Macross / Miscellaneous / PV

Macross F Galaxy Tour FINAL in Budokan – Part 2


Ranka Lee starring Nakajima Megumi.

 

Part 2 of god knows how many I’ll need to cover this Galaxy Tour concert. Continuing from the two marathon-like performances in Part 1, Megumi takes the stage alone to perform six more songs. She did get a bit of a break in the middle with the character skit and “Chou Jikuu Hanten Nyan Nyan” CM commercial song I mentioned before, but her “singing endurance” is still pretty amazing. I couldn’t help but wonder why they decided to sit May’n for so long, but she did show up for the Ranka version of “Iteza Gogo Kyuuji Don’t be late” before taking over the stage for the next couple of songs. In any case, part 2 is all Ranka Lee. Enjoy~

…Lots of videos after the jump. Not recommended for computers with limited RAM!

Macross / Miscellaneous / PV

Macross F Galaxy Tour FINAL in Budokan – Part 1


Nakajima Megumi, Kanno Youko, and May’n serenading us with a piano version of Diamond Crevasse.

 

In pure anime-like fashion, the Macross Frontier colony landed in Budokan last November 5th, 2008. Almost a full year later, we finally get to see what what down there in our very own homes and almost a week ahead of its scheduled release! (DVD: 09-10-30, Blu-ray: 09-11-27.) Starring May’n as Sheryl Nome and Nakajima Megumi as Ranka Lee, this huge concert marks the long-awaited onstage duet I’ve been absolutely dying to see since Macross Frontier was still airing. With over FOUR hours of footage (150 min concert, 90 min specials), this gigantic two disc DVD release doesn’t disappoint. It wasn’t all about these two singing princesses though, as the concert featured the one and only Kanno Youko. In addition to conducting her beautifully arranged score, Youko was also center stage on the piano for a lot of the songs.

…Videos after the jump!

Anime News / Daily Dose / Macross / Slayers / Spice and Wolf / STRIKE WITCHES

The Daily Dose

  • Wizard Entertainment ended its anime and manga magazine, Anime Insider, after eight years of publication. R.I.P. Anime Insider (2001-2009.)
  • A flyer announced new manga for Shin Strike Witches, CANAAN, Shin Koihime†Musō, G-Senjō no Maō, Summer Wars Gaiden, Angel Magister, and Valkyrie Complex premiering this July in Kadokawa Shoten‘s Comp Ace.
  • Studio Fantasia made an announcement on their blog that their next anime project was green-lit. There are no further details. Someone call it!
  • A promotional video is streaming for Sora no Manimani on the official website. The anime series is based on the manga of the same name by Mami Kashiwabara.
  • The anime adaptation for Natsume Ono‘s Ristorante Paradiso‘s promotional video is being streamed at its official website.
  • A second promotional video is up at the official website for Saki, a high-school mahjong anime.
  • The mangaka creator of The Law Of Ueki is launching a new ping pong manga series called Takkoku!!! in Shogakukan‘s monthly Shonen Sunday Super Zōkan spinoff magazine in April.
  • My Sweet Sunday, a one-shot collaboration between popular mangaka creators Rumiko Takahashi and Mitsuru Adachi, was posted on Shogakukan’s website to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine.
  • A promotional video is streaming on the website for Hayate The Combat Butler!!‘s second season and it premieres April 3rd.
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    Ryuuji and Taiga artwork courtesy of 美月めいあ on pixiv (account needed to access)

    Macross / Miscellaneous

    Nakajima Megumi Takes Nico Nico Douga By Storm

     

    …And causes a storm for that matter. A few days ago, Nakajima Megumi (中島 愛) of Macross Fronter/Ranka Lee fame got the attention of a lot of Nico Nico Douga viewers with the release of the video above — a choreographed dance to her new “Be MYSELF” song. While my initial reaction was that Megumi is coming off more and more like a real-life Ranka with her “cuteness appeal” (moe?), evidently that’s not the case with people who love trolling anything and everything in cyberspace. Mixed in with the supportive comments on Nico Nico were a lot of slanderous ones, which got out of hand to the point that Nico Nico’s management intervened and started removing comments themselves. This (ridiculous) incident even made headlines on some Japanese sites. The original video found here (account required) now has over 285,000 views and 28,000 comments, which probably makes it one of the fastest videos to achieve such popularity. As for the song itself, I heard it earlier from her Akihabara performance and didn’t think too much of it then, but it’s grown on me after listening to it for a while. Megumi also has another new song, “Tenshi ni Naritai” 「天使になりたい」 (lit. “I want to become an angel”), and both are available for sale on the iTunes store (Japan only). ~Kira*

    -divine
    …is still hoping to get a hold of some May’n and Nakajima Megumi duet performance videos.

    Anime News / CODE GEASS / Daily Dose / Higurashi / Macross

    The Daily Dose

  • Vipers Creed, a series about members of a private military company after a great war, will be coming January 2009. It will be directed by Appleseed director Aramaki Shinji.
  • Shipwreck harem story 15 Bishoujo Hyouryuuki, created by Tsuyokiss creator Takahiro and Kuroda Kazuya, will be getting an OVA.
  • Anime Festival Asia and DarkMirage have conducted an interview with Macross Frontier singer May’n.
  • The Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahō light novels will be getting animated.
  • A new Prince of Tennis manga will be starting in March.
  • Aria mangaka artist Kozue Amano will be launching the manga Amanchu! November 29.
  • Bandai has posted an english trailer of CODE GEASS R2. The first episode will be airing this Sunday on Adult Swim.
  • The live-action sequel to Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Chikai will be open in theaters May.
  • The 13th Detective Conan film, Detective Conan: The Jet Black Chaser will be opening in April.
  • If you find anything that you think I should mention on any particular day’s Daily Dose, please send me (not Omni) an email with the words “ANIME NEWS” somewhere in the subject line.

    • CODE GEASS Halloween artwork at left courtesy of つき on pixiv (account needed to access).
    Macross / PV

    Sheryl Nome starring May’n – Northern Cross Live (MelodiX!)

     

    While this performance is several weeks old now, I didn’t have time to check it out until now. Given how much I’ve been enjoying Macross Frontier‘s music for the past couple of seasons, I guess it’s only natural that Northern Cross grew on me fairly quickly. My favorite song to date is still “What ’bout my star? @Formo” (which I would absolutely love to see a live duet performance of), but I really like this song because it’s a lot more upbeat and very unlike the songs typically written for anime. I’m sure most Macross fans have listened to it to death by now (myself included), yet somehow I find that I’m still not sick of it in the slightest.

    Anyway, I’ve seen May’n’s performances before, but I’m still impressed by how well she sings live, especially with the dance choreography that goes along with this performance. Granted, the choreography isn’t overly strenuous being mostly Para Para-like movements and she is a J-pop artist first and foremost; however, I’m sure we’re all aware that not a lot of artists can sing studio-like quality live. For those wondering, her stage name “May’n” is a contraction of her full name, Nakabayashi May (中林 芽依). For whatever reason, she decided to change it to this at the beginning of the year.

    Finally, I should mention that I was a bit surprised to find out that she’s only 18 years old. Judging by her appearance (which comes off a bit mature), I figured May’n was in her earlier twenties already. In any case, enjoy the video!