That Animu Blog

Anime News - Madoka Wins 12 Out Of 21 Awards

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 07:54:00 +0000

The television series Puella Magi Madoka Magica won 12 of the 21 awards in the first ever Newtype Anime Awards in Tokushima on Saturday. Among others, it won the television series, direction, and scenario categories. Macross Frontier: Sayonara no Tsubasa won the anime film category, while Steins;Gate's Rintarō Okabe won the male character category. The Tiger & Bunny television anime, The IDOLM@STER television anime, and the Tales of Xillia role-playing game each picked up an award.

The leading voice actor, leading voice actress, supporting voice actor, and supporting voice actress awards went to Mamoru Miyano, Aoi Yūki, Keiji Fujiwara, and Chiwa Saito respectively. (Unlike other awards, particularly overseas, the Newtype Anime Awards for acting are not given for specific roles.)

TITLE OF THE YEAR

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

MASCOT CHARACTER

Kyubey (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

MALE CHARACTER

Rintarō Okabe (Steins;Gate)

FEMALE CHARACTER

Homura Akemi (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

SOUNDTRACK

Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Music: Yuki Kajiura)

THEME SONG

"Connect" (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

ANIME FILM

Macross Frontier: Sayonara no Tsubasa

SCENARIO

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

CHARACTER DESIGN

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

MECHA DESIGN

Tiger & Bunny

PHOTOGRAPHY

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

ART

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

COLOR DESIGN

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

EFFECTS

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

COMMERCIAL

The IDOLM@STER

GAME OPENING ANIMATION

Tales of Xillia

SUPPORTING VOICE ACTRESS

Chiwa Saito

SUPPORTING VOICE ACTOR

Keiji Fujiwara

LEAD VOICE ACTRESS

Aoi Yūki

LEAD VOICE ACTO

Mamoru Miyano

DIRECTION

Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Director: Akiyuki Shinbo)

(animenewsnetwork.com)

What Am I Watching - Working!!

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 20:08:00 +0000

Synopsis - Takanashi is a 16 year-old who is recruited by Popura into the restaurant, Wagnaria. Witness the zaniness of the workers in this otherwise *normal* restaurant.

Review - What a watch. My friend kept mentioning this show to me, and I was getting sick and tired of not knowing what he was talking about. So after he gave me some files, I went to work and watched it on my new Western Digital HD media player. BITCHIN~!

At first, I thought that this show would have been your run-of-the-mill work environment style of show. Thankfully enough, it was not. This show has subplots and character developments that make this, at the very least, stand out next to the other slice-of-life shows.

Speaking of characters, like Slam Dunk, the best part of the series behind this series is the characters. (I know, I mentioned that already)

Popura is a really small 17 year-old who gets peoples' names wrong. For example, she gets Takanashi's name dead wrong by calling him Katanashi (?). To her defense, she does try very hard to please everybody, even when it is virtually impossible that consolation will fix the problem.

Takanashi isn't your normal cookie-cutter main character who is shy around girls and has no spine. Even he has something weird about him. He won't give two craps about you if you above the age of seven. Yeah. If I can be perfectly honest, I actually like that aspect of his character. It is what made many of his earlier scenes memorable, and for that alone, he is a winner.

Imami is a special character I will say. At first, she comes across as pure, sweet, shy, and if I can be honest, kinda cute. Except....

She has Androphobia, a social phobia, except that she is mostly scared of guys. Sota tries to make her more accepting of males and every time, he is left lying on his back. Poor Takanashi.

Kyoko Shirafuji. The manager. Whatever she says goes. Too bad she doesn't do any of the work. Granted, I love the fact that she isn't above violence in the workplace when someone gets on her bad side. You know what, maybe she is doing work...

Yachiyo, like Imami, is a great woman at first site. She is nice as anyone, and unlike Imami, she is very social. Except that she carries a katana everywhere (why didn't she get arrested yet??). On top of that, she is a bloody stalker. She is borderline in love with Kyoko, and if you talk bad about her, well, I won't finish that sentence.

And of course you have Sato and Soma. Both are great characters in the show, though I am more favorable towards Sato. His chill demeanor and tendency to tell you what he thinks is what makes him such a great character.

The theme song is catchy as hell, to be honest. I recall some time before watching the show, someone playing that song on my car stereo (through his ipod), and me tapping my fingers to it. That "someone-one-one" at the beginning the catcher for me. The music throughout the show itself is fine as well, and fits with the show's mood.

The voice acting, art and animation of the series is what one would expect from a series like this in 2011, so I wont go into much detail here.

Overall, the show is an absolute laugh. Like The Office, this show is pretty much a silly look at how one would run and work at a family restaurant, and it delivered in spades. Now, many of you may ask, "Hey Jean, if you liked the series so much, why don't you talk about your favorite joke in the show?", so I will take a whack at it. When being advice about relationships in the workplace, Takanashi mentions how Popura is cute, helpless, and small, like a kid, or a Daphnia. I don't even get how Popura and a daphnia correlate, but okay!

