⚫ Anime Announcement: Kingdom (キングダム), a history manga published in Weekly Young Jump is getting a TV-anime, set to air next year. It will air on NHK and the studio is Pierrot. (source)
⚫ Anime Announcement: Date A Live (デート・ア・ライブ), a light novel series has an anime project in the works (the wording was that planning is in progress rather than a proper announcement). This is quite a quick adaptation, I think the LN only has 2 volumes released! (source)
⚫ This week’s sales charts reveal the first volume of the new Working season, has sold 11,233 Blu-ray copies and 6,456 DVDs! It sounds like a lot, but it’s not as strong as the sales of season 1′s first volume, and keep in mind that, as with the first season, this release only comes with one episode and is at the special price of around 3,000 yen (amazon) (source)
⚫ A delay in sending out the special original-content episode that was promised as a special disc for buyers of the Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei Perfect BD Boxset has been announced (source). More poor scheduling management from SHAFT *sigh*.
I’ve been on a bit of a buying spree lately, and of course that means I’ve been stocking up on my favourite kind of otaku collectible: GSC nendoroid petites! I’ve got a large enough collection of these cute little things now that I only really bother to aim for limited/exclusive ones. Newest additions to the club: Nadia, Ranka, Nessa and Fuka (from Disgea 4).
I’ve been kind of obsessed with studying Japanese grammar lately, which partially explains why I haven’t been blogging (the other element being that I’ve just been busy in general). If you’re interested in learning Japanese grammar (and I recommend you tackle that before even bothering with all but a handful of Kanji or even vocab), then check out Tae Kim’s guide to Japanese grammar. Although I was familiar with a lot already, his explanations really clarify a lot of things, and he definitely tells it in a way that makes it easy to remember and put into practice. I’ve been talking with some Japanese people lately, and decided what was really needed was concentrated reference sheet for all the grammar structures, so I could double-check syntax and grammar quickly and easily. I’ve started making a PDF. Check out what I’ve got so far here if you’re interested.
Obviously, I’ve missed covering a lot of big news, the two that come to mind are:
Madoka movies being announced. 3 movies in total, with 2 as recap (are we that forgetful, really?).
More KoreZom anime coming.
How do you feel about the Madoka movies? I’m not sure I’m ready to trust SHAFT to put something together of cinematic quality (but I guess given the new wave of anime movies, the idea of a cinematic standard has definitely started to vanish). I hope they’re willing to pull in a lot of people for this project.
NEWS
⚫ Persona 4 has a theater production announced!? (source). It starts march next year at Sunshine theater. The tickets are rather expensive at 10,000 yen for premium tickets and 7,000 yen for reserved seats.
⚫ Big news came out of the Tiger & Bunny event yesterday: a movie-version was announced! It will be released next year. (source). I’m not a fan of that show, but I’m happy for all you fans out there!
⚫ There’s serious concern about Japan signing up to the TTP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) for the sphere of doujinshi. The problem being that it grants the police the ability to prosecute for copyright infringement, (without it being approved or initiated by the actual rightsholder themselves). As you may know, events like comiket, and the broader doujinshi industry as a whole, relies on the fact that there’s an unstated agreement between manga/anime companies and the fans that they have the freedom to draw derivative, parody works. It’s a system that’s helped the industry vastly, promoting the works of published authors, and fostering the talent itself. Because Japan doesn’t have allowances for fair use in its copyright law, this change to the law would mean there’s no guarantee you couldn’t be prosecuted for drawing a parody work.
⚫ Yutaka Uemura, who directed Dantalian no Shoka announced on twitter that they have gone freelance. The circumstances around them leaving aren’t known (whether it was them wanting to leave following the current GAINAX exodus trend, or if they were fired), but it’s bad news for Gainax either way. Dantalian no Shoka, like Panty & Stocking, sold very poorly (well below the manabi line of 3000 copies per volume). (source)
⚫ Recorder to Randoseru will be airing on TV Saitama, KBS and online via niconico, but the air-time announcements reveal that it’s just a 5-minute episode affair!! Damn, this looked funny. (source)
GALLERY
Chiwa Siatou’s roles
Nice Mayo Chiki dakimakura
Have some Mirai Nikki yandere-face parodies..
