Twice a year, Wonder Festival takes over the Makuhari Messe to showcase the future of the figure industry. This year's winter event, held in mid-February, brought the goods (figuratively and real-life figures!) to celebrate the 40th year of plastic model fun. As usual for the event, one hall was full of people putting garage kits together, with the other full of the latest and most significant figures from some of the biggest makers in Japan. Retro Soaring with Space Battle Yamato Before we get to the new, the first booth that caught my eye at the event was a tease for the upcoming Space Battle Yamato exhibition produced by Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno. Aptly for Wonder Fest, some older Yamato figures were on display with ships as the centerpiece. But the best part of this little booth was the art from the series, original anime cells and scripts, and high-quality...