The show deserves all of its plaudits with its zany cast and kooky humor. Definitely place it high on your priority list, especially considering the second season or so just came out.

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Story - 7.5

Characters - 9

Content - 8.75

Animation - 8

Music - 8.5

Overall - 8.75

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Anime News - GKids to Distribute 13 Ghibli Anime Films in N. America

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 12:54:00 +0000

The distribution company GKids has signed a deal with Studio Ghibli to distribute 13 of the studio's anime films from 1984 to 2002 — including Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, and Spirited Away — in North America. However, Disney will retain the home video rights to the same films, while GKids will hold the theatrical and non-theatrical distribution rights.

GKids will distribute the films with both English subtitles and dubbing.

GKids will screen Spirited Away and Castle in the Sky for their 10th and 25th anniversaries, respectively, at the New York Film Festival, which will run from September 30 to October 16. The city's IFC Center will then hold a retrospective of Ghibli films from December 16 to January 12, and GKids plans to release some of the films in select theaters in the United States starting late next year.

(animenewsnetwork.com)

Working'!! TV Sequel's Ad for Early Preview Streamed

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 17:03:00 +0000

The official Japanese website for the Working!! anime beganstreaming a 15-second commercial for the early preview of the second television series, Working!!, on Friday. Tokyo MX, Tochigi TV, Gunma TV, and other television stations will show the first episode of the new series one month early, starting on September 3.

The anime is based on Karino Takatsu's manga of the same name, which revolves around a high school freshman named Sota Takanashi who works part-time among a restaurant's high-spirited, eccentric, yet cool staffers. The first season aired during the spring 2010 anime season. NIS America, the American subsidiary of theNippon Ichi Software videogame company, licensed the series last November and released it under the name Wagnaria!! earlier this year.

Atsushi Ootsuki (Ladies versus Butlers!) will helm the new series rather than first season director Yoshimasa Hiraike, and Takao Yoshioka will take over Hiraike's series script supervisor role. Music composer monaca and character designer/chief animation director Shingo Adachi will both remain on board at A-1 Pictures Inc. The main cast is returning with new cast members Yuuichi Nakamura and Haruka Tomatsu.

After the preview showing, the Working!! television series will formally launch in Japan this October.

Source: Saishin Anime Jōhō

(animenewsnetwork.com)

Zero no Tsukaima Gets Final Series as TV Anime

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 14:26:00 +0000

The wraparound jacket band on the second volume of Yukari Higa's Zero no Tsukaima Chevalier manga is announcing this month that the final series of the Zero no Tsukaima light novel franchise has been green-lit as a television anime. Zero no Tsukaima Kessakusen, selected episodes from previous Zero no Tsukaima anime, will air this October. The story follows a budding magician, nicknamed "Louise the Zero" due to her initial ineptness at magic, who accidentally summoned a boy from Earth as her familiar.

Noboru Yamaguchi's original light novels have already inspired three television anime series. Yamaguchi has been writing the final series arc of the light novels, and he had planned to end the light novels next year. However, he was diagnosed with cancer in February, and he decided to focus first on a successful surgery and recovery instead of finishing the 21st and second-to-last volume this month.The wraparound jacket band on the second volume of Yukari Higa's Zero no Tsukaima Chevalier manga is announcing this month that the final series of the Zero no Tsukaima light novel franchise has been green-lit as a television anime. Zero no Tsukaima Kessakusen, selected episodes from previous Zero no Tsukaima anime, will air this October. The story follows a budding magician, nicknamed "Louise the Zero" due to her initial ineptness at magic, who accidentally summoned a boy from Earth as her familiar.

Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc. released the first anime series on DVD in North America. Later, Funimation acquired the rights afterGeneon stopped distributing anime in North America. Both companies' releases of the first anime series are out of print.

Noboru Yamaguchi's original light novels have already inspired three television anime series. Yamaguchi has been writing the final series arc of the light novels, and he had planned to end the light novels next year. However, he was diagnosed with cancer in February, and he decided to focus first on a successful surgery and recovery instead of finishing the 21st and second-to-last volume this month.

Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc. released the first anime series on DVD in North America. Later, Funimation acquired the rights after Geneon stopped distributing anime in North America. Both companies' releases of the first anime series are out of print.

(animenewsnetwork.com)

My take on this: I remember downloading the entire series of Zero No Tsukaima. Then a buddy of mine tells me that there are more than 3 series of this anime. I enjoyed the first three, but I didn't know they had more. Hopefully it actually finishes with this.