Kirino’s at it again, advertising Mazdas.
Awesome wifi name. Looks like you don’t need a contarct to use it either..
I think SHAFT will do good movies for madoka. Mostly because it is their top series so they need to make something worth the TV series. I don’t think they’re going to rush too much things after all they took years to do the original TV series so they may get enough time for the movies.
And yeah. Stdy Japanese it is something worth doing. The pdf is interesting I think it is the essential things I would try to teach to someone who is planing for a little trip to Japan. But it is way too basic to me.
I’m concerned about TPP too I heard that it may affect to cosplay too.
You realise I’ve only just started that PDF right? I have a hell of a lot more to add to it. Of course I’ve started from the basics…
As for SHAFT they put off Madoka for about three years sure to their other commitments. Now that they’ve announced the movie they can’t delay it, so I don’t think that’s relevant.
⚫ Anime Announcement: New Minami-ke anime has been announced in the just-released 9th character-song CD. While there’s no further confirmation about studios or what format it will take (TV or OVA), a particular line in the announcement was “It’d be good if it was a TV-anime” suggests that it could well be a season 4. ANN has the translated exchange that announces it here.
⚫ You can see the character designs for the new season of Saki (by studio Gokumi) here. Unfortunately, they’re not coloured yet.
⚫ The new issue of Young Gangan magazine reveals that there’s another Working!! project in the works beyond the currently airing second season! The form of this new work isn’t specified which has led to people wondering if they might be considering a live-action version! (source)
⚫ PSP Game for ‘Papa no Iu koto wo Kikinasai’ has been announced (source)
⚫ I think I heard about this earlier, but forgot about it until now. Megami has a new magazine: Megami Lily! (メガミマガジン リリィ) (Amazon link). The magazine is definitely relevant to my interest – it focuses on yuri! A really cute spread of Homura and Madoka together has got a lot of attention around the place. More pics here. There was also a feature on Yuruyuri, as you would expect.
GALLERY
Cute scan of the Working!! girls (lol) in sleep wear..
but closer inspection reveals a rare sight indeed!
BD?DVD release changes for C. I think I preferred the fat guy in the TV version..
Sorry for posting this, but it’s just so disgustingly ludicrous I just had too. It’s from the incredibly shit Manyuu Hikenchou
To make up for that, here’s some sexy Idol M@ster shops.
⚫ Seems the Railgun PSP game has had its release date pushed back yet again (to the 23rd of November now) (source)
⚫ Aquarion EVOL, the upcoming sequel to Sousei no Aquarion, has had its main staff announced. The director will be Kawamori Shouji again, and Mari (Okada Mari) is in charge of series composition. Interesting to see Okada Mari involved here, but I’d say its good news – she has a very strong history to back her up. In what seems to be a growing trend it has two character designers/chief animation directors: Ishida Kana and Hirotaka Marufujo. Neither of them have a full-blown representative work, so it’s difficult to gauge how this will look. (source)
⚫ This year’s comiket arrangement has been released and it reveals a huge area for Tiger & Bunny (the vast majority of that being female-oriented of course). In fact, the number of circles release Tiger & Bunny books this comiket is over 1400! This comiket has also seen a bit of a drop in the number of Touhou circles (which has traditionally been the largest parody). But there’s still more than 2600 for Touhou, so fans shouldn’t panic!
⚫ Collaboration between Fate/Zero and net-game, FEZ. Pics here. As many on 2ch pointed out, it’s not very inspiring.
⚫ The original work (manga) of Nyankoi is to be resumed! (source) People hoping for a season 2 are in high spirits!
So.. remember how I said I was back? I LIED. For some reason I’d gotten it into my head that I could juggle work, studying for exams, AND keeping up with anime and blogging. Guess I forgot to factor sleep into the equation! But now the storm has truly passed and I’m looking forward to getting back into a routine. I’ve dropped the Daily off the post because social engagements probably mean I can’t live up to that promise. So basically they’ll be just as intermittent as they were before!
