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CODE GEASS / First Impressions

CODE GEASS R2 Matsuri Special

 

Instead of episode nine, there was a CODE GEASS special aired this week featuring comedian Arino Shinya, idol Natsukawa Jun, comedy duo Sandwichman, comedy duo America Zarigani, and new voice actress Miyake Hitomi. The only thing really worth noting from this special is the preview for episodes nine and ten, and I’ve uploaded that above.
Hit the jump for screencaps and impressions of the rest of the Akihabara special as well as some speculation about the preview.

Anime News / CODE GEASS / Miscellaneous / Random Musings

Random Musings – The Hot Sheets

  • It’s with great reluctance that I’ve had to make the decision to drop Kyouran Kazoku Nikki. It’s absolutely nothing against the series – which I’ve enjoyed quite a bit – but rather due to my new job keeping me from being able to spare the time. Unfortunately, I had to cut something, and this was it.
  • I put up the current Kanokon poll because of the news yesterday that streaming site GyaO will no longer be showing Kanokon due to ethical regulations. You’d think that they’d have gotten a clue after the hardcore spanking in episode three, but maybe it was the practically exposed breasts in episode seven that led to this. Or perhaps whatever is in the hot springs for episode eight is even more outrageous than anything else so far. Either way, some are speculating that this has to do with Kanokon being #1 a couple of weeks ago on GyaO’s rankings for both the elementary school boys and girls demographics.
  • In CODE GEASS news, episode nine has reportedly been delayed a week. Episode eight will still air this weekend, but episode nine will NOT be airing on June 1st as it had originally been scheduled. Instead there will be some sort of emergency filler show. I haven’t found an official reason, but others have speculated that it’s because of the Chinese earthquake tragedy, and that’d make sense since episode nine involves the Chinese Federation.
  • Finally, and perhaps the most important item in this post: I am currently seeking an editorialist for Random Curiosity. Ideally, such a person would be able to present opinion on the news topic of the day (such as the Kanokon and Geass items mentioned above) or on whatever other current topics they think are relevant to the anime community/industry/etc. This does not require any Japanese language ability, but it does require good English and good writing ability. If you’re interested, please send me an email and include two sample writings, the first addressing the question of “Should anime adaptations strictly follow the manga?” and, the other is any topic of your choice. You could talk about ankles for all I care – the more creative the better, as long as there’s some relation to anime/manga/culture.

    • Image at left courtesy of ism on pixiv (account needed to access). It has nothing to do with anything in this post, but I’m a sucker for good art.
    CODE GEASS / PV

    ORANGE RANGE – O2 PV (CODE GEASS R2 OP1)

     

    While I was kind of looking forward to another FLOW OP song for CODE GEASS this season, what we got instead was ORANGE RANGE. At first, this song seemed a bit out of place to me, especially after hearing FLOW’s “WORD OF THE VOICE”, which is used as the second OP of PERSONA -trinity soul-. When I compared these two songs at the time, I couldn’t help but think how FLOW’s song seemed to fit CODE GEASS better (subjectively speaking), but that was undoubtedly because it was more reminiscent of “COLORS” used in season one’s OP.

    Regardless, this song has grown on me after listening to it for a while, although I’m sure having it affiliated with CODE GEASS adds to its appeal. My first exposure to ORANGE RANGE’s music was probably the first OP of Bleach, titled “*~Asterisk”. Back then, their founding member, Kitao Kitahito (北尾 一人) a.k.a. “KATCHAN”, was still a part of the group. Kitahito was the drummer, but has since left due to supposed “creative differences”. History aside, the interesting thing about ORANGE RANGE is that the group features three vocalists, who provide the low, mid, and high range of vocals we hear in their various songs. “O2” in particular focuses on high range vocals, which are so high at times that I sometimes mistake Ganeko Yamato (我如古 大和) for a girl. o_O

    More after the jump…

    CODE GEASS / Random Musings

    CODE GEASS R2 – The Episode 03 Leak

    In an odd twist today, the final six minutes of the third episode of CODE GEASS R2 were leaked a few hours ago.

    Show Spoiler ▼

    According to a 2ch post, one of the staff members was arrested, and episode three may not air this weekend (to be decided tomorrow). Supposedly the alternatives are to air either a shortened version of the episode four or nothing at all this weekend while they remake episode three. That’s very disturbing news to say the least, but I can understand why they might feel inclined to do that since the leaked part does have some huge spoilers for the entire episode. And given that they’re thinking about remaking some of it, it’s not even clear if the leaked part is canon anymore. In any case, an official announcement will probably come in the next 24 hours, and I’ll be sure to update this post.

    Update 4/16/2008: According to an announcement on the official site, the leak occurred when someone at Bandai Channel accidentally uploaded it while in the process of implementing a system to prevent unauthorized postings. The production committee apologizes for this, and episode three will air as scheduled this Sunday. While this all still strikes me as sounding a little suspicious, I’m happy that things got worked out and that there won’t be any delays, and I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of the episode.