Anime News - Touhou-Based Anime Streamed

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:51:00 +0000

The dōjin (self-published) circle Manpuku Jinja began streaming the full "Gensō Bankakyō ~The Memories of Phantasm~" ("Kaleidoscope of Illusions: The Memories of Phantasm") Shunsetsu Ihen no Shō, the anime that the circle created based on the Touhou Project games, on Tuesday. The circle had just released its full 16-minute anime at Comic Market 80 on Saturday.

The anime features numerous characters from the dōjin shooter video game franchise Touhou Project, including Reimu Hakurei, Yukari Yakumo, Marisa Kirisame, and others.

(animenewsnetwork.com)

I didn't even know this was coming out. I love the Touhou Project series of games, even if I totally suck at bullet hell games. (which is why I prefer Scarlet Weather Rhapsody to the others)

Anime News - Game-Based Paperman Anime's Digest Video Streamed

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 22:41:00 +0000

The Japanese game news site 4Gamer beganstreaming a 57-second digest video of the Papermananime short on Tuesday. The anime adaptsGamepot's Japanese first-person shooter game forMicrosoft Windows; even though the game and the anime are set in a 3D environment, it features characters made of "paper" that can be customized like paper dolls.

The anime itself will formally premiere online on Wednesday, when Paperman game players can purchase the anime within the game itself and download it online.

[Via Moon Phase]

(animenewsnetwork.com)

For those of you who didn't know what the game was, here it is.

Anime News - First Lollipop Chainsaw Game Trailer Streamed

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 22:36:00 +0000

The Gamespot website began streaming a 90-second trailer for the Lollipop Chainsaw zombie-hunting action game on Monday. In the game, the protagonist is a blonde cheerleader named Juliet who battles zombies with the titular tool.

Grasshopper Manufacture (Heroman, Rebuild of Evangelion: Sound Impact) and Kadokawa Games are co-producing the game, which is due for a release on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles in 2012. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment will release the game outside of all Asian territories.

James Gunn, writer-director of this year's film Super, co-writer of the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead, and writer-director of the films Tromeo and Juliet and Slither, is supervising the game's story scenario. Suda51 (No More Heroes) is acting as creative director for the game.

(animenewsnetwork.com)

Anime News - Tales of Xilia Gets Two Manga

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 14:48:00 +0000

This year's September issue of Media Factory's Monthly ComicGene magazine announced that it will begin serialization of a manga adaptation of the Tales of Xillia role-playing game starting in the magazine's October issue. The manga will tell the main story of the game from character Milla Maxwell's point of view. New manga artist hu-ko will be drawing the manga. In addition,ufotable will be drawing a special Tales of Xillia cover for the October issue. The issue will also include a Tales of Xillia clear file.

The monthly Viva☆Tales of Magazine will also publish a manga adaptation of Tales of Xillia. This manga adaptation will tell the main story of the game from character Jude Mathis' point of view. The magazine will publish a pre-serialization chapter in its seventh volume, on sale on August 29. Then the manga will begin official serialization in the magazine's eighth volume, on sale on September 28. Yuuko Satou (Young Gun Carnaval) will draw the manga.

Namco Bandai Games will release Tales of Xillia on the PlayStation 3 on September 8 in Japan.

Tales of Xillia will have a collaborative tie-in with the Star Driver Kagayaki no Takuto science-fiction anime. The videogame will offer costumes from the anime for the main characters to wear as paid downloadable content after the game is released.

The game will also have a costume tie-in for its female characters with the Idolm@ster 2 videogame, which will also be made available as downloadable content.

[Via Ore-teki na Game Sokuhō @ Jin]

(animenewsnetwork.com)

Anime News - Sentai Filmworks Licenses ICE Anime

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 14:37:00 +0000

Sentai Filmworks announced on Monday that it has licensed the original anime video project ICE. The film will be streamed "through many digital distributors" in November, and will be released on DVD in the same month. The DVD will include both Japanese and English-language tracks.

ICE is directed by Makoto Kobayashi, who is also known for his mechanical designs on such titles as Giant Robo, Last Exile, and the upcoming sequel Last Exile -Fam, The Silver Wing-. The story takes place in the near future when all male humans in the world have died off and only 20,000 females remain living in the Tokyo ward of Shinjuku. While some of the survivors decide to accept humanity's death sentence and live bacchanal lives, other fight over a mysterious substance called ICE that may be humanity's salvation. PPM animated the project.

Yuko Oshima, Erena Ono, Tomomi Kasai, and Natsuki Sato of the female idol group AKB48 voiced roles in this anime. After screening in film festivals in Tokyo, San Paulo, and Chicago, the ICE movie opened in Japan in 2008.

(animenewsnetwork.com)

My take on this story: One question came to mind when I read this. Why? ICE was one of the worst anime I have ever seen. Another year of me waiting for that licensed copy of Gundam X...