Last weekend I went HARD MODE on catching up with this season. I probably should have set the bar lower, but I can say that I’m on the frontlines of Last Exile, Guilty Crown, Haganai, and Working .. also Phi Brain for some reason. Fate Zero goes without saying .. or at least it would if I didn’t feel compelled to put my fanboy drool into human words. The series is fucking awesome. The action has been really great, and there’s a strong undercurrent of tension which I fully expect to turn into a full-blown tidal wave of badassery by the end of it all. I’m actually glad I’m not a big Type Moon fanboy in general, or I’d be doing more than just drooling (and you don’t want me to put that into words).
Guilty Crown is another stand-out performer for me this season. It’s a thrilling story of rebellion, romance and all the usual shounen coming-of-age bs, but interspliced with some nice moments of retarded writing to remind us all that it’s no Gits SAC. It feels like wants to be the new Code Geass, which I can’t say is an angle I’m fully aligned with. Another acute observation: it looks sexy as hell!
NEWS
⚫ The new season of Last Exile from a resurfaced studio GONZO seems to be going upward in the amazon preorder rankings, having risen to 112. That’s not a terrible position – I do hope GONZO can at least break even on this one, although I wouldn’t say this new season is particularly worthy of being a huge hit.
⚫ Madoka Magica has actually been nominated for the annual Japan SF (Sci-fi) awards, which is quite a recognition indeed when you bear in mind that these awards aren’t just for anime or TV but literature (including manga) as well. Having a quick look at the winner’s list, the only anime that jumps out as having won is Innocence (Ghost in the Shell). The reactions on 2channel ranged from being impressed to wondering if it was a little out of place in Science Fiction! (source)
⚫ I’m not sure of what the delays have been, but if you’re a Getbacker’s fan, you might be interested to know that the mangaka hasn’t been drawing due to being in a state of depression. That much was revealed in some blog posts they made. (source)
⚫ Check out the embedded nicovideo movie here. Comparison of Saber vs Lancer from Ufotable vs DEEN.
⚫ Yosuga no Sora’s main staff are putting out a doujin at Comiket 81 with a genga (animation drawings) from that series. Here’s the pixiv page for the release: LINK.
⚫ Studio Khara says that, based on people who are getting in touch with them, Japan is considered a paradise for animators by many foreign animators. Based on their pay though, it’s more of a paradise for animation fans than people actually doing the work.. (which is a fucking shame). (source)
GALLERY
Opening illustration for a bonus novel story coming with the Horizon blu-ray. Certainly looks like it’s more service-laden than the show itself!
Niconico votes for impressions on the first (top) and second seasons of Spice & Wolf. As you can see, there’s a big drop in people’s impressions.. (top left corner is best)
Somebody got this film as a bonus with Steins;Gate Blu-ray… No one can identify it as being from the anime? A production frame that wasn’t meant to be broadcast?
Character relations chart for upcoming anime, Papa no iu koto wo Kikinasai!. Seems the middle guy down the bottom is a dangerous individual – his arrow to the two younger children is “Angels”, and to the 14-year-old it’s “Granny”. Haha, this serious could be fun!
New Strike Witches character who will appear in the upcoming movie. Her name is Shizuka.
Supposedly the announcement image for Dog Days season 2. Those are some big tits..
I’m kinda looking forward to Papa no iu koto wo Kikinasai! read a bit of the manga, and it’s pretty good. I’ve seen some screenshots around as well, and I love the art/character designs! :L
Hello, world! I have returned from a busy week of work and study! I haven’t quite hit the light at the end of the tunnel yet, with exams coming up shortly, but I’m near enough to put my feet up more often and return to blogging! Actually, I have managed to keep up with this anime season quite well. As some of you might have discovered, that’s a lot harder than it sounds. There’s a plethora of entertaining anime airing this season.
What are other people watching? Personally, I’m sold on Guilty Crown, Haganai, Fate/Zero, Working!!, Shana, Phi Brain, Persona 4 and C3! I doubt I’ll even be able to finish off all those..
NEWS
⚫ Noitamin’s opening night this season had ratings of 2.6%! That’s one of its strongest openings in a while. Perhaps Ano Hana has raised awareness of the timeslot again, or the newspaper ads have had an effect! Good news for Guilty Crown. I can tell a lot of effort and money has gone into that anime, so I want it to succeed! (source)
⚫ Volume 1 DVD & BD of Idol M@ster will come with the storyboard of eps 12 and 14. You can see a couple of the storyboard pages here. Frankly, they are quite amazing – even if it is for an ED.
