Brandon Inada's Blog

Too cute!

Stumbled onto this interesting, manga/anime-inspired Super Mario Bros. piece by artist Saejin Oh while researching my previous post:

A preview of the entire "Super F-ed Up Bros. World 1-1" piece.

It seems that the original Super Mario Bros. World 1-1 continues to be a source of inspiration for artists everywhere (in this case, South Korea).

Just to warn you, the entire piece is a bit graphic in terms of it’s depictions of highly stylized, over the top violence; to view the entire piece, violent bits and all, click here to go to the artist’s page on deviantART.

(I love the way he incorporates the title screen and card and the cool Starman effect midway through.)

You can check out more of his stuff at his work blog here.

Alright, I admit it: I bought this Totoro plush for myself the other day…

He’s even got a little bag of acorns slung over his shoulder…

Too cute.

If you haven’t already guessed, I’m a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki’s work; My Neighbor Totoro happens to be my all-time favorite, with Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind and Spirited Away rounding out my top three Miyazaki films.

In an earlier post, I mentioned how I’m looking forward to the new A Boy And His Blob for Nintendo Wii (Click here for pics of the original NES A Boy And His Blob and the sequel, along with some gorgeous screenshots of the soon-to-be-released update).

A new trailer for the game, in stores October 13, has shown up online.

Here it is, but be warned, the following clip contains scenes of graphic cuteness:

Adorable.

I’m a big fan of the art direction for this game.

I love the look of the little boy, his little blob buddy, the evil blob emperor and his blob henchmen.

The backgrounds are amazing - gorgeous with an immense amount of vibrant detail.

And, well, there’s so much to love really: the jelly bean-shaped blob homeworld; the shot of the little boy sleeping in his bedroom, all cozy-like (aw); the animation of the Blob gobbling up a treasure chest; the heretofore unseen mech transformation which is ridiculously awesome.

The bit near the end with the blob family…

The hugging…  mustn’t forget the hugging!  (The game even has a dedicated hug button used to calm the blob down when he’s feeling scared!)

The final shot of the trailer…

Too cute!  I want this game!

Check out this amazing 60-foot-tall (18 meter), 1:1 scale Gundam in Shiokaze Park:

The giant Gundam statue weighs almost 35 tons and is made up of iron and plastic.  To give you an idea of just how immense this thing is:

The sheer amount of detail that went into its construction is mind-blowing.  The replica Mobile Suit Gundam lights up at night, and the various exhaust ports and even the mech’s flight pack emit mist and smoke.  The statue’s head moves up and down and left to right, further adding to the realism.

Just in time for the 30th anniversary of Gundam, the statue will be on display until the end of August. 

If like me, you won’t be able to get to Odaiba in time to check it out in person, here are some videos posted on YouTube showing the Gundam in action: 

Click here for more pics from the official Gundam 30th Anniversary site!