Grant White wrote:
*Will be the 20th anniversary series and based on the Chinese feudal
literature "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"
Ahh... I didn't know it's 20th ann of BB Senshi. Choosing Liu Bei
Gundam as BB#300 and 20th Ann is a huge pro-Chinese populist move. We
can forgive a few Yasukuni Shrine visits for that :P
*Bandai are somehow aiming for an international push, with multi-language
sites. Targetted countries include Japan, Korea, Canada, America and
Australia.
And perhaps some Chinese-speaking countries? :)
*Some form of animation is planned. Unknown if this will be a full series or
as Gunota speculates just promotional short animations.
Considering the popularity of ROTK games, SD Gundam and multiple TV
series dramatizations (in Chinese markets), I'd say a BB Senshi
Sangokuden would be a braindead smash hit in most of East Asia plus a
non-zero chance of N. American penetration. But... nah it's too much
of a rush. I think Gunota is right.
*First 3 kits are due next month, depicting Gundam versions of the three
protagonists/oath brothers (a Musha styled RX-78-2, Zeta and ZZ). Retailing
#300 Liu Bei
#301 Zhang Fei
#302 Guan Yu
Actually Liu Bei looks more like a Wing Gundam to me... And Zhang Fei
as Zeta is kinda borderline believeable. I can't tell which ones are
supposed to be ZZ and RX-78. BTW, Liu was founder and Emperor of Shu
Kingdom, Guan was the second (by age) oath brother and Zhang the third
oath brother.
for 500 yen each. The designs do seem to more resemble Chinese armour then
Japanese. Some of the other designs coming up include a Double X, S Gundam,
To be fair, it's more like 1/3 Chinese, 1/3 Japanese, and 1/3 wild
imagination. What's important to the Chinese audience is recognizable
caricatures. Taking a look at the Liu/Guan/Zhang brotherhood:
Liu: twin swords (check), white face/color scheme (check), ceremonial
(as opposed to military) armor style (check), Wing Gundam's big "ears"
(accidental(?) check, Liu had huge elephant ears)
Guan: long shaft heavy crescent blade* (BIG CHECK), white face (BIG
MISS: should be red), long black beard (check)
Zhang: Snake Spear (check, but Bandai added a weird extension), white
face (miss: should be black/dark), red color scheme (small check,
represents Zhang's hot blood persona?)
* - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Dragon_Crescent_Blade
Sazabi and a Tallgeese who seems to be the main villain.
What you call the Sazabi is the white MS? He is Sima Yi. The burgundy
color Gundam is Cao Cao (Emperor of Wei Kingdom). The white Gundam
with a lot of gold and cyan trimmings is Sun Quan (Emperor of Wu
Kingdom). Since Liu was the romantic hero legend figure, Cao and Sun
are the "villains", but they are more like the Napoleon kind of
historical villains rather than the Hitler kind.
This page:
http://www6.ocn.ne.jp/~midori-b/puranew/2007-46hob/sd46-koba-000.htm
gave us a look at sort of chap.1 of BB Senshi Sangokuden. It seems
the Leo(s) is the "Dong Zhuo Army" victimizing some GM's. Dong Zhuo
(in both history and legend) was a particularly brutal figure
(comparable to Nero). And to the rescue is Liu Bei Gundam. Indeed in
both history and legend, Liu Bei (along with other fractions,
including Cao Cao) making war on Dong Zhuo was the first noteworthy
endeavor of his life. (historically, Liu was completely unsuccessful
in stopping Dong's rampage)
*Plot details are sketchy right now but based on what's available and the
original literature it seems to be about 3 Gundams who come togethor as oath
brothers at a time when various lords are fighting for dominance for various
reasons, with the 3 leads fighting in the name of the common people. Some
translations make it sound like Bandai are intending this to be the first
chapter in a new year by year SD Gundam line, like they did back in the 90s.
A very large cast has already been displayed as nearly-finalized
models. They represent a very respectable sample of the huge number
of historical characters (the full story was > 100 years). The only
major no-show is Zhuge Liang (a sort of Chinese Merlin, but historical
and non-magical) and perhaps a couple of famous female characters.
Sima Yi is the Salieri to Zhuge Liang as Mozart. So if Sima Yi is
there, I think a Zhuge Liang Gundam will show up. The popular
caricature for Zhuge Liang puts him in a wheel chair and carrying a
feather fan, it would be pretty funny to see how Bandai can Gundamize
that image.
It would be very exciting if Bandai takes on ROTK with some amount of
commitment. Even if it's only the 1-page mangas printed on the back
of each model instruction. There are many inherent strengths (at
least unique qualities) in ROTK that can contribute to (SD or not)
Gundam.
--
Dr. Core
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