Posted inRandom Musings Suzumiya Haruhi

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.
Posted inCODE GEASS Gurren Lagann Random Musings Suzumiya Haruhi

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.
    • Posted inCODE GEASS D.Gray-man Miscellaneous Negima!? Random Musings

    Random Musings – Two Year Anniversary Edition

    Today, the Fourth of July, happens to not only be a national holiday in the US, but it also marks the two-year anniversary of this site. I actually started writing on this blog a little earlier than that, but it wasn't until I moved here to AnimeBlogger in July of 2005 that I consider the site to have really started. Since then, the site has accumulated 1,646 posts and 45,172 comments, and it's gotten almost ten and a half million hits. As always, I want to thank all the readers and everyone who's helped out with the site, and hopefully we'll have more years of blogging to come. Now, on to some miscellaneous newsworthy notes:
  • As you can see in the image above, the cast for the live action Mahou Sensei Negima! drama has been decided. The official site has profiles for each of the girls, and I was kind of surprised by some of the choices, stemming mostly from how the ages of the actresses range from 12 to 24 years old (for easier comparison if you don't know their names, refer to the Wikipedia pages that list the characters in the same order). Although Asuna and Nodoka's actresses look about right for their characters, who the heck decided that Kaede should be played by a 13 year old? Anyway, the drama starts in the fall of this year, and you can find some magazine scans of the actresses here.
  • For the guy who specially requested it, here's the download link (mirror) for the new ED to D.Gray-man, Antoinette Blue by Kitade Nana. However, I still don't have any plans to blog show again despite the story seeming to pick up.
  • There's been a bunch of rumors flying about in the recent week about a one-hour CODE GEASS special that's supposed to be airing on the night of July 28th. Although nothing about it has been confirmed, speculation is that it's either the highly-anticipated episodes 24 and 25 or it's a recap special. Given that that's a week after the premiere screenings, the possibility is certainly there, but I wouldn't get my hopes quite just yet until there's been an official announcement. On a related note, ANIMAX's schedules now state that they will be airing those final two episodes on August 30th and 31st. Whether or not the other channels will get broadcasts before then remains to be seen.
    • Posted inClaymore D.Gray-man Random Musings

    Random Musings – Claymore Edition

    With all the clamor over Claymore I've been hearing and reading about in these past few weeks, I finally got enough free time to pick up the manga again and see why everyone seemed to like it so much. I had watched the first episode of the anime a while back, and at the time, it didn't seem good enough to warrant me dropping D.Gray-man or DEATH NOTE. After blazing through the first 7 volumes of the manga in a few hours, I think I've finally started to understand what everyone is talking about. I felt that the beginning of the story wasn't great, but it really got good once the Teresa arc started, and the rest of it just kept me reading. It also, of course, got me very interested in the anime.

    In many ways, I think Claymore is the quintessential shounen-style show based on the principles of friendship, effort, and victory that series from Weekly Shounen Jump are known for (before anyone asks, yes, I do realize that Claymore originally started in Monthly Shounen Jump). Jaalin likes to think of it as a supercharged version of Bleach. Now that's in no way a bad thing since these types of series are very entertaining to read and watch, and Claymore adds a distinctively darker and more violent feel. In fact, I was quite surprised at how freely limbs get chopped off and people lose their heads - it makes the violence in Bleach look quite tame in comparison.

    For those of you who don't care about anything I just said and want me to get to the point: Yes, this does mean I am going to be blogging Claymore. I'll be replacing D.Gray-man in the schedule with it on Tuesdays for all of summer season until Claymore ends. Truthfully, if D.Gray-man hadn't become a chore to watch and blog due it being stuck in anime-original mode while the manga had such an awesome story going, then I wouldn't have even considered doing this. But the fact is that it did become like that for me, so this wasn't too hard a decision to make once I got hooked on the Claymore story. I'll be starting on Tuesday with episode 13, and I look forward to Ophelia's upcoming battle with Clare.