What Am I Watching - Deadman Wonderland

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 14:31:00 +0000

Synopsis - Igarashi Ganta lived a normal life with his two best friends until one day, the school gets trashed by a being that is known as Red Man. Ganta is the only survivor of this ordeal, and ends up getting shot by the Red Man. When he recuperates, he finds a man who tells him, "sorry kid, but you are under arrest for the murder of your classmates"... Now, Ganta must find a way to survive in a unique prison where the overall rule is "kill or be killed".

Review - So, I sat down one day with a few buddies of mine compiling a list of anime to watch. I picked this, knowing that this just looks like the kind of show kids in their teens would like and call the greatetht animeh EVAR!. But I have several friends who ask me all the time, What do YOU think of this show?. So I got to my laptop, and typed away..

I will start off by saying that parts of this show are actually better than what I expected.

Story-wise, this show has got several things going for it and against it. I LOVE prison survival movies like The Condemned, where the prisoners have to survive on an island or something and kill each other. When I read the synopsis somewhere, I thought of The Condemned, and while that movie sucked, the premise was kinda decent. The creators took that concept, and made it far more unique, sticking prisoners within a whimsical facility, in which audiences watch said prisoners survive these "fun" and mostly impossible obstacles. While I was enjoying this however, something kept bothering me. I'll keep you updated as I go on, because maybe they'll go more in-depth with what went on.

The characters so far are interesting. Ganta is far from Joe of Ashita no Joe. While Joe was a fighter who didn't take shit from anybody, Ganta cried in every episode. What makes me forgive the kid is the fact that he went through a ton of unnecessary crap in the show. In a span of a day, he lost his two best friends, was arrested for murdering his entire class, and came across a terrifying experience with the Red Man. I didn't even mention his time in prison. He has to deal with crappy warden officials and fellow prisoners don't really take him lightly either. His only buddies are Yo Takami, who broke his arm, and Shiro, possibly the best character in the series. Her innocence and enthusiasm is a great change of pace compared to the others in the show. Plus, say what you will, but those mittens are cute.

The art is actually good. In today's world, where many anime titles have their characters lacking much facial detail, I found it to be a great surprise how the characters were drawn. The actual animation is pretty good as well. There wasn't anything of note to complain about in this department.

The theme song, when I first heard it in the teaser, was crummy. I know it is a western song, but sometimes being different from the rest doesn't necessarily mean that you are better. But after actually watching the episodes, I have gotten used to it. Certainly no Speed Grapher (Duran Duran's Girls on Film) or Eden of the East (Oasis' Falling Down)

The voice acting is fine. One thing that kinda started to annoy me was Ganta whenever he was having one of his "help me" moments, which is recurrent throughout the episodes that I viewed. I had no problem with him whining, it was just his voice that was throwing me off, even though I totally understood the situation the kid had to face head on.

Similar to Steins;Gate, I have been basing this review on what I have seen in three episodes. So, what did I think? I know that this show will be overrated in a few years, but I will say that this show is a hell of a watch. According to some friends of mine, the show actually gets better as it goes on, a tidbit of information that my ears enjoyed.

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Story - 7

Characters - 6.5

Content - 6.75

Animation - 7.5

Music - 6.5

Voice Acting - 7.75

Overall - 7.25

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What Am I Watching - Colorful

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 20:46:00 +0000

Synopsis - A soul is wandering aimlessly till an "angel" tells him that he has a chance at reincarnation. The only thing this soul must do is possess a child by the name of Makoto Kobayashi, who has attempted suicide. Everything seems fine at first, till the soul finds out why Makoto wasn't so cheery about his existence. Oh yeah, if he fails this internship, both he and Makoto will die.

Review - What a movie. I'm almost ashamed of myself for not having heard of it 'till recently. A buddy of mine called me and asked if I have seen a film called Colorful. I thought she meant this..

Not the colorful you're thinking about

I quickly replied that it was a terrible anime and that if she wanted fan service, she should watch Goldenboy. I was quickly told that she meant the movie, a movie that, again, I did not know existed. So, after a lucky encounter with another friend, I was able to get a file of it, and after watching, I have to say that this movie is the best movie from the past 2 years. Better than Redline. Better than Welcome To The Space Show. Better than The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. Yes, even better than Summer Wars. Because this film pretty much asks questions that the others did not. This also dealt with things that the others did not. And to be honest, this film just reminded me a whole lot of It's a Wonderful Life.

I will start with the characters. Every single one of them was special in their own way. "Makoto" just wants to get through this internship, and he just can't seem to untderstand why, with a family so nice and caring, Makoto would attempt suicide. As PuraPura states to him, however, the family is not as it seems. The father is all but a salaryman, doing work that he doesn't want to do, and taking crap for it. The mother had an affair with a gypsy instructor until recently. The older brother, Mitsuru is a grade A dick, looking down on his academically weaker brother, instead of helping him get ahead in life.

