Random Musings – The Publicity Stunt of Suzumiya Haruhi

I talked the other day about how there was an announcement concerning Suzumiya Haruhi coming on Tanabata (today), which was the same day as some special events in the third novel. Well, it seems that Kyoto Animation has produced a publicity stunt of sorts by uploading a 22-minute flash promotional video onto the official website depicting the events of that night in live action (with Haruhi and “John Smith”) from a security camera point of view. For those of you with niconico accounts, you can watch it here since the official site appears to be down at the moment from probably getting hammered by all the fans trying to access it. For those of you without accounts, there’s also a torrent of it available on Tokyo Toshokan. In any case, I’m very impressed by the extent to which Kyoto Animation is promoting this show since this video matches perfectly with the Newtype magazine announcement. I expect that this will eventually make its way one of the DVDs for the second anime season, but for now, this is almost like getting a glimpse of what a live-action Haruhi would be.

Random Musings – Suzumiya Haruhi S2 and CODE GEASS Finale Airdate

  • The August issue of Newtype that will soon be hitting newsstands is reporting that Suzumiya Haruhi’s second season has finally been confirmed. The official announcement is set to be made on July 7th, 2007, which also happens to be the day of the Japanese Tanabata festival. That might be significant because certain events in the Suzumiya Haruhi novel storyline occur on that day. As of yet, there are no confirmed airdates, but MOON PHASE’s diary entry says that, according to an industry announcement from back in March, Kyoto Animation’s schedule will be Suzumiya Haruhi in Fall/Winter 2007 and a light novel adaptation in Spring 2008, so CLANNAD seems to have been pushed back until Fall 2008. We probably won’t know anything more definitive until the official announcement is made. But, regardless of what airs when, this Fall season is going to be chock-full of sequels and potential blockbusters (Konata certainly seems happy about this announcement).
  • I mentioned yesterday that there will be a one-hour special for CODE GEASS airing on the night of July 28th. That same August issue Newtype has also confirmed that that date will indeed be when the final two episodes of CODE GEASS are airing. For those of you marking your calendars, that’s a Saturday, and I can’t wait to have Gurren Lagann and CODE GEASS together on the same blogging day (even if it’s only once).
  • Speaking of Gurren Lagann, some scans have also popped up of the future versions of the main characters. They’re a little spoilerish, so click at your own peril.
  • Random Musings – Nodame All-Stars Edition

    A few news items and updates – which you may or may not have already heard about – on this first day of December.

  • One of my friends has been watching the super-popular Nodame Cantabile drama and was so thrilled about it that he got me interested in the series. For those of you unfamiliar with Nodame Cantabile, it is a series about a guy who aspires to be a conductor and the free-spirited, piano-playing girl who attaches herself to him. I haven’t seen the drama yet, but I did pick up and read some six volumes of the manga, and I really enjoyed it. I’m planning to watch the drama once I get a chance sometime next month during winter break, but more exciting to me (for now) is the upcoming anime version. The reason is because of the strength of the cast and staff that were announced. They include Kawasumi Ayako voicing Nodame, Seki Tomokazu voicing Chiaki, and Noto Mamiko voicing Sakura. On top of that, it’s being animated by J.C.STAFF and directed by Kasai Kenichi (aka. the director of Honey and Clover). This being a music-oriented series, I’m most interested in hearing the quality of the classical pieces they include and how they use them in the show. And since I like the manga so much, this has quickly become my number one anticipated series for the winter 2007 season. The anime version of Nodame Cantabile will air Thursdays starting January 11th on Fuji TV’s Noitamina block.
  • Many of you who have seen the Death Note live-action movies have seen the actor who plays L, Matsuyama Ken’ichi. Well, Mainichi Shimbun reported yesterday that he will be voicing a role in the anime version of Death Note (as the Shinigami Jealous) and will be also getting a spin-off L movie set to be released in 2008. At the rate they’re going, Jealous should appear in the anime in a month or two.
  • I’ve got the song God Knows… from Suzumiya Haruhi stuck in my head again thanks to this video on YouTube of KURIKINTON FOX playing the song. It sounds really good to me, but I’ll also be the first to admit that I’m not that musically inclined.