Noriko Takaya

Well, I did not get to shoot my M-1 today because of family issues. But I did manage to take a few pictures of it to show you guys. They are not the greatest, but you can tell how nice the rifle looks. I'll try to get some more taken when I am at the range. Possibly tomorrow.

Well, this probably isn't a good thing, but I noticed on Gainax's site a little while ago that they are recruiting artists and animators for production on Aim for the Top! 2. Anyone looking for a job? Can it get any worse? Here is the link: http://www.gainax.co.jp/recruit/index.html

Semper Fi, you old jarhead! As an old 0311 stationed at Pendleton in the 80's, my best rifle range score was 241 out of 250. I don't know if the Corps still uses the same scoring or not. Man, I miss those days... As for the M-1, I am going to shoot it tomorrow to get it zeroed in. Ammo really won't be an issue for me. I'm all ready to jam my thumb in the bolt.

Well, I got a sling for my M1 and some extra clips and ammo to go along with it. Tomorrow I am going to borrow a digital camera and snap a few pictures of my new pride and joy. I'll post them in the thread when I can get them ready. Just the anticipation of hearing the 'ping!' is already giving me a woody. I can't wait until Saturday. As for the sling, I was lucky enough to find one at a place called The Fulton Armory. You guys may have heard of them as they are big into M1's, M14's, and AR15's. I couldn't believe they were right here in Maryland, so I drove over to their shop in Savage during my lunch break and snagged one. The sling I have is of the cloth variety in olive drab, and is a reproduction of the one used during WWII. I have no complaints though. I should have picked up two extras for my other rifles.

Well, I am one broke mo fo right about now. Following on the heels of my purchasing a Springfield Armory M1A rifle back in May I had to go and find something else those guys had released that made me say "Charge it!" It seems that Springfield Armory has started to sell brand new M1 Garand rifles. Yep, that's right. Brand new. I've been wanting one for a while, but was not willing to fork over the money for a refurbished rifle. So when they came out with the new one I was all over it. Got the rifle chambered in 30.06. As a little bonus to the rifle, they threw in a US Army field manual to compliment the already explicitly detailed instruction manual they print. There is also a rather lengthy guide on zeroing in the rifle as well as a booklet on how not to "slam-fire" an M1. And I got five stripper clips too, which I thought they would have only supplied one. Over all, this is a really beautiful looking rifle (the wood stock alone is outstanding), and I'm really glad I bought it. I can't wait to take the thing out to the range and shoot it. It will definitely be a treat to see what a real infantry weapon from the old days is like. So with that said, are there any other Garand fans out there? Share some stories or some tips on how to not end up getting M1 thumb when loading ammo into this thing. By the way, here is an image of the Army manual:

Not me. I'm evil when it comes to my guns and to my anime collection.

Wow! Great minds think alike! I did the same thing, only it took me longer to do so because I had actually forgot where in the basement I had put them. Just like the copies of Dangaioh (Manga's butchered version), Ninja Ressurection, and The Sentinels I had. They sure do look purty when bullets hit them. Oh no, that song from the movie Top Secret is popping into my head again! "Skeet Surfin', Skeet Surfin'"... By the way, if some kid asked me for all of my Gunbuster stuff and other anime collectibles, I'd shove a pike up his --- and watch as he slid down it suffering a slow, agonizing death. Then again, maybe I'd just bitch slap him.

It's not really anything to get excited about, unless you are really hardcore about the series as I am. Gainax and Bandai are just releasing a special edition book and DVD with some supposedly new art by Mikimoto and some other goodies such as history and in-depth staff interviews. If what I am reading is right, there is some news music also featuring Rei Sakuma and Noriko Hidaka, who both played Kazumi Amano and Noriko Takaya respectively. You can find it on their Gunbuster page, and there is only one image, which I will post. It is being released by May King and is coming out on August 27, 2004. The DVD has a running time of 60 minutes. More or less this is a documentary for fans of the original series. Unless you can speak Japanese and read it also, it probably won't be appealing to any of us gaijin out there. Well, there is that book...

God, I wish I had a replacement to the one I had which broke years back. All I have left of it are my Gunbuster games.

I for one did like the book Battlefield Earth, and have read it once or twice in the past few years. However, I was a little wary of the movie and did not see it until it came on cable, and I was glad I did not shell out $9.00 to see this trash. As for Starship Troopers, I loved the book. It has been one of my favorite books since I was a kid along with Have Spacesuit, Will Travel, and yes, the movie was utter blasphemy. Heinlein was probably rolling over in his grave when they started production on the film.