His schoolmates in general were also nice at first. But when the curtain is lifted, you start seeing problems. Hiroka, apparently is a prostitute who wants expensive things now (as she said when Makoto tried to stop her from seeing an older man). The only characters that I really thought were genuine was both the awkward Shoko, and the hopeful Saotome. I liked that, as shy as Shoko was, she kept trying to communicate with Makoto and even went on to say that she prefers the "old" Makoto. Shoko wasn't the perfect girl. She twitched incessantly, she was ugly, she stared alot.... All the things that most guys wouldn't bat an eye at. Yet she, outside of Saotome, kept asking Makoto what was wrong. She was the first to see through the facade, and for that, I believe her character had the most life to it. Saotome was a different situation altogether, as he was what Makoto considered his only friend. They hang out together, ate together, and shared similar dreams. He was possibly the shining (living) light throughout all of the depressing characters in this film. As a matter of fact, I don't remember him ever being sad in this film.

No wonder noone talks to her...

Purapura is percieved to be a guardian angel, a neutral party sent to help "Makoto", but not hold his hand along the way. I really liked how arrogant and witty the kid was. It's a shame he's dead, haha. The film even gets in depth with his character a bit, with a twist that I wasn't really expecting all that much.

I could say many things for this plot. I mean there are mini-plots within the plot. You have a soul who must figure out exactly what sin he/she/it committed in living world in order to get reincarnated. You have a kid who committed suicide. You have a grieving family that has problems of their own. You have classmates that are far from perfect. And you have friends who are trying to patch things up with said kid. Altogether, I'd say the plot was a winner. Individually, I'd say the plot was a winner, as well.

The music was great. One notable scene was when he grabbed Hiroka in the rain and ran as fast as he could. The rock music playing in the background, the intensity, it all fit so very well.

The landscape art is great. They are as accurate as can be with how that part of Japan would look like. I also liked how there are photography shots implemented into the film. This technique was utilized before, but rarely has it worked this well.

The voices were all great. I loved Purapura's voice mostly.

In conclusion, I'd say that the film was amazing. It told a story of suicide, friendship, and survival that I found, personally, to be touching. If there was ever a bad thing to say about this, it was the little development that went on with the Hiroka situation. I would like to know what was going on there, outside of just "I want expensive things". Not many have been able to make a movie as good as this, though, so mark this as a must-watch.

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Story - 9.5

Characters - 8.75

Content - 9.75

Animation - 9

Music -8

Voice Acting - 10

Overall - 9.25

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Anime News - Rock Duo Puffy to Voice-Act in Usagi Drop Anime

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 19:58:00 +0000

The Japanese rock duo Puffy (PuffyAmiYumi) will be voice-acting in the ninth episode of the Usagi Drop anime, which will air on September 1. Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura will play children's afterschool caretakers who were designed by the Usagi Drop (Bunny Drop) manga creator Yumi Unita. Puffy's last voice acting roles were in the 2006 slice-of-life anime Hataraki Man.

The duo has performed various anime theme songs, including the opening for Usagi Drop titled "Sweet Drops." (The song will also be the theme song for the live-action film adaptation.) The CD single for "Sweet Drops" will go on sale on August 17 in Japan.

The American cartoon Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, which ran from 2004 to 2006, was based on the musical lives of the duo. Puffy performed the theme song for that show as well as for Cartoon Network's Teen Titans animated series (although they did not voice-act in either).

Source: Sanspo.com

(animenewsnetwork.com)

Anime News - VizManga.com Adds Oishinbo, What A Wonderful World

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 12:57:00 +0000

The North American publisher Viz Media announced on Tuesday that it is adding the Oishinbo and What A Wonderful World! manga to its VizManga.com digital manga service and Viz Manga App (for the Apple iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch devices) on August 1 and August 8, respectively. It is also adding the following volumes to its existing digital titles:

August 1:

Ai Ore Vol. 2

Black Bird Vol. 9

Bleach Vol. 20

Claymore Vol. 15

Dengeki Daisy Vol. 3

D.Gray-man Vol. 16

Dragon Ball Z Vol. 20

I'll Give It My All...Tomorrow Vol. 2

Inuyasha (VizBig) Vol. 2 – exclusive to Viz Manga App for iPad

Naruto Vol. 46

Maoh: Juvenile Remix Vol. 4

One Piece Vol. 37

The Story of Saiunkoku Vol. 4

Vampire Knight Vol. 9

August 8:

Blue Exorcist Vol. 3

Dragon Ball Z Vol. 21

Fushigi Yûgi: Genbu Kaiden Vol. 5

Grand Guignol Orchestra Vol. 2

Hyde & Closer Vol. 4

Kekkaishi Vol. 10

Naruto Vol. 47

One Piece Vol. 38

Ouran High School Host Club Vol. 9

Rosario + Vampire season II Vol. 2

Rurouni Kenshin Vol. 19

(animenewsnetwork.com)

Anime News - Suspect Arrested for Uploading Anime via Share Program

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 12:51:00 +0000

Police arrested a 28-year-old male part-time worker from Nagoya City on Tuesday on suspicion of using the Share file-sharing software to upload anime online without the copyright holders' permission. According to the Association of Copyright for Computer Software, the suspect uploaded the 17th episode of the Toaru Majutsu no Index II anime around February 21. He also allegedly uploaded 12,729 anime video files — about two terabytes — between January of 2010 and June of 2011.

