Udon Store Exclusive Mega Man #0 and Hitoshi Ariga "Bad Box Art" Mega Man Metal Card

Missed out on Mega Man #0 earlier this month? Udon’s got you covered with a store-exclusive variant featuring all four Mega Men, illustrated by Jeffrey "Chamba" Cruz. And for "Mega May," they're running a special promotion: spend $80 on Mega Man goods and receive an exclusive Bad Box Art Mega Man Metal Collectible Card—drawn by none other than Megamix creator Hitoshi Ariga. As far as I know, this is the first time Ariga has drawn the big guy, so it’s a pretty unique addition for anyone who's a fan of his work.

Udon’s Mega May promotion runs through May 30. Check out everything available here!

Hitoshi Ariga Attending Comic-Con; Mega Man Shikishi Commissions Available to Pre-Order

Hitoshi Ariga, best known for his work on Mega Man Megamix, will be attending this year's San Diego Comic-Con at Udon Entertainment's booth (#100). He is offering a limited number of pre-convention commissions of signed shikishi designs exclusively for attendees, available for pickup at Udon's booth.

If you plan to attend, you can pre-order your commission here. There's two shikishi sizes to choose from: 9.5 x 10.75 inches or 4.75 x 5.5 inches. When you place your order, write in which character from Mega Man Megamix you'd like Ariga to draw (Megamix only) and specify the day you'll be picking it up. Orders without these details will be refunded. You'll need to collect your commission in person at the convention. If you can't commit to going ahead of time, you're out.

Each commission costs $500 and is limited to 20 pieces per size. If you happen to have the Zenny for it, lock in your commission ASAP!

Source: Udon Entertainment

Street Fighter 6 Delivers Brand-New Hitoshi Ariga Artwork

Released earlier last week, Street Fighter 6's latest Fighting Pass "Mega Man Gala" had a little surprise in store for fans-- a brand-new piece of artwork drawn by none other than Hitoshi Ariga!

Read more after the break!

Mega Man Artists Pay Tribute to Mega Man & Mega Man X Anniversaries

On December 17th, the classic series and the X series celebrated their 35th and 29th anniversaries respectively. Although Capcom didn't provide any announcement, we were treated to commemorative artwork shared on Twitter by some of the franchise's most well-known official artists.

Check 'em out after the break!

Hitoshi Ariga Limited Card Sets (and Shirt) Available to Pre-Order

Last May, Udon Entertainment offered a limited edition Hitoshi Ariga Mega Man metal card with the purchase of $60 worth of Mega Man goods. In the months that followed, Ariga frequently streamed himself drawing other characters. 

No one really knew what those illustrations were going to be used for. But fast forward to a couple weeks ago, we got our answer. A set of four exclusive Mega Man X metal cards - illustrated by Ariga - went up for sale at Udon's San Diego Comic-Con booth. And starting today, that very set (and more) are now available from Udon's online store for a limited time.

Find all the details after the break!

The Men Who Made Rockman Part 2 Now Available in English

Hitoshi Ariga's The Men Who Made Rockman manga received its first ever English fan-translation in October. And as of today, the second part is available to read too! (courtesy of Azure Wind Productions)

Part 2 kicks things off with Keiji Inafune (alias: Kenji Izumi) and Akira Kitamura (alias: Shinmei) coming up with a Boss Character Design Contest for a hypothetical Rockman 2. However, they can't begin developing the game in earnest just yet. Shinmei has to convince his boss - a tough-as-nails suit wary of Rockman 1's tepid sales -- to greenlight the sequel. 

After some back and forth, Shinmei gets the O.K... but there's a tiny a caveat! Shinmei and co., who are already scheduled to work on a completely different project, have to finish Rockman 2 in half the time it would take to normally develop an action game. Oh dear!

Yeah; you already know the outcome to this story. There'd be no Mega Man today if they weren't successful. But The Men Who Made Rockman is a fun read. Ariga's passion for the blue bomber practically leaps off every page. You can tell just how thrilled he was to tell this story back in 1995.

Check out part 2 here and if you're just joining us, hit up the first part here!

A Rockman Corner Interview with Hitoshi Ariga

It's been in the works for quite some time, but we're pleased to bring you our second interview with Hitoshi Ariga! Our first, brief interview took place in 2020.

Ariga needs no introduction for long-time fans. To name a few of his franchise contributions, he's the man behind the Rockman Megamix and Gigamix manga, the character designer of Dynamo Man and Burner Man in Rockman & Forte and he was one of the main driving forces behind the R20 and R20+5 artbooks.

You can read the new interview translated by our friend Midori after the break!

"The Men Who Made Rockman" Manga Available for the First Time in English

Originally published in Comic BomBom as a two-part manga in 1995, "The Men Who Made Rockman: Rockman Birth Legend" tells the story of how the first two Rockman games were made.

The manga was kept inside the pages of Comic BomBom for almost 15 years with no other way to read it but that changed when Wedge Holdings reprinted Rockman Megamix in 2009 with additional content where the story surfaced once more.

The first part of the manga covers the trials and tribulations of Akira Kitamura (Shinmei), Keiji Inafune (Kenji Izumi), Nobuyuki Matsushima (Honda) and Manami Matsumae (Momonai) developing the first game in the series. Highlights include Kitamura's first meeting trying to get the game development approved, the untold story of Robot Master Bond Man, and the team's advocacy for Rockman 2 despite Rockman 1's lukewarm reception.

 

Thanks to the efforts of Windii Gitlord and Speeps, we can read the first part of the manga in English! Part 2 isn't available yet, though. In the meantime, I recommend checking out the lengthy interview between Akira Kitamura and Hitoshi Ariga for more stories on the first two games' development. That piece was published in Rockman Maniax in 2011.

 

Enjoy!

Hitoshi Ariga Reveals Scrapped Manga Project "Rockman Nanomix" (+English & Spanish Translation)

A few days ago, Hitoshi Ariga took to Twitter to reveal Rockman Nanomix -- a project that he was working on after the conclusion of Rockman Gigamix 10 years ago. Due to undisclosed reasons, unfortunately, the project was put on hold. However, Ariga was generous enough to turn the initial concept and rough pages into something that was readable for audiences.

As it happened with Rockman san and Rockman chan, the manga has been translated in Spanish thanks to Aldo Cáceres Vilca. You can find his translation here. An English translation is available as well thanks to our good friend Midori (who runs the Mega Man Tune-a-Day Twitter account).

You can read the manga in English and download it after the break!

Buy $60 Worth of Mega Man Stuff From Udon, Get a Limited Edition Hitoshi Ariga Metal Card

Just in time for the annual celebration of "Mega May", Udon Entertainment are offering a limited edition Hitoshi Ariga Mega Man metal card with the purchase of $60 worth of Mega Man merch from their online store.

Unfortunately, all the artbooks and Mega Man Mastermix trade paperbacks seem to be sold out. At the time of this writing, you're purchases are limited to a small variety of T-Shirts, embroidered patches and a number of pins from their catalog.

Head over Udon's online store and enter the code ARIGA at checkout to secure your Hitoshi Ariga metal card

Interview With Hitoshi Ariga: "I Will Be More Than Happy to Work On a Mega Man Manga Again"

Hitoshi Ariga was interviewed by Twitch channel FikraKW (the official home of GAME Expo (GX) and Kuwait Battle Royale (KBR)) a few days ago and we had the chance to ask him a few questions. It was a spur of the moment thing, so we didn't have time to prepare beforehand. Nevertheless, you may find it interesting.

You can read the interview after the break!