⚫ With the season underway, let’s take a look at how the anime preorders are fairing by checking the Amazon bestseller list. As of yesterday, Persona vol.1-3 are at the top of the heap, followed by Haganai (Boku wa Tomodahi ga Sukunai), Working!! and then Horizon. Let’s see how this changes as the season powers along. (source)
⚫ The back of the packaging of the game the characters play in episode 2 of Haganai contains a nod to Steve Jobs in the fine print! You can see the quote and the image here
⚫ This year’s Ryousei festival attracted a record crowd, a significant portion of which was the estimated 3000 Ano Hana fans who turned up for the collaboration the festival organised with the anime, which included Seiyuu from the series gave speeches. (source)
GALLERY
Christina is real!!
Very crafty shot of a Gundam (under)Age preview screencap to get Yamada from Working!! into the series!
The Ohana Nendoroid comes with a turoise shell bondage mode! haha
Even the newspaper TV-guide is calling Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai ‘Haganai’!
You’re right with the entertaining anime thing. I think of Fate/Zero as a the cult series of the season because it suits my tastes but there are plenty of shows that are not so epic but are really good and entertaining. I’m wacthing now Ben-To, Chihayafuru,Fate/zero, Guilty crown, mirai Nikki and Un-go. Aside from Mawaru penguindrum and Idolmaster from past season. I would watch even more but I don’t have time. Autumn season seems stronger every year.
Real life has sort of taken the helm for me over the last couple of weeks. I have a couple of assignment deadlines imminent (I wish I could say ‘looming’), and doing as much at work as usual, with weekends being taken up by a slew of social affairs. Being meguca is suffering..
Of course, you don’t want to hear about that, but I just need to say that this isn’t a matter of me losing the PASSION. But I guess I’ll announce a hiatus for the next 14 days!
I might do a small post here and there, so you don’t forget me~! (´；ω；`)
Noticed a bunch of people going on a brief hiatus due to irl stuff (mainly school and whatnot) so don’t feel bad that you’ve got your priorities straight. I’m looking forward to seeing you back in action when you return! Hope it’s sooner rather than later.
Long time no see! Sorry for going AWOL yet again. I attended a small one-day Tasmanian convention up in the North of the state on the weekend, which was incredibly fun! Although the event was quite low-key (around 260 people, I think), the company was as good as ever! In particular, I got to meet up with some great people I see very rarely. Drinks after the fact were also awesome. I think we easily took the cake for being the loudest and most insane group at the pub that night! I also got to meet a couple of cool anime fans who, as it turns out, live just down the road from me!
I’m hoping I can drag them up to my otaku base this Friday when another friend from WA drops by for a visit! I expect there to be drinking and Weiss Schwarz! Anyway, Monday was for recovering sleep which the weekend deprived me of, and last night I went out to dinner with friends (followed by a late-night of sharing Madoka fanart with a friend!).
So yeah, I’ve been busy!
NEWS
⚫ The Natsume Yuujinchou TV-anime is a fourth season which will start January next year. Will this show ever end!? (source)
⚫ Purchasing an advanced ticket for the upcoming Strike Witches anime movie will get you one of the badges/coat-of-arms shown here! There’s one for each of the witches units, including the 501st of course! They’re pretty awesome.
⚫ A Japanese fan has compiled a list of the scores given to this season’s anime by foreigners over the course of the season. The scores come from MAL. It’s interesting to see the scores compared from the start of the season (4th of August), through the middle (1st of September) to the end (21st September). Steins;Gate tops the list by the end, having risen significantly (to 9.06/10). Usagi Drop rose a little bit and took second place (8.77). Natsume Yuujinchou’s rating basically didn’t change but it still came third (8.73). Interestingly, Kaiji fell since the 1st of September (the bog effect!) but still came 4th with 8.48! Manyuu deservedly came last! (source)
⚫ Kamisama Dolls DVD/BD volume 1 release event today was cancelled due to the typhoon. (source)
⚫ Fate Zero will get same-night streaming on Nico-nico as its Japanese airdate! First episode starts on the 2nd of October! This anime is gonna be big! (source)
GALLERY
Check out this gif. ascii artists are impressive!
