The summer edition of Wonder Festival was held on Sunday, July 29 at Makuhari Messe. Not even an impending typhoon could damped the crowds the stood in line for hours to check out all the latest toys and garage kits. Macross had a smaller official presence at the show this time, as opposed to in Winter when Max Factory’s 1:20 scale VF-1 stole the show. Nor was Bandai’s 1:48 scale DX Chogokin VF-1J on the show floor, despite being adorning shop fronts around Akihabara as of late last week. Arcadia was back in fine form though, and prototypes of the previously teased the 1:1 scale Sheryl and Ranko figures made quite a splash.

On the garage-kit side of things, Wonder Festival delivered once again with some amazing offerings, not the least of which was a completed kit of the Sigur Berrentzs from Macross Delta.

As with the photos from last Wonder Festival, the following 3 galleries are split between (1)Macross and mecha, (2)Anime & video games, and (3)Original works. Enjoy!

With preorders for Bandai’s recently unveiled 1:48 scale DX Chogokin VF-1J opening today, multiple stores in Akihabara have displays set up to show off the upcoming toy to curious shoppers. Akihabara Yodobashi Camera in particular had an entire wall dedicated to it – including a video interview with Shoji Kawamori, and samples of other recent Chogokin Macross products.

Being an iconic, well-known design, the VF-1J displays were pulling quite a bit of foot traffic as suited salarymen stopped to reminisce over it.

The DX Chogokin VF-1J will release this December. Did you get your preorder in?

Fans of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki’s works who visit Tokyo often mistakenly think that the Ghibli Museum is the only Ghibli-related attraction in the area (well, at least until the proposed Studio Ghibli theme park opens in 2022).

They’re wrong. Tucked away near Setagaya-Daita station is Shiro-hige’s Cream Puff Factory – a whimsical bakery/coffee shop that makes Totoro cream puffs. The shop itself sports a variety of Ghibli-themed decor and sells both Totoro-themes cookies and cream puffs. The cream puffs come in a variety of flavors, from custard to strawberry to matcha, although the flavors available vary depending on the month and more popular flavors often sell out by midday, especially on weekends.