[Via animeanime.biz]

(animenewsnetwork.com)

Anime News - A Letter To Momo Teaser Streamed

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 21:06:00 +0000

The Japanese production company Kadokawa Pictures began streaming a 48-second teaser trailer for Hiroyuki Okiura (Jin-Roh) and Production I.G's Momo e no Tegami (A Letter to Momo) film on Tuesday. I.G describes the film's story as follows:

"Dear Momo" — that was all that was written on a letter left behind by Momo's late father. Momo and her mother have just moved from Tokyo to the countryside of Japan's Inland Sea. On an island lies a wondrous town surrounded on all sides by quaint homes and nature's landscape. Even as Momo starts a new life, she wonders, "Father, what did you really want to write in your letter…?" One day, she discovers an ancient book in the attic, and from that day forward, strange happenings occur all around Momo.

The film will open in Japan during next spring's Golden Week holidays. Okiura spent seven years planning, writing, storyboarding, and directing the film; it is his first return to the proverbial director's chair since Jin-Rohin 2000. Yūko Hara, the keyboardist for the band Southern All Stars, spent five years on the theme song "Uruswashimahoroba ~Utsukushii Basho~."

Masashi Ando (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away) is overseeing the animation process. Among the animators on the team are Toshiyuki Inoue (Akira), Ei Inoue (The Cat Returns), Takeshi Honda (Evangelion: 2.0 You Can [Not] Advance), Tetsuya Nishio (Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence), and Hiroyuki Aoyama (Summer Wars).Hiroshi Ohno (Kiki's Delivery Service) is serving as art director.

[Via Catsuka, AICN Anime]

(animenewsnetwork.com)

This film has the makings of a modern classic so far. Hope that dream team pulls something out that everyone will remember in a decade at least.

Anime News - Gonzo, Miku Designer KEI's Copihan to Stream Next Week

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:54:00 +0000

The official Twitter account of the Copihan anime announced that the anime will stream every other week on its exclusive channel on the Nico Nico Douga service starting at 24:00 on Thursday, August 11 (effectively midnight on Friday).

Copihan is a collaborative work between animation studio Gonzo and Hatsune Miku designer KEI. The slapstick school comedy is set in 2034 in Tokyo, where everything is encrypted and money is completely digital. It is one of three new projects Gonzopresented at the Machi Asoba event in May. KEI has also been drawing the manga series in Jive's Monthy Comic Rush magazine since last November.

(animenewsnetwork.com)

Don't know what this is about, but just looking at it....it looks exciting. Really exciting. Can't wait.

Anime News - The Bawdies Animated For Music Video

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:48:00 +0000

The members of the Japanese rock band The Bawdies will be animated in 1960s American comic book-style for the music video for their song "Yeah." The band's first fully animated music video will be included in the Keep on Movie music video collection DVD that is shipping on September 14.

The Bawdies, originally an independent band, formed in 2004 by three friends who had been classmates since elementary school and a fourth who had been a classmate in high school. The Bawdies released their first independent album in 2006, and their first major album in 2009. Their latest album, Live the Life I Love, was released in June, and "Yeah" is featured as the final song on 11 tracks.

Source: Tower Records Japan

(animenewsnetwork.com)

I like the look of these guys. Really odd that I haven't heard of them 'til now...

Anime News - Little Battlers eXperience Offered In The U.S

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:01:00 +0000

Dentsu Entertainment USA announced on Monday that it is bringing the Little Battlers eXperience (Danbōru Senki) television anime series to the United States.

The anime from the studio OLM (Pokémon, Deltora Quest) adapts a "near-future, plastic-model-building role-playing game" from Level 5 (Dragon Quest VIII, Professor Layton, Inazuma Eleven, Mobile Suit Gundam AGE). The player customizes and controls miniature robots called LBX (Little BattlereXperience) as they battle it out in dioramas built from reinforced cardboard. The anime versionpremiered on TV Tokyo last March.

Level 5 had filed a "Little Battlers eXperience" trademark for videogame, animation, plastic models, comic books, and other related merchandise in the United States on July 21. The toy conglomerate Bandai and the publishers Shogakukan and Media Factory are also involved in the franchise.

(animenewsnetwork.com)

What Am I Watching - Angel's Egg

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 20:27:00 +0000

Synopsis - A little girl wanders a bleak and barren city, holding the only thing of true value to her, an egg. She meets a soldier who holds a bit of an interest towards that egg..

