I know I’m a little behind the curve on this one, but in case you haven’t heard yet, Max Factory announced last week that they would be releasing a new Konata Izumi figma in August. Dressed in a summer version of her school uniform, this version is destined to arouse the passions of Lucky Star fans everywhere with its plethora of extras. Not only does the new Konata figure include a “＝ω＝” expression, but it also comes with a blank face and stickers(!) so fans can produce their own expressions. Additionally, Konata has also been given a new set of hands to go along with her new look, including a hand for holding objects and one making the “thumbs up” gesture.

Although this particular figma is a definite must buy for me, I must admit that I’m a little disturbed that the new figure will also ship with the head of Konata’s younger cousin packaged inside. No body, no explanation, just an extra head for another character. That just creeps me out on so many levels =^_^;;=

For more details and info, check out the Good Smile Company webpage.

Viz Media has announced that they will be releasing a collection of essays, interviews, memoirs and manga strips from Hayao Miyazaki on August 4th. Titled Starting Point: 1979-1996, the book will allow fans to learn more about the life and philosophies of Miyazaki through his writings and drawings. As the beloved director behind such anime classics as My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki has been an icon among anime fans for over two decades.

“Hayao Miyazaki is known and loved around the world for his imaginative films that continue to delight children and adults,” says Gonzalo Ferreyra, Vice President, Sales & Marketing for VIZ Media. “STARTING POINT presents, in Miyazaki’s own words, his philosophies towards life, his work, the animation industry both in Japan and abroad, and his creative inspirations and motivations. He also offers lots of stories, many of them quite humorous, which show the extent of his complete dedication to animated film and the people with whom he works. We invite fans to enjoy this chronicle of the life of a man whose own dreams have come true.”

Starting Point: 1979-1996 will retail for $29.95 in the U.S. and will contain a forward by John Lasseter.

You can check out the original press release after the jump.

So the “What Did I Do To Deserve this, My Lord?!” game (formally known as “Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman”) released today and the good news is the nice folks over at NIS have been kind enough to provide me with a free copy of the game to review at my leisure. The bad news is the game is PSP only and I don’t yet have a PSP system in my ever-growing arsenal of review equipment. Now I’ve totally got to track someone down who can loan me their system for a few days…

In other news, my ass is currently feeling a bit sore due to that fact I just found out that a bunch of game I bought this past weekend have recently dropped in price as part of Sony’s Summer Sale. Most of the titles on sale are junk, but I highly recommend picking up the discounted Pixeljunk Eden ($4.99) and Wipeout HD ($14.99). If I had known this sale was coming, I could have saved myself a good ten bucks and could have bought even more swag.

*sigh*

Now if you’ll excuse me, I gotta go put some ice on my bum and pop some aspirin for a headache.

See ya soon!
-LC1

This news is from last week, but I hope you’ll bear with me over the next few days as I try to pick myself up and get back to doing some “real” work rather than just tweeting all the time about the loss of my beloved kitty, Smokey.

*ahem*

NIS America has announced Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love for the PS2/Wii and Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island for the DS. Although exact release date details are slim for both games, both are expected to hit retail shelves in the fall.

Just got a press release from Nozomi Entertainment (a.k.a. The Right Stuf) stating that they will be blessing us lowly otaku with even more ARIA sometime next year. They also announced that they plan to release both seasons one and two of Junjo Romantica as well as season one of Antique Bakery.

Although I’m quite pleased that the final season of ARIA will be seeing a stateside release next year, I’m a little disappointed that an HD option isn’t available. As for the two yaoi releases on the list, I’ve seen a few fansub episodes of Junjo Romantica to date. While the sight of two chicks with penises men holding each other close while pink flowers float around them isn’t really my thing, my wife and I found it charming enough that I’ll probably end up renting it from Netflix when it’s released. As for Antique Bakery, well I don’t know anything about it, but I’m sure there’s quite a few lewd jokes out there that could be made involving bread and gay sex. Since I run a classy website here, I’ll refrain from making such jokes and allow you to come up with some of your own.

Hit the jump to read the full press release complete with descriptions of all three series as well as release dates for several previously announced items.