That surfboard is possibly the coolest thing I have seen from that movie in a while. All I have to say now is "Do you smell that? Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning..."

As I stated before, the debacle that is The New Adventures of Speed Racer. And don't forget that that car could travel through time while Speed battled aliens and other villians.

If you guys haven't seen this yet: What? No racing? Man, that damned car is what made the show so cool when I was a kid. Hell, I even have one of the old Imai model kits of the Mach 5. However, I am kind of leery as to how Hollywood is going to handle this after the debacle that was The New Adventures of Speed Racer.

Hey! That's my synopsis! Where did you find it, other than here, the Gunbuster Fan Club, or on my Gunbuster 2 page? By the way, My Gunbuster 2 page can be seen here: http://www.toponeraegunbuster.com/Gunbuster-News.html. It's nothing more that a rehash of what has been said on the Japanese sites, but I just made the images, synopsis, and staff accessible from one page. Not the best looking page, but it gets the job done.

So...where's the bayonet lug? Well, you never know. You just might have to use the thing to stick someone...

Yeah, even the Alien Quadrilogy did not cost that much. Friggin Lucas...

In addition to the new website, Gainax has released their own Aim for the Top! 2 site if anyone is interested: http://www.gainax.co.jp/anime/top2/index.html. Interesting to note is that Gainax posted just today that they are going to have monthly follow-ups to the new series until its release date of 09/24/04 in the Japanese edition of NewType. It seems that Gainax is still sticking to this release date also, even though I've heard it may be delayed. One other little bit of information is that the new Buster Machine is 50 meters tall, so I guess the original Gunbuster still holds the record of being the largest robot ever made at 250 meters. Below is a small picture of character images from the July issue of NewType. If any one gets this issue, please post larger pics of these pages.

Over 4 hours of bonus materials? I wonder if the Christmas Special is included...

Ah, the M9 bayonet really ain't all bad. I just not a big fan of the design. The USMC gave up their old M7's for the M9, and found they did not like it. I guess they figured that Marines did not need to cut wire or hammer nails with it, just kill people. Hence the design of the M10, which is exclusive to the Corps. The damned thing even has the eagle, globe, and anchor in the handle. Here's a pic:

I'm also thinking "cough" and "wheeze" Where's his gas mask? As to "ouch" what about the ceramic plate or whatever the hell it is they are using as a trauma plate for the ballistic vests? Then again, you're talking to an old grunt who actually used the olive drab post-Vietnam flak jackets and steel pots before they came out with the Kevlar PAGST system. As for the M9 (bayonet), I have one and hate it. I'm getting the new M10 bayonet to try it out and see if it is really worth all that. Then again, maybe I'll just get a new Ka-Bar. As for that POS M9 pistol, you can keep it. Eh, I guess it is better than throwing rocks. As for waiting for my M16A2 to jam on me, I did not have that problem. I was an automatic rifleman, and carried an M249 SAW. I really miss that machinegun...

If you are wearing an American flag on your sleeve, no matter which side of the jacket it is on, the union is always facing the front. This is done so that the flag looks as if it is blowing in the wind created by the forward movement. You will see this done on military aircraft, vehicles, and personnel. That is, if they follow proper military ettiquette. Military guidelines specify that in support of joint or multi-national operations, the "right" flag is worn on the right sleeve, 1/4" below the shoulder seam or 1/8" below any required unit patches. By the way, I have a friend still in the Corps who got me a set of those nifty new USMC MARPAT digital utilities in the woodland pattern. You can tell the difference between the fakes that are available because the set issued by HQ Marine Corps have the "Eagle, Globe, and Anchor" embedded in the left breast pocket. They are great. I just wish I could fit in them, as the largest size they make them in seems to be Large. I guess I need to shed a few more pounds. One of the other good things is that the Marines have already updated most of their gear to match the MARPAT pattern. Their ballistic vests, packs, PAGST helmet covers, and even some of the 782 gear they use are already in this pattern. I guess I need to start updating my deuce gear... Here is an image of the USMC MARPAT utilities:

Yeah! I knew it was only a matter of time before I found one! So here it is! Noriko Takaya in all her glory! And check out those shoes!

Yep, the Criterion DVD is enough for me also. I did not care for the 2 sequels either.

Well, I just had to change the font around to MS PGothic so the characters would show up, that's all. Worked pretty good, from what I see, but if you don't have those fonts installed, all you see is little squares.

Yes, it is a great soundtrack! And I do love the series as well, which is why I bought this soundtrack when I first came across it just last week. As for the Japanese characters, they are all correct. I pulled them directly off of the back of the box the CD came in. In romaji, the last one comes out as: ware ha kitareri.