After its announcement back around June of 2022 during an Echoes of Mana stream, this item disappeared from the radar for the longest time. It has finally released for preorder, however. I was kind of hoping they were saving this release to pair with a big Mana announcement, but it seems that we are not so lucky.

It’s a statue of Angela! You can preorder from the North American Square Enix Store, or the Japanese Square Enix Store. It’s been popping up other places too, but I’m not about to chase down every link for it.
The U.S. Dollar is very strong against the Yen these days, so I’ve decided to source it from Japan.

If you missed it in the past (I don’t think I posted about it, but I forget), there was also a Riesz Statue released in the past (North American Square Enix Store, Japanese Square Enix Store). She can actually be found relatively cheaper on third party sites now, so if you look around you might score a deal.

I’ve got a couple of the Riesz statues, still boxed up because I don’t really know where I would display something like this. It’s pretty big at almost 10 and a half inches for Riesz, and Angela might be a bit taller it seems. The quality is really nice, not that I know much about what to look for in these statues, but I can’t help but feel these really don’t get the faces quite right. Maybe I am just too used to Nobuteru Yūki’s look for the characters. Can’t really complain though! Back in the day I would have never imagined these characters would get such nice pieces of merch. Now they have the small statues from the special edition, the Bring Arts action figures (A&D, R&H, C&K), and now these big statues. Pretty cool!

Here is a bit of a neat one, check out this mineral store in Tokyo:

The owner of the store became interested in minerals due to the Jumi arc of Legend of Mana. At the age of 7, they fell in love with the Bejeweled city and made it their life goal to seek out beautiful gems in the real world.

Now they run “Hotaru Mineral” or “Firefly Mineral”. Of note, Florina in Legend of Mana is actually called “Princess/Guardian Hotaru” where Hotaru means both Flourite and Firefly.

So this fan of the game in Japan created their own mineral shop: you can visit it here. Now, this place has a collaboration with the Legend of Mana: The Teardrop Crystal anime. You can read about that here (it’s in Japanese).

As part of this collaboration, they have a very special pendant, using Flourite (that’s Florina’s core), which you can purchase! Check it out here!

I’ve added a new page in the Legend of Mana section that goes over Secrets in the game. You probably know about all of this stuff though.
What you might find more interesting are the unused graphics I managed to find in the game files, some of which are connected to cut quests!

See what I found out about these locations in the Unused section of the page. There are also some other neat finds, at least I think so!

In this final video from 2011, I open two more Legend of Mana Card Duel Starter Decks in a vain attempt to complete out my collection. After that plan falls through, I show off a small assortment of cards I obtained through auctions and count up how many of each type of card there are. The video ends with a tally of all the cards I was still missing. You can watch the other videos for an explanation of the cards and to see another ten Starter Decks opened.

Again, you can read details about the card game, including the translated rule book and fully translated cards, here.

A special thanks to Sevon (Twitter, pixiv) for the awesome “Card Master Sheexy” art included in the video!

I also put together a Videos page where you can find all of these in one place.

In this video I give an explanation of the amount of each card type found in the Starter Decks while searching desperately for new cards. Two different types of decks seem to exist, although there is no way to tell which is which as far as I can tell. Like the previous three videos, this one was filmed in 2011. Make sure to watch the others if you have not yet for an introduction to the game and to see me open a handful of more decks.

Again, you can read details about the card game, including the translated rule book and fully translated cards, here.

A special thanks to Sevon (Twitter, pixiv) for the awesome “Card Master Sheexy” art included in the video!

In this video I really start to learn just how hard it is (actually impossible) to complete a full Legend of Mana Card Duel collection using just Starter Decks. Watch as I slowly drift into insanity while opening three decks and obtain a scant few new cards. This video is a continuation of the previous two, filmed in 2011, so make sure to watch them if you have not yet for an introduction to the game’s cards and to see me open a couple more decks.

Again, you can read details about the card game, including the translated rule book and fully translated cards, here.

A special thanks to Sevon (Twitter, pixiv) for the awesome “Card Master Sheexy” art included in the video!

Happy 32nd anniversary to the Seiken Densetsu series!

A set of Mana Series tracks will release as DLC for Theatrhythm Final Bar Line. Fun fact, this game was made by indies zero who just happen to be the same company behind Legend of Mana Card Duel.