Outside of that, the entire film's plot is down to the viewer and where his/her head is at the time.

Review - Hoo boy. I came into this knowing that this was one of the most complex anime (and art films) to come out. But since I had an old VHS, I felt that it would have been a great disservice to the already-buried treasure. A few years back, I found on THEM Anime Reviews (good site) that the plot of the film is different to everybody. Being the kind of guy that I am, I bought my little brother (who is thirteen) over to the room and asked him to watch with me. He agreed, a decision that he probably regrets, haha.

As I said, the plot of the series is completely down to the viewer, which I was expecting, considering this is an experimental art film. From what I can gather, the plot held some christian and existentialist views in there. For example, the soldier in my eyes, represented Jesus Christ or some sort of deity. It wasn't just his badass cross-sword, either. It was also his actions (which I won't spoil) that kinda gave me that impression.The image of this little girl is wandering within this dark world showed to me that the fact that she exists in this world alone is probably enough for her. If that makes sense...

Speaking of characters, the only characters the viewer ever really sees are the soldier and the girl. My brother made a silly joke in the beginning where this thing shows up.

He then proceeded to say that the "big alien thing" seemed bored. After watching how the soldier and girl live their lives in this world, he then asks, "why in the hell does everyone look bored??". Now, the answer is obvious, but he had a point. The characters were very...dry. The soldier, outside of how great he looks, doesn't really do anything with much energy. Even the girl seemed dead alot of the time. Don't take this as a negative, mind you, because, after thinking about it, this actually adds to the environment in which this movie takes place.

For some reason, the music (especially the final tune) haunts me. It's just the sort of ambient music one would expect one from Popol Vuh, Loscil, or Brian Eno. Better yet, Klaus Nomi's From Beyond fits the description perfectly. Google it, and you get the idea.

Nameless girl in movie

Since this was a fansubbed tape, I only watched this in Japanese. I can't truly criticize the voice acting, reason being because it was truly minimal with the script, with the only recurring lines of "who are you?". The only time someone spoke more than one sentence was when the soldier told a story that was really similar to Noah's Ark.

The big selling point of this film is the art and animation, which are fucking superb. Seriously, as an artist, I'd say this was up there in terms of best art in a film. The movie normally has landscape shots that last five minutes, which may be boring to most. To me, though, it was great art candy for me, especially the opening shot with the checkerboard floor. If you couldn't tell, the film was directed by Mamoru Oshii and the art was done by famed Final Fantasy artist Yoshitaka Amano.

So, is this film deserving of its usual five-star rating? Is it a film that is meant to confuse the viewer? Or is it the type of film where people like my brother are supposed to ignore everything and look at the imagery? Well, my take on this is that it is one of those prime examples of what separates a movie and a film. This is a film. This anime didn't have any cookie-cutter material in it. It was a very unique, trippy, and complex social commentary that kept me thinking for weeks. The film also had some of the most beautiful artwork I have seen, not just in anime, but in a film period. I guess what I am trying to say here is that the film would be the epitome of a masterpiece for art film festival goers, while conversely, it would either be a chore to watch or a C-rate movie that's good on the eyes to the more simple-minded viewer.

I will make this statement, though: If you are studying film, you MUST watch this movie. The little things, like camera composition and setup (I know it is animated, but hey, they deserve some credit) were astounding as well.

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Story - 8.5

Characters - 7.5

Content - 9.25 (4.5 if this is not your cup of tea)

Animation - 10 (for its time though, it was deserving of a higher grade)

Music - 9.5

Overall - 9

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Anime News - Sacred Seven BDs in Japan to Include English Subs

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 13:04:00 +0000

According to Amazon.jp listings for the Japanese Sacred Seven Blu-ray Disc volumss, English subtitles will be included in the release. Bandai Visual will release all 12 episodes on six volumes beginning on September 22 in Japan. The show will be released in both Limited Edition and regular edition.

The first Limited Edition volume includes an art box to store the Blu-ray Discs, a premium event application postcard, character card, 12 page booklet, credit-less endin animation footage, eye-catch collection, a digital gallery, and commentary for episode 1.

The sci-fi anime began airing earlier this month in Japan, and Bandai Entertainment is streaming it on Hulu and Crunchyroll.

[Via: Can You Moe?]

(animenewsnetwork.com)

Anime News - Grandia/Gungriffon Creator Takeshi Miyaji Passes Away

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 12:58:00 +0000

The Japanese game developer G-Mode announced on Monday that its representative director Takeshi Miyaji passed away on Friday, July 29. Miyaji created the Grandia, Gungriffon, and Silpheed game franchises.

(animenewsnetwork.com)

This is the saddest of news for me. When I was a kid, Grandia I and II were my favorite RPG games to play. The stories were great, and the characters (as well as the gameplay) were very unique. It is a damn shame that this man was taken from us. I don't know if he made the second and third, but if he did, this'll squash any plans of a sequel. I'm going to rest my head for a while.

