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BOOK REVIEWS

Newtype 100$ Collection: ZGundam Mech 1/2, ZGundam Chara 1, Char's Ctratt

Copyright ©1986, 1998
Kakokawa shoten

ZG Mech. Ed. Vol. 1:
ISBN4-04-852980-3

ZG Mech. Ed. Vol. 2:
ISBN4-04-852981-1

ZG Char. Ed. Vol. 1:
ISBN4-04-852982-X

Char's Counterattack:
ISBN4-04-852983-8

¥1400 each



Z Gundam Mechanical Edition Vol. 1-2
Z Gundam Character Edition Vol. 1
Char's Counterattack

—by Keith Rhee

When I reviewed the Newtype 100% Collection volumes for GUNDAM W and EVANGELION in EX 2.3, I mentioned the overall high quality of the publications, in particular the color illustrations found within its pages. The caveat was that only a limited number was printed for each volume; without any reissues, finding an older volume became nigh impossible.
  NEWTYPE magazine first got its start with the debut of ZETA GUNDAM on TV, so not surprisingly, the first set of Newtype 100% Collections focused on ZETA GUNDAM. Printed in 1986, the volumes had long gone out of print. But in light of GUNDAM's 20th anniversary, NEWTYPE decided to cash in on the hype and, breaking its tradition, reissued the 3 ZETA GUNDAM and the CHAR'S COUNTERATTACK volumes of its 100% Collection series. And GUNDAM fans rejoiced at the news.
  I hate to disappoint the prospective buyers out there, but I have some bad news, and that is the fact that the reissues are of poor quality. So poor, in fact, that I must recommend against the purchase. Here's why.
  It seems that Kadokawa was unable to use the original film from the first print run (were they lost or damaged?), and resorted to scanning in the pages from a first print edition and plunking that down in the layout for the reissue. And it shows: muddy colors, poor contrast, moiré patterns, you name it. You can tell where they had to use a clipping path to lift larger illustrations from the previous print, and even make out the dots from the previous printing. The only pages that seems to have remained intact are the lineart, but that's not the real reason one buys a Newtype 100% Collection.
  Kadokawa's resissue of the earlier GUNDAM volumes would've been a great boon for GUNDAM fans, but the poor quality is terribly disappointing. As such, unless you're really desperate, I cannot in good conscience recommend the purchase of the re-released volumes. The rest of us have no choice but to scour used book bins at conventions for the first-print editions and pray that we get lucky...


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