    Posted inCODE GEASS Random Musings Tsubasa Chronicle

    Random Musings – GEASS Updates and Tsubasa OVA Edition

  • There will be a new theme song for episodes 24 and 25 of CODE GEASS called Hitomi no Tsubasa by access. The song is already being played on the airwaves in Japan, so copies of the full version are floating around the Internet. If you have a Nico Nico account, you can listen to it here, and someone has also put a fan-made opening sequence with that song onto Youtube. I've listened to the song several dozen times now and although it started off sounding like an average T.M.Revolution song, I really like it now. The song goes on sale July 4th as part of access' binary engine album.
  • Despite the special premieres announcement from last month, there is still no official television air-date for episodes 24 and 25. I believe speculation and sources place the time in early August, but again, no official word. There have been, however, quite a lot of spoilers, much of the former courtesy of anime magazines. According to Celiss Galvea, the confirmed spoilers are:
    - Suzaku knows about Zero's Geass; V.V. told him. No mention of Zero's identity so far (Animedia and Hobby Japan) - Black Knights will take over Ashford Academy (Animedia) - Nunnally will meet V.V. (FO) - Nunnally will finally take action after "finding out about things" (FO) - Sayoko is as strong as Suzaku (Animage) - There is a hidden meaning behind Nunnally's phone call (Animage) - "Nunnally shares the same blood as Lelouch" (Megami Magazine) - Nunnally may have known all along who killed Marianne (Megami Magazine) - Suzaku will get into a pinch, but something or someone will save him (Taniguchi) - Suzaku may end up in a living hell -- "Suzaku won't be able to die even if he wanted to" and "Suzaku's future may not be a happy one" (Animedia) - The Live! Geass will be triggered (FO) - The Geass on Darlton will be triggered (FO) - There will be a showdown between Cornelia and Zero (FO) - Lelouch, C.C., Kallen and Arthur will survive the 1st season. No mention of the others. (FO) - Rivalz will be "really cool" in episode 24; almost everyone will get their chance to shine in the last two episodes (Hangyaku no YamaYama DX)
  • Speaking of which, the latest batch of magazines - Newtype, Hobby Japan, Animedia - have some very nice covers. The one pictured above is the spread from July's edition of Newtype, and you can find scans of the others here. I especially liked the CLAMP-drawn cover of Newtype and the one of C.C. from the July edition of Hobby Japan.
  • And finally, some other CLAMP related news. A lot of people have been asking me about what happened to the next season of Tsubasa Chronicle since this spring season passed us by without the third series. There's been a lot of speculation about whether it was because the next part of the story was too violent or because CLAMP was unhappy with the production or whatnot. In any case, it was announced today (sort of) that Tsubasa will be getting a special OVA called Tsubasa TOKYO REVELATIONS. I say "sort of" because publisher Kodansha originally posted the image of the manga's volume 19 cover on their website with the announcement attached, but they have since taken that image down. Based on what was seen before the image was removed, the OVA will supposedly be available through purchasing volumes 21 to 23 of the manga, but details are still sketchy and will probably become clearer once there is an official announcement.
    • Posted inD.Gray-man Gurren Lagann Random Musings

    Random Musings – D.Gray-man Manga And Gurren Lagann News Edition

  • I finally got caught up on the D.Gray-man manga last night after sitting down and reading seven volumes worth of material, all the way to the most recent chapter. Given how generally disappointed I've felt with the anime up until this point, I was curious to see what else the manga had to offer since I had previously stopped reading at a point right after the first Krory arc. Overall, I was incredibly impressed with how action-packed and fast-paced the manga was, and it turned out to be a lot darker and bloodier than I thought it'd be. Everything else I have to say about it I'm going to put in spoilers:

    The story is actually moving so quickly that I wonder if it's not racing towards a conclusion. It certainly doesn't look good for the Black Order right now since Froi Tiedoll said in chapter 89 that the generals, Hevlaska, and Allen's group were the only Exorcists left. And with the exception of Allen, the core Exorcist group has been fighting virtually non-stop for the past 70 or so chapters, so I question how much longer this can go on. Kanda and Krory are already out of the picture (though I'm not entirely convinced they're dead), and it would seem that Lavi might be next, which would leave just Allen and Lenalee. It probably wouldn't be too hard to bring everyone back, but unless they do, I don't see how the manga can go for too much longer (though the intervention of the generals might help, if or when that ever happens). Of course, I trust that the mangaka Hoshino Katsura will do a good job with where the story goes from here since I've thoroughly enjoyed what I've read so far.