What Am I Watching - It's Up To You!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 00:18:00 +0000

So, I'm at that time where I've been thinking about which series to watch and review. But no luck. Then I realized that I have 800+ people who visit this awesome site, and I came up with an (unoriginal) idea! How about the anime community recommend me on what to watch and review? After thinking about it, the idea sounded like a good one, so now's the opportunity for some creative juices to flow!

Oh, and don't worry, I won't be doing this all of the time. This is just a nice bit of fun for you guys.

Click here for the Facebook page!

Anime News - Toei Funded Live-Action U.S. Pilot of Starzinger/Spaceketeers Anime

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 23:00:00 +0000

American producer William Winckler revealed, in an interview posted on Saturday on the website SciFi Japan, that he wrote, produced, and directed a nine-minute live-action pilot "based very, very loosely" on Toei Animation's Science Fiction Saiyuki Starzinger television series. (A shorter 3-minute pilot was also produced.)

Jim Terry Productions had dubbed the 1978-1979 Starzinger anime into English and aired it as Spaceketeers as part of its syndicated Force Five package in the United States. The original anime centered around a princess and her three android companions who embark on a journey to the Great Planet and save the universe.

The Toei-financed live-action pilot of Starzinger used Red Digital Cinema Camera technology along with green-screen compositing, computer animation, and music by Mel Lewis. Winckler reported that he presented the pilot to the American television channel Syfy, "and the president of Syfy liked it and wanted to see the finished movie."William Winckler Productions (WWP) is "now waiting to hear back from Toei on the next step," although the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake (Higashi Nihon Daishinsai) disaster "put a hold on a lot of things."

Over the past two years, WWP produced 23 English-dubbed, feature-length compilations of several Toei Animation titles, including three for Starzinger. Winckler had previously worked on the 1984 English dub for Tekkaman, the Space Knight (Uchū no Kishi Tekkaman, 1975), as well as the English dubs for other animated and live-action works.

Toei also commissioned pilots for computer-animated remakes of its Space Pirate Captain Harlock and Gaiking anime, and it first screened the pilots during Tokyo International Anime Fair in 2010.

(animenewsnetwork.com)

Make of it what you will. I, for one, thinks its too late for this kind of stuff. BUT he did say that is was very loosely based on Starzinger. To be honest, I am getting sick of the millions of remakes that have spewed out recently. Hey, here's an idea, make an original concept that defined this generation! Instead of making all of these Thundercats, Voltron Force, Smurfs, Gaiking, Akira, Cowboy Bebop and Transformers remakes, make our own classic series, is what I'm saying.

Meh, just ignore my input.

Anime News - Bandai Entertainment Adds Nichijou, Gosick Anime

noreply@blogger.com (Dragonmark Design) — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 22:11:00 +0000

The North American anime and manga distributor Bandai Entertainment announced at its Otakon panel on Saturday that it licensed the Nichijō (My Ordinary Life) anime and Gosick anime. Bandai Entertainment also announced its license of the Nichijō manga and Code Geass: Shikkoku no Renya (Code Geass: Renya of the Darkness) manga.

Nichijou

Keiichi Arawi's original Nichijō manga revolves around a group of female students living what would be a normal high school life, except that it also includes a talking cat, a robot, deer-wrestling, and other strange anomalies. (!) Crunchyroll has been streaming Kyoto Animation's ongoing television adaptation outside Japan since it premiered in April.

Gosick

The Gosick anime adapts Kazuki Sakuraba's mystery novel series, in which Kazuya Kujo studies abroad at the Saint Marguerite Academy in a small European country in 1924. Kazuya joins forces with Victorique, a girl with deductive powers that rival Sherlock Holmes', to solve mysteries. The anime ran in Japan from January to June, and Crunchyroll streamed it outside Japan. Tokyopop released two of the original light novel volumes in North America.

Code Geass: Renya of the Darkness

Goro Taniguchi, the director and story co-creator of the original Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion television anime series, created the Shikkoku no Renya manga spinoff's story concepts and scripted the story. The manga is set in the same official Code Geass history as the anime, but in Japan's historical Edo era. The story begins when Renya, a 17-year-old boy with a mechanical left arm and shuriken-throwing skills, encounters a mysterious, perpetually young woman named "Reifū C.C." Artist Tomomasa Takuma launched the manga in Kadokawa Shoten's Monthly Shōnen Ace magazine last year after working on the Code Geass: Nightmare of Nunnally and Kurogane Communication manga. (Bandai Book published Nightmare of Nunnally and other earlier Code Geass manga, while Go! Comi published Kurogane Communication. The second compiled book volume of Shikkoku no Renyashipped in Japan in May.

(animenewsnetwork.com)