Seems like a storyboard from the Keion movie (apparently)
Who says T-shirts can’t be a little creepy?
Who says wreckage can’t be moe?
QB bashing.
Never offer Homura food when she has those eyes!
We’ve all been there. Right?
Either the lolis got even smaller or this basketball court is strangely large.
What did she and Shining Finger talk about so much anyway?
Kaiji TV girl compared with the actress playing her in the movie. I guess it would be kind of bad if they found someone really ugly for the role (I mean REALLY ugly).
Anata ga suki!
The OreImo vol.9 cover parodies have begun!
Pirates are in! (Infinite Stratos’s Laura meets Asuka!)
moichispa
8:36 pm on September 21, 2011 Permalink
| Reply
Fate/zero streaming is a great opportunity. It would be great that it gets popular so more animes would be streamed like this on the future. that’s good for both companies and fans.
⚫ A ranking of total sales of TV-anime belonging to different anime studios from 2010 onwards. Unfortunately the ranking is only based on the total sales of the first volumes of all of the studio’s anime during that time, so it’s not a proper indication of overall revenue. Naturally, due to the Madoka Effect, Shaft dominates the ranking:
Shaft - １０７３６４ – From memory Madoka accounts for about 75% of this. A-1 Pictures – １０７２１６ – Despite a number of duds they had a few strong sellers: Kuroshitsuji and Ano Hana ( and Ao no Excorcist?) AIC - ６５０００ – Includes all the various AIC studios. Therefor this total is from quite a number of works. The majority would be from OreImo and Strike Witches. P.A Works – ５１０００ – Strong performance from this studio, which is rapidly gaining fans. Angel Beats was their big winner. KyoAni - ４６０００ – Keep in mind that they only did two anime in this period – and Nichijou didn’t sell very well at all. So this is all thanks to Keion. JC Staff - ４５０００ – Quite a poor figure given the number of anime they produced in this time. I think Index would be their strongest performer, but not exactly a huge hit. Sunrise - ４２０００ – Although it doesn’t specify, this figure here tells me that this ranking is TV-anime only. Otherwise Sunrise would be 2nd or 3rd. So this is mostly Tiger & Bunny. 8-bit – ３８０００ – Infinite Stratos only! Production I.G – ３３０００ – Thank Sengoku Basara and its fujoshi following. Still, a dissapointing figure for one of the better studios. Brains Base – ３１０００ – Durarara, mainly. White Fox – ２４０００ BONES - １８０００ – Kind of a depressing position for BONES, given how much respect I have for this studio. Seven Arcs – １７０００
⚫ Ano Hana is getting a surprise rebroadcast where they’ll show the entire series over four consecutive nights! Nice. (source). Speaking of rebroadcasts, Tokyo MX will start airing Bakemonogatari again from the 8th of October, including the DVD episodes (so all 15). (source)
⚫ The next issue of manga magazine YanGan will include a big announcement for the upcoming second season of the Saki anime. Hopefully we’ll find out the studio and staff! (source)
⚫ Volume 9 of OreImo LN sold 79,000 copies in its first two weeks! (source)
GALLERY
Racing Eva girls need know explanation.
Kaiji’s on the straight and narrow now!
I can’t compete with this fan!
lol very realistic!
Misaka is so cute!
Guess this isn’t old quite yet.
Namori-sensei’s illustrations are always so cute! (Yuruyuri’s author)
Full-page light novel feature in daily newspaper showing Kadokawa’s popular series and magazines! Raibu ga Sukida!
This QB cushion thing is pretty awesome. Amsuingly, Amazon has listed it as 18+www. Best to keep QB out of the hands of young girls!
I’m really hoping Studio Gokumi is doing Saki, as they are an offshoot of the Gonzo staff from the first series. They did pretty well with A-channel and Koe de oshigoto.
Evening, everyone! How are we all? I’ve been busy, but still trying to catch up with anime. Watched some Hanasaku Iroha on the weekend, which was actually really great. Episodes 18,19 and 20 were just fantastic development for Nakochi and Minchi! I also wathed a couple of eps of IM@S yesterday – and they surprised me too! The eccentric and action-packed 8th episode really came out of nowhere!