The @ManaGame Pack Vol.1 launches for Theatrhythm Final Bar Line on June 28th with songs from Final Fantasy Adventure and Trials of Mana:

– Nuclear Fusion
– Battle 2
– In Search of the Sword of Mana
– Swivel
– Powell
– Meridian Child
– Sacrifice Part Three pic.twitter.com/QxyEBg5EoJ

— FINAL FANTASY (@FinalFantasy) June 26, 2023

In other news, there will also be a special exhibit of the late Hiroo Isono‘s artwork in Japan. Five of the original arts for the Mana Series will be shown off, awesome! That should be two artworks from Secret of Mana (characters before the tree and the night time image), two artworks from Trials of Mana (characters on the road to the tree and the world map), and one from Dawn of Mana (character before the tree). If you are wondering why the Children of Mana artwork is not included, that is because it was actually done by Nao Ikeda, who masterfully imitated the stipple style art.

#聖剣伝説2 や #聖剣伝説4 のパッケージビジュアルなどをご担当された磯野宏夫氏の企画展『磯野宏夫展　－生命(いのち)輝く森－』が7月1日(土)～8月20日(日)の期間、稲沢市荻須記念美術館にて開催されます。
シリーズの原画5点も展示されますので、この機会に是非お立ち寄りください！#聖剣伝説 pic.twitter.com/R7ouTIoMbG

— 聖剣伝説 -公式- (@Seiken_PR) June 28, 2023

There are a bunch of strange items available over at eeo store for The Teardrop Crystal. A lot of it is little knick-knacky nonsense, but there are some things I am looking forward to. The glasses case in particular is fun, and who wouldn’t want some random bag with Inspector Boyd on it?

When it comes to the gj Character G Jumi Pendants I posted about previously there was a small restock in Florina Pendants. I managed to get one this time, but it looks like they’re going fast again. Last time they sold out almost immediately. The other two pendants have been available this entire time, though. I took some photos of the two I had arrive. These things are really tiny! I should have paid attention to the description, but I would have gotten them regardless I guess.

Finally, the Super Groupies Secret of Mana collab that I posted about back in October seems to have had a substantial restock. These ended up great, I think. Check the photos I took out below.

First up, the Backpack. I thought it would be full leather, but that’s only the buckles and trim. The material is nice and light, though, and seems tough. The printing inside is beautiful, and my only real complaint is that the thing is a bit of a pain to open. Not due to the buckles, those are all just for show (magnets do all the work), but the Flammie strings that cinch it shut are a bit of a pain.

Next, the Wallet. This was much larger than I thought. It’s very hard to see the Mana Tree printing inside, and the embossing on the Ring Menu is a bit weak. This is the weakest of the three items, but it’s still nice.

Lastly, the best item, the Watch. It’s really beautiful, I’ve been wearing mine since I got it and it feels great. The elementals look really nice, I thought they would look cheap, but they’re actually printed with some texture. They cycle from Shade at midnight, through Luna, Undine, Dryad, Lumina at noon, Salamando, Gnome, and Jinn every 3 hours. The little gems are a bit hard to tell the differences in (especially the “dark” one), but in the right light they look incredible.

I am hoping these restocks mean I’ll be able to get my hands on the Super Groupies Teardrop Crystal collab stuff I missed out on last time.

Fun Fact: Kassidy sent me that Perler bead Sheexy around 15 years ago.

A mix of good and bad, goodnight to the most short-lived Mana game.
Looking forward to receiving the art book. The art was certainly the best thing to come from the game. I also enjoyed the characterizations and interactions, and the story wasn’t the worst. Shame it was so rushed at the end, though. The gacha and grinding I will definitely not miss.

Echoes of Mana app service ended on May 15, 2023.
We thank all our players who joined us on the #EchoesOfMana adventure. Our journey ends, but your echo lives on!

For more details, please see the official site.https://t.co/wt7zHj4fQA#ManaSeries @ManaGame pic.twitter.com/gGVD6aaJFx

— ECHOES of MANA (@EchoesOfManaEN) May 15, 2023

The world famous composer, Ryuichi Sakamoto, has passed away from cancer at 71 years old on March 28th, 2023.

Ryuichi Sakamoto in 2017

You may know him from his work in the Yellow Magic Orchestra, or likely from the Dawn of Mana Opening Theme. We have a small page dedicated to Ryuichi Sakamoto in our Soundtracks section due to this Mana connection.

You can find an announcement on his personal website, and read the Japan Times article for more information about his illustrious career.

Below, you can take a listen to the Dawn of Mana Opening Theme he composed.