    I really would love to see a good animated adaptation of the manga, but I have my doubts if the current anime is ever going to get there, and even if it does, the question remains if there will be too much edited out in terms of violence or religious imagery. Anyway, I'm going to give the anime four or five more episodes to see if there are any signs they'll be returning to the manga story, and if it doesn't look promising, then there's a good chance I'll be dropping the show by the end of this season.

  • In Gurren Lagann news, there was a GAINAX Gurren Lagann panel held at the Fanime convention in San Jose, California this past weekend featuring Yamaga Hiroyuki, one of the people responsible for planning the show and current president of GAINAX. You can read a full report here, but the interesting stuff included: -Drills were chosen because boys like drills in Japan. -Because of the negative reaction to episode four, they won't be trying stylistic changes like that again. -Episode six was edited because it was airing early in the morning in Japan. The DVD will have the full version, which might feature what they originally had in mind: Kamina peeking at the girls in the hot springs. -The reason humans live underground will be explained in episode 16. -They are currently up to recording episode 21. -Yoko may or may not be 14 years old, but time underground may be measured differently.
  • Also, the official site has updated with their romanizations for the new bad guys: Adiane, Cytomander, Guame, and Lordgenome. Given that last name and focus on genetics, maybe we should be calling him the Helix King instead of the Spiral King. The Japanese word rasen can be translated both ways.
    • Posted inMiscellaneous Negima!? Random Musings

    Random Musings – Starcraft 2 And Live-Action Negima Edition

  • I'm having a small bout of insomnia, and well, the news out of South Korea that Starcraft 2 is coming out doesn't help put me to sleep. The only odd thing I find with all this is that the Games Radar article I linked above is exactly right about everything, but it was available in its entirety quite a bit earlier than the IGN live-blogging of the event. In any case, I grew up playing Starcraft and Warcraft games, so I'm quite excited about this, and I can't wait to see some of the videos that Blizzard is currently showing at their Worldwide Invitational. That was fast. It's on YouTube. The official site is up with good quality videos.
  • In other news, famous manga-ka Akamatsu Ken confirmed that his popular series Mahou Sensei Negima is getting a live-action drama. It seems that the actresses for the 31 girls of Negi's class have been decided, and as MOON PHASE notes, they'll probably all be child actresses and gravure idols. The first thing I thought of when I read the news was PGSM, and that didn't exactly leave me with fond memories. I'm a bit afraid to see what Negima will look like in a live-action format (wigs all over the place I would guess and maybe a stuffed animal for Kamo-kun), but morbid curiosity compels me to follow this.
    • Posted inMiscellaneous Random Musings

    Random Musings – For Those Of You Wondering About Rain In The Poll…

    I normally don't talk about non-anime related stuff, but this was too funny to resist if you know anything about Rain or popular Korean music. Time Magazine in recent years has been making a list called the Time 100 - The People Who Shape Our World. They also ran an online poll to see who people think should be #1, and the winner of that by a large margin was Rain. #2 was Stephen Colbert, and that's what led to the above video.

    Posted inCODE GEASS Random Musings

    Random Musings – Starved For GEASS Edition

  • It was announced on the official site today (and in the June issue of Newtype magazine) that there will be some special premiere screenings of CODE GEASS episodes 24 and 25. Three events are going to be held - one in Osaka on July 21st and two in Tokyo on July 22nd - that will last approximately 90 minutes each and will feature as guests Fukuyama Jun (Lelouch's voice actor), Yukana (C.C.), Sakurai Takahiro (Suzaku), and Koshimizu Ami (Kallen). This is a limited screening, so they are taking applications for people to be chosen at random. Unfortunately, there's still no word of when the television broadcast for these episodes is.
  • Speaking of the June issue of Newtype magazine, it featured some interesting (minor) spoilers. As you can see in the image above, Jeremiah has a purple metallic look now, and the blurb states that he's filled with anger and hatred, and his last memory is of Zero. Lloyd's caption notes that he wants to protect