Tonight the goal is to finish off Steins;Gate once and for all! (until the movie..) I’m kicking myself that I forgot to get a can of Doctor Pepper after work!
NEWS
⚫ Well today’s biggest news is obviously the announcement of the Steins;Gate movie! I haven’t seen the final episode of the series yet, myself, however given the amount of potential story left hanging after 23, I’m going to assume the movie will follow on (and I hope this is the case!). The movie was announced prior to the episode airing by Chiyomaru Shikura, 5pb’s head via twitter (source), for which he was apparently lambasted by some fans who claiming it was a spoiler of soughts (source). It was then formally announced in a teaser following the final episode (LINK)
Exciting stuff. Steins;Gate is just another example of the new movement to the silver screen for anime.
⚫ The Idol Master OP single (Ready!! – 764PRO ALLSTARS) has now sold over 40,000 copies! The only other single from this seven on that level (over 46,000 actually) is Uta no Prince-sama’s MajiLove1000%. Beware fangirl buying power! (source)
⚫ Sunday has announced a new fantasy series from Matsuena Shun, creator of Stringest Disciple Kenichi, which will also launch with an anime DVD. The title is Waza no Tabibito, and the first release will be in colour. The announcement has claimed this new manga has been in the works for 13 years! (source)
⚫ Yumekui Merry’s author made a controversial tweet: ‘Kamisama no Memochou has issues too’ (source). The reason that is controversial of course, is the commercial (and some would argue creative) problems that went with JC Staff’s adaptation of Yumekui Merry. A couple of days ago, KamiMemo’s author posted some negative comments on their blog about the original content/changes that JC Staff added to the anime version. I think they even said they were tempted to refuse the whole thing. JC Staff has these issues because they do so many adaptations of light novels. Authors must realise that anime adaptations require changes, but if the series isn’t a success it must be easy to be blame the studio’s meddling.. I don’t often here much praise when JC Staff get these changes right. Still it must be hard for an author to see their story being handled by someone else, so I do sympathise.
⚫ A couple of days ago, some information came out of an interview about the new OreImo game, including that it would contain numerous ecchi (H) scenes! Then there was a tweet from the official OreImo Kirino twitter account saying, “I wonder who will get pregnant this time?” (link). Interesting.. but also kind of scary!
GALLERY
Coinciding with OreImo vol.9, ClariS’s newest single has hit the shelves! It’s the theme song for the OreImo LN and also contains the nendoroid theme song too! I love the illustrtation of Kirino and Kuroneko
New trading metal key chain set for AnoHana. Notable for being adorable!
Goddamn I love Kamineko
Replica of pistol from Hidan no Aria. Pretty cool. But now that I’ve posted it I get the feeling this has been floating around for awhile..
Manliest 5th-grader ever haha
Will this help R-15 sell?
Cute female QB cosplay!
Shit just got real I guess
VIDEOS
Washi, Dan, Yourtime, and 1 other are discussing. Toggle Comments
Chaos2Frozen
10:52 am on September 14, 2011 Permalink
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I personally don’t feel that the KamiMemo changes were that bad at all- the only thing they mixed around was the timeline and the actual contents were pretty faithful, but to the people who had read the Light Novel it’s apparently a really big deal.
Actually I don’t remember the source. There was an AkibaBlog article about a new volume being released and I just saved that picture because it was funny. But I couldn’t remember what it was.
MonikaDrivesLE, 
Jeroz, and 2 others are discussing. 
Washi and 
Spikey8D, 
Dan, 
Yourtime are discussing. 
DJcream, 
KT Kore, 
arsonal are discussing. 
moichispa 9:43 am on November 15, 2011 Permalink |
Nesa with that hair colour makes more sense than the anime one. I wonder why they changed it.
Washi 10:55 am on November 15, 2011 Permalink |
Yeah. and it’s not just that it makes more sense – it looks so much nicer! Glad the nendo puchi stayed that way!
Jeroz 12:19 pm on November 15, 2011 Permalink |
I had totally forgot what her hair colour is in the anime…….
Gelo-Melo 11:20 pm on November 15, 2011 Permalink |
Oooh~ I like the Fuka nendo! * v *
Have you played Disgaea 4 yet? :O
MonikaDrivesLE 10:18 pm on January 26, 2012 Permalink |
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