An Ode To Obscurity

I haven’t posted here in ages, but I just need to speak because my own tongue within my mouth fails me. I feel locked into my situation and unable to leave it. I’m nearly 30 and I still live with my family. I’ve never been asked out by anyone. I don’t find myself relating to a lot of people around me these days. I feel at once so enlightened in my thoughts and how I see the world around me, and yet suffocated the older I get.

I’m not an overly-romanticizing person, but there is something to stories like “The Last Unicorn” and other things that describe something strange yet cut-off from others like themselves, unable to return to how things were.

MODEL GRAPHIX SPECIAL - STAR FRONT GALL FORCE (1988)

Two rare sights online, I personally scanned and colored in some of Kenichi Sonoda’s lovely Gall Force art from the Model Graphix special for your delectation. :3c

First comes from the back cover sans dust cover and depicts Patty in an unused power armor not featured in the story proper.

Second is Rabby in her Struggle Suit with it’s iconic rabbit ears (hur hurrr get it it’s a punnnn) often featured in the model comic and in promo material, but alas a colorized version of the lineart is excruciatingly rare online, so I recreated it here.

Super Dimension Fortress Macross - Macross Model Hobby Handbook (1983)

Found this bad boy at a local comic and toy shop in my area. I got this for a fine little price of $14 (compared to the $60ish MacrossWorld estimates it at). There’s some great Macross expanded universe content in here (with some of the models being created by mashing together Valkyrie and Destroid kits, and a few even utilizing elements from other lines like Fang of the Sun Dougram or Combat Mecha Xabungle). The cult classic ELINT Seeker Valkyrie made famous from its cameo in Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? actually has a model kitbash precursor in this handbook (will get pics of it later).

BUBBLEGUM CRISIS - Rare Promotional Cel Art (1987-1988)

These cel paintings were created to help promote the first three episodes of the 1987 OVA Bubblegum Crisis (Tinsel City Rhapsody, Born to Kill, and Blow Up). They were chiefly used for various posters and on the backs of albums, but also saw use in R. Talisorian Games’ RPG books during the mid-1990s.

While HD versions of the ep 1 art can be found easily, this version depicts the full coverage of the art including what would be cropped out ordinarily. The art for eps 2 and 3 are, however, much rarer and I could only normally find them as unscanned posters on Japanese auction sites. The “AD POLICE SUPER MECHANICS” one in particular was exceedingly difficult to find pictures of.

Check out this cute nekomimi from Kenichi Sonoda’s 1989 artbook BIJON! 

1992 Genesis Climber Mospeada Wonder Box LD Set (Front and Back Covers)

Me in April 2022:

1992 Genesis Surviver Gaiarth - Artmic’s Forgotten Franchise

A 3-part OVA series released by ARTMIC from April 22, 1992 to April 28, 1993, Genesis Surviver Gaiarth is a sci-fi post-apocalyptic story that blends in elements of fantasy and mecha (the latter being ARTMIC’s staple).

The plot sees humanity living alongside powerful cyborgs, androids, and mechanical beasts on an Earth crippled long ago by a global war that pitted imperial and republican forces against each other. Orphaned as a young child, protagonist Ital Del Labard was raised by a robotic veteran of this war named Randis and trained in the art of sword combat. One day, their homestead is attacked and Randis is slain during the battle, forcing Ital to abandon his destroyed home and become a wanderer. During his desert travels, he encounters Zaxon, a war robot suffering from amnesia who bearing a striking resemblance to Randis,and the hot-headed junk hunter Sahari. Sahari quickly takes a liking to Ital and soon the three form an adventuring party, traveling from town to town in search of treasure and Randis’ lost memories amidst the ruins of the imperial and republican armies.

This OVA series, alongside 1994’s Genocyber OVA series, marks the end of ARTMIC’s golden age that first began with the OVA Gall Force: Eternal Story in 1986. By this time, ARTMIC’s legal and financial problems which began due to the lawsuit with Youmex over the ownership of the Bubblegum Crisis/AD Police franchise were starting to take a significant toll on the studio. After Genocyber’s conclusion, ARTMIC would decline further as they took on licensed projects to keep themselves afloat until the design studio’s dissolution in 1997, with the majority of its properties falling under the ownership of its frequent collaborator AIC. It is not known currently if Genesis Surviver Gaiarth is one of the properties acquired by AIC.