Anime News / First Impressions / Macross / Random Musings

Random Musings – Raindrops on Roses

  • I’ve been listening to the Macross Frontier soundtrack, and it’s every bit as wonderful as I hoped it’d be. I’m loving the tracks What ’bout my star (both versions), Big Boys (reminds me a lot of the Pirates of the Caribbean theme), and Innocent green. Oh and the Nyan Nyan song is as cute as ever. It’s going to be hard at the end of the year deciding whether this OST is better or the true tears one is – probably this because of all the vocal music (which isn’t to say that Yoko Kanno’s instrumentals aren’t great too). And that’s assuming the next Macross Frontier OST won’t be better.
  • I also managed to scrape together some time this weekend to watch a few episodes of the currently-running drama Zettai Kareshi. For those of you unfamiliar with it, it’s about a girl who gets a robot as her ideal boyfriend, and the love triangle and troubles that this leads to. That might sound silly, but it’s actually really entertaining. I was curious about this adaptation because I read the manga a long time ago, and though a lot of things have changed in the story, it’s still very very good. It has that same spark that I found in the Hana Yori Dango and Yamada Tarou Monogatari dramas – the perfect mix of comedy and romance drama. It can be very funny at times (especially the actor who plays Namikiri), and the romance and drama elements are slightly over the top – just the way I like it. I wish I were blogging it, but sadly I just can’t make the time commitment for a drama series right now (though I may try to next season or the season after that). On a side note, I had the theme song of this series, Okaeri by ayaka in my head all the way until today…when I started listening to the Macross Frontier soundtrack.
  • Also in the news, the official Mai-HiME/Otome website announced a new project. No details about it other than the name and character design of the new heroine, Mao (see the link). While I do wish Sunrise would develop more new original properties, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious what this one will be like, especially since S.ifr’s first episode was better than expected. Speaking of which, the second volume of S.ifr is due out July 25th.
    • 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.
    Miscellaneous / Random Musings

    Ugh…

    You ever get completely out of your normal sleep cycle because you’ve spent one too many nights up late working? That’s where I’m at right now after having spent the past 3 straight days working on a paper. Ugh. In any case, it’s done and final exams are finally over, so I hopefully I can get quickly caught back up with all the stuff here that I’m behind on (and also return to my normal sleep cycle). On a side note, I found the above image on Danbooru and thought it was way too cute not to include here since I was already talking about sleep.

    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.

    Miscellaneous / Random Musings

    Random Musings – Being Swamped And Sick Sucks

    The Spring Preview is 95% done, but I’m about to fall over because of a cold and have a meeting in the morning, so it won’t be until tomorrow that I finish it. It has taken me a lot longer than usual because there are a lot more series than usual (30 at current count, not including kiddie shows), and I’ve probably spent 20-25 hours researching everything. Unfortunately, writing it and getting myself ready for the new season (plus all the normal school work and work work I have to do) means that I won’t have time to blog the new KimiNozo DVD, the Darker than BLACK DVD episode, or the School Days Kokoro-chan DVD. Regardless, I guarantee that the Spring Preview will be posted tomorrow, and here’s a sample to tide you over until then.

    The Spring 2008 Preview is up now, so I’ve removed the sample.

    CODE GEASS / Random Musings

    CODE GEASS – An R2 Primer

     

    With the release of CODE GEASS R2 less than a month away, I’ve thrown together a primer to help anyone who’s interested in getting ready for the new series. Everything here is based on information that’s been released via magazines, trailers, the official site(s), and 2ch. Be forewarned, there are some spoilers. At the same time however, most of this is just an introduction to characters and setting – information that I think would be useful to know going into the series. A lot of this is cut and paste from a post made by AmuroNT1 made on the GameFAQs messageboards, but I’ve reorganized it, corrected some stuff, added more information, and added some images. Thus, a big thanks goes out to AmuroNT1 and also to Celiss Galvea for all of the hard work done translating the tons of stuff coming down the pipeline.

    I’ve also included the five trailers and three commercials that have been released so far, so if you’ve missed one, you can find those videos under a spoiler tag at the bottom of this post.

    Miscellaneous / Random Musings

    Random Musings – Comment Page Links Fixed and Macross Airdate

  • Maestro and I have been doing some maintenance on the site in recent days, and it briefly broke the paged comments functionality on the blog posts by incorrectly redirecting some comment page links back to front page. I’ve gotten several emails about this, and I’m fairly certain that we’ve found the problem (caching conflicting with permalink structure) and have fixed it. If you’re still seeing comment page links that redirect incorrectly to the front page, let me know in the comments here or via email.
  • In anime news, according to an announcement at Wonder Festival 2008 [Winter] today, Macross F’s airdate has been set: it’s going to be taking over Shakugan no Shana II’s Thursday 25:25 timeslot on MBS starting April 3rd, 2008. So that means Macross is going to be on Thursdays and GEASS will be on Sundays, though those are only two of the 35+ series premiering in the Spring. 🙂
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    CODE GEASS / Miscellaneous / Random Musings

    Random Musings – New Years 2008 Edition

  • Happy New Years! Now that I’ve gotten a chance to sit down and reflect, I realized 2007 really went by quickly. It seems like just yesterday I was writing about Shuffle Memories and Manabi Straight.
  • I’m hearing a lot of disappointment over the anime offerings for this upcoming winter season, and I somewhat share that sentiment since there’s only a few shows that I really care to see (Wolf and Spices, maybe Gunslinger Girl S2). With that in mind, I looked ahead further at the Spring 2008 and found it a lot easier to get excited about with the likes of Macross Frontier, the hilarious Kamen no Maid Guy, and the next CODE GEASS. There’s also a series called Special A (S.A for short), starring the talented Fukuyama Jun (Lelouch of GEASS) and Gotou Yuuko (Mikuru of Suzumiya Haruhi). The story of S.A – about a girl who has a middle-class upbringing who attends a rich school – is one that I find similar to Ouran in many ways, including how much it makes me laugh and how fun the manga is to read, so I’m really looking forward to seeing the anime adaptation. If you get a chance, I’d recommend checking out the manga.
  • Oh and speaking of CODE GEASS, there was news out a few days ago that it is not in fact taking over Gundam 00’s Saturday 6PM timeslot (as was widely expected) but is instead taking a new Sunday 5PM one come April of this year. I find that rather worrisome in terms of the direction the series will take with its more mature themes because it’s roughly in that same timeframe that more kid-friendly shows like Kirarin Revolution, Ultraman Mebius, and Chibi Maruko-chan air. That’s not to say that they’re going to dumb down the show or completely cleanse it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were major thematic differences – and I doubt things like Viletta or Kallen’s nipple slips, or Nina’s masturbation scene would make the final cut.
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    Random Musings / Series Introduction

    Random Musings – H2O Rocks Your Soul

    This is a few days old, so some of you may have already seen this, but this video was so hilarious that I can’t not blog about it. H2O ~FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND~ is a new series coming out in January about a (blind) boy who has lost his mother and moves to her hometown to recuperate. It looks like an interesting series, and as I was writing up my Winter 2008 preview, I saw the PV. If I could give out an award for the most unintentionally funny promotion video ever, this series would get it. I was laughing for a good five straight minutes when the narrator suddenly started spouting random phrases designed to make the series sound exciting. I don’t know why they decided to have the trailer in English, but it certainly made my day. H2O Rocks Your Soul!

    Higurashi / Random Musings / Suzumiya Haruhi / Zero no Tsukaima

    Random Musings – Haruhi, Higurashi, and ZnT Sequels Edition

    Before I get to today’s episode of Myself; Yourself, a few quick news items that have come up in the past 24 hours:

  • For those that might not have heard yet, Suzumiya Haruhi is getting some more viral marketing in the form of its website being taken down. ANN has a good write-up on it, and MOON PHASE notes that the copyright for three years (2007-2009) might mean that they’ll be animating two seasons from the fall of 2008 into the spring of 2009. It’s also noteworthy that the director is now Takemoto Yasuhiro (whose previous works include FMP! TSR and the majority of Lucky Star) instead of Ishihara Tatsuya.
  • Higurashi is also getting a third series, according to animate.TV. No further details available yet.
  • Also, to no one’s surprise (at least not mine), the newest MF Bunko J came with an official announcement that there’ll be a third Zero no Tsukaima series. I didn’t think very highly of the second series, but maybe third time’s the charm.