March 2007 Archives

I've not updated on this show for a while, but since there's a mini article in April's NTUSA I decided now was as good a time as any. They refer to it like I have by the romaji title "Apo Mekhanes Theos Gigantic Formula".

The basic plot is that, in a post apocalyptic future, a mecha tournament has been arranged by the UN to decide which country rules the world.

They also have a list of cast, characters, mecha and designers:

Shingo Suwa: Tsubasa Yonoga
Mana Kamishiro: Rina Satoh
Utsumi Amano: Sayuri Yahagi
Tsutomu Oda: Kosuke Meguro
Katsumi Omi: Yuko Sasaki
Wen Yee Li: Tomokazu Seki
Chau Yan Li: Ryoka Yuzuki

Diane-VII (France Union): Yutaka Izubuchi
Xuanwushan-III (Central China): Kazutaka Miyatake
Sxano-X (Japanese Republic): Yasuhiro Moriki (Confused by the name here, since the katakana on the site is Susanoo)
Eunova-VIII (Eastern European Russia): Shoji Kawamori
Griffine-VI: (Great British Kingdom): Junya Ishigaki
Vulcanus-I (Italy Roma Republic): Kazumi Fujita & Kanetaka Ebikawa
Isthar-XII (Hindustania): Ikuto Yamashita
Minervas-XI (Unified German Deutsch): Kimitoshi Yamane
Nephthys-IX (Federated Egypt Africa Arabia): Shinji Aramaki
Cheiron-V (Original Geece): Takeshi Takakura
Jupiter-II (North American Empire): Katsushi Murakami
Ceres-IV (Caribbean Venezuella Republic): Shingo Takeba
Cronos-0 (UN): Kunio Okawara

[edit]Can't seee that I've ever montioned this here before, but I uploaded a nice B&W scan of Ucchi from Gocky Club 18 some time ago.[/edit]

The KG2 article from the February issue of NT was published in the April issue of NTUSA.
If they are to be believed, the girl's names are "Ascule" and "Que Feuilles" but since these don't seem to make much sense I'm holding out for official confirmation.

What they say:

Sometime after a giant intergalactic scuffle that would've destroyed the entire universe were it not for the courage of ES Force members Éclair and Lumière, new signs of chaos are beginning to emerge

...

"The overall setting will remamin the same," says show director Keiji Gotoh, stressing that there will be considerable continuity between the two series. "We haven't decided exactly how many years apart the two shows will be, but the new series will definitely be a true sequel, so expect to see some familiar faces from the ES Force. We're also planning a few very interesting opportunities for cooperation between the old and new characters."

I've finally got the last few missing pieces of my collection (minus the audio novels): the super duper box, Continuity File EX, the EX3 bookmark and the Secret Affair and Pr1 novels. I also have a sizeable hole in my wallet and some stuff to sell on Ebay but that's another story..

Secret Affair is, like EX-Parter, a series of short stories about different parterships, again with door illustrations by Megumi Kadonosono.
Narcotic/Drug is Armbrust and Pfeilspitze
Fake/Fate is Lightning and Twinkle
Thought/Harmonize is Chevalier and Renault (If I remember his name correctly)
Closed/Connection is Liquiy and Bonita
Inclined/Balance is Eclair, Lumiere and Eclipse.

Some of the material in the EX Continuity File seems to relate to early concepts, with original design sketches of the characters. Also, if I understand correctly, Kiddy Grade was originally planned as three OVAs, which means the series has basically now come full circle with the forthcoming three movies.
Things of interest are "10 years later" omake drawing by Meg, Kim and Gotoh, and dates for all the scenes pictured on thereverse covers.