very influential when it comes to mecha gaming. If only the PS2 game had been finished, oh well.

There have been some interesting reveals at this year’s All-Japan Model Hobby Show as well as via Kotobuikya. In regards to the latter, Kotobukiya’s output has birthed the rather incredible kit above from Armored Core V (as was mentioned a while back). The sculpt being something of truly amazing finesse and it seems that there will be all manner of other kits available for it too (including tanks and helicopters from the game), so you can build your very own diorama.

Moving on from that, Wave have shown a variety of new garage kits. From Galient to Vifam, though what has really peaked our interest is this lovely Layzner Mk. II kit. Hasegawa even previewed a new Kagekiyo kit from Virtual On Force. If you want to see more of the hobby show, then AmiAmi has lots of lovely photos here, here and here.

Courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan we’ve been sent the Super Robot Chogokin Zeorymer from the anime Hades Project Zeorymer. Whilst this is somewhat of a niche super robot OVA from the late 80’s, it has garnered a rather infamous reputation due to its suitably uber presence in several Super Robot Wars games. We’ve also made sure to include some nice footage from the anime as well as its various game appearances at the bottom of the review.

For those that held back on either the Armor Plus or Tamashii Spec toys of the awesome Tekkaman Blade, then you’ll now have a far more affordable (though still very shiny) Figma toy on the way. Part of Max Factory’s Figma line, this new Tekkaman Blade is admittedly a touch smaller than Bandai’s Armor Plus variant (which we admittedly adored) but it does have an excellent sculpt and will likely have utterly epic articulation too. Considering all this will only cost you 3,300 yen, makes for a pretty damn sweet bargain as far as we are concerned. As a company Max Factory have a very long and prestigious heritage when it comes to mecha toys. From producing some of the lushest Guyver figures to some lovely VOTOMS toys as well, these guys really know how to make decent mecha action figures. Admittedly there’s also the MAX Gohkin line of toys too, competing with Bandai’s similarly pricey die-cast offerings, but the Figma toys have always been excellent value for money by comparison. This new Tekkaman Blade figure will be out this June and you can pre-order yours here.

Bandai have announced that one of the next Robot Damashii toys will be that of the original XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero. Whilst we’re not fans of the anime that much really, we do like the designs a fair bit (barring the mecha chicken variant of the Wing Zero in Endless Waltz obviously). This release has been hinted at for a fair while now as well but we’re glad it’s finally going to happen. Released this June for a very reasonable 4,410 yen, the toy even transforms.

One of the next Super Robot Chogokin from Bandai is one of our favourite super robots. That of the mighty Zeorymer. One of Yasuhiro Moriki’s most iconic designs, the mecha actually originated in a pretty pervy hentai manga by none other than Yoshiki Takaya (of Guyver fame). Though Moriki’s anime version has quite a different aesthetic, something that would go on to be used on the rather awesome looking RX-105 Xi Gundam. In gaming terms, Zeorymer is possibly one of the most poweful units ever to grace Super Robot Wars. Appearing in both J and MX it basically pwned pretty damn hard (and let’s not even talk about Great Zeorymer). Whilst there have been a few Zeorymer toys over the years, from Gigabrain and Yamato, they’ve all been pretty disappointing. This, on the over hand, will be properly good. For those that want this, it’s set for a February release next year.

The magnificent bastards at the Romhacking Aerie told me to drum up support for a possible Christmas release of their Super Robot Wars J translation, and when the 25th of December came and went with nary a sighting of Santa carrying a sack full of binary patch code, the caterwauling of fans crying out in unison caused such a disturbance in The Force that Jedi in a galaxy far, far away could feel it, to say nothing of the psychic pressure our more local Newtypes had to put up with.

However, it was all a ploy to teach us the true meaning of Christmas: being surrounded by friends and family and not by Game Boys. Now that Christmas is over, we can finally get back to ignoring our family again because, yes, the fan translation is now out. Carefully follow the directions included in the readme, which detail the patching procedure and suggest utilities to use if command-line interfaces give you the heebie-jeebies.

The release of Super Robot Wars games into English through fan translations are always marked as grand occasions, because although most fan translations deal with games which are unreleased in English, most of them still have the theoretical possibilities of release through either an updated version or a classic game download service such as the Wii’s Virtual Console. The Super Robot Wars games, however, have no such chance at release because of the legal issues surrounding them. They’re much beloved for their combination of multitudes of fans’ favorite mecha anime series into the same game, but this combination produces a legal snarl of epic proportions as different companies all claim ownership of the rights to these properties in the West, making negotiations prohibitively expensive at best and utterly impossible at worst. As such, make sure to enjoy the fruits of their translation labors.

We all know that in a perfect world, Super Robot Wars J would have been officially released in English. Its sweet, sweet combination of no less than 13 different anime series joining together to face evil in a strategy RPG set souls aflame. When it became clear that we did not live in this perfect world, however, and would be denied seeing this game’s release, a dedicated team of wizards and mystics set out to right this wrong, using the darkest and most forbidden of arts to scrape away at reality, tunneling into this hypothetical perfect world to extract an English copy of Super Robot Wars J from it.

Luckily, their Great Work is nearly complete, and a cornucopia of mecha tonnage is nearly ready to sortie. What they need for this Miracle is your help–your burning spirit–to pull the Veil of our Universe away for that tiny moment, just long enough to copy data over their 56k modem.

Clap if you believe in mecha fairy dust. Clap if you believe in love. Clap if you believe in never giving up. Clap if you believe in Space Lance.

Super Robot Wars J is coming, but only if we are first found worthy. You have been warned: prepare yourselves.

UPDATE: The translation group have turned back their hoods and have decided to make themselves known: when the translation is allowed out of its cage you may find it here. Keep in mind every minute they spend reading “but when, man, WHEN will it be done?” is one minute less they spend on the game’s release, and if possible restrain yourself from melting down their server through furious pressings of the reload button on your browser.