Mecha Archives | Otaku No Culture

Titan Manga and Five Star Stories. The Anxious Wait Won’t Be Long.

Let’s hope Titan Manga and Five Star Stories remain committed to deliver this lucious saga to the English-speaking masses instead of stalling.

Titan Manga
Volume One releasing July 7, 2026
and Two on Oct 6, 2026

Thankfully, the Five Star Stories manga is still going strong in Japan. Even though it has effectively reinvented itself after Volume 12 of the tankōbon release, most people have rolled with the changes. While purists may take issue with the work being referred to as Gothicmade, the shift at least establishes a foundation for where future stories are headed. The scope feels less like a simple continuation and more like a reframing, one where the saga leans into legacy rather than immediate battlefield drama.

Instead of diving into a massive editorial on the changes, I’ll simply say this, as long as sales remain strong, I’m hopeful Titan Books’ new label stays committed to republishing the full Toypress run up to that volume, where it never saw a translation for the English-speaking market, and continues onward into the expanded era of the story. With a possible release of three volumes per year similar to the previous run, it won’t take long to catch up! To note, the English edition was further separated into smaller chapter releases. There are 26 books which cover Japanese Volumes 1 through 10. Volume 11 and onward have yet to be translated.

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All Hail, Or Fear The Great Metal God As Chūgoku Mythology is Remade?

In Great Metal God, artist Iwakuni Kogyo delivers a rare, fully silent mecha one-shot where a colossal metal visitor descends on Tokyo like a Galactus-sized omen. Drawing on ironworking myth and Kanayago-kami, it’s a wordless apocalypse you feel in your bones.

Great Metal God Cover Digital edition: Available now
Print edition: Coming Dec 16, 2025

Artist Iwakuni Kogyo may not be the first to attempt a “silent” comic, but his approach to crafting Great Metal God is unusually quiet. There’s no dialogue, no captions, not even sound effects. The way he frames the tale centres on a mysterious, towering machine descending to Earth and—much like a Galactus-sized omen—prepares to make the world its. And unsurprisingly, it begins in modern-day Tokyo.

Although early marketing from Manga Mavericks suggested there might be explanatory text, that appears only in the introduction, solely to outline the inspiration and intention behind the work.

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Metal Skin Panic MADOX-01 Blasts Back onto Blu-ray

The cult 1987 mecha OVA Metal Skin Panic MADOX-01 returns on Blu-ray with reauthored content, crisp 1080p visuals, and a trove of bonus features including director commentary and cast interviews. Fans can relive Tokyo-smashing action and discover behind-the-scenes insights from Shinji Aramaki’s iconic production.

Metal Skin Panic Madox-01 Poster The 80s were a golden era for anime, and one title that earned a lot of love in club screenings was Metal Skin Panic MADOX-01, often mentioned alongside Bubblegum Crisis and Akira. What set it apart back then was the focus on manic, relentless action, and this anime—directed by Shinji Aramaki—delivered it in spades. As one of AnimEigo’s early Western releases, many of us, myself included, grabbed this original video animation. Now it’s making a comeback, thanks to MediaOCD!

Aramaki, the visionary behind Appleseed, Harlock: Space Pirate, and Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2045, packs 41 minutes of turbo-charged mecha chaos into MADOX-01, blending comedy and Tokyo-wide property destruction into a surprisingly compact thrill ride.

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After 45 Glorious Years, Mobile Suit Gundam: GQuuuuuuX -Beginning- Delves Into What Ifs….

This cinematic presentation of Mobile Suit Gundam: GQuuuuuuX -Beginning- brings the first four television episodes together and shows an alternate future for this franchise.

GKIDS
Spoiler Alert
Now playing at select cinemas near you.

Mobile Suit Gundam is back with GQuuuuuuX -Beginning-! Not only does it reimagine the events from the original television series but also explores a huge what if scenario. Here, Char Aznable (Yuuki Shin) is the antihero who claims the RX-78-2. He’s the ultimate Mr. Bad Guy, and after he steals that said mech and christens it as the “Red Gundam” to win the One Year War, both he and his mech disappear! As for when that happens, before or after Char’s Counterattack, I’m not sure. The first act moves very fast, and I’d have to rewatch.

Consequently, I have to ask will he return? Instead of getting to the answer, the movie presentation jumps ahead by a few years, and introduces Amate Yuzuriha (Tomoyo Kurosawa). This teen finds life in a colony space habitat frustrating. Life in high school isn’t all that good either, and this leads to the usual tropes involved in many an anime.

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Crunchyroll’s 2025 Winter Schedule and Our Top 10 Must-Sees

After looking at Crunchyroll’s 2025 Winter Schedule, we feel we can compose a song out of our top ten selection of titles that we feel are must-sees.

2025 Winter Schedule - Crunchyroll Before signing off for a much needed holiday break, we looked at Crunchyroll’s 2025 Winter schedule, and it’s big! The fact the list includes returning anime series makes it huge, and what we are offering is our top ten of must sees. There are a lot of titles debuting in the first two weeks of January, and whether or not we’ll be able to watch everything will depend on other commitments, but can at least watch these series for enjoyment. Not everything will get reviewed.

To note, this schedule and languages available are subject to change, and the show’s availability may vary by region. The dates listed reflect what’ll be subtitled or simulcast premieres.

DECEMBER 31

Fate/strange Fake (A-1 Pictures)

In a Holy Grail War, Mages (Masters) and their Heroic Spirits (Servants) fight for the control of the Holy Grail—an omnipotent wish-granting device said to fulfill any desire. Years have passed since the end of the Fifth Holy Grail War in Japan. Now, signs portend the emergence of a new Holy Grail in the western American city of Snowfield.

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Fanhome is All Power Rangers with this Latest Subscription Pre-Order Offer!

The good thing about this subscription-based “mystery box” type offering is that you know what’ll be coming, and every item that’s included will whet your appetite for next month!

Fanhome is all Megazord — **Officially licensed by Hasbro. Preorder here!**

Who needs mystery boxes when fandom has Fanhome? I certainly don’t because after asking convention attendees if they’re worth it, the answer is a general no. Even I knew after buying just one, and have been on the lookout for other offerings that are subscription based and not as random. When I know what I’m getting from this publisher/distributor includes lore cards and better swag in every package, I’ll say yes to signing up!

Their recognition as a leader in subscription-based collections and models has made me very excited with this latest offering–Megazord from Power Rangers. When locating the planes, trains and automobiles are next to impossible for Gatchaman and collector’s pricing for Voltron parts to build any mech is crazy, just hearing about this is much appreciated! I’ve always wanted a combiner bot from any IP and this will be a fun retro blast of the 90s. Shipping begins in October and the starter price is very reasonable.

Another selling point is that when this ‘bot is fully assembled, it can be controlled remotely and it has illuminated parts. I can’t wait to get started on this build, and will chronicle my journey with this product here on this blog. In the meantime, I’ll most likely have to find some STL files to print up some Power Rangers to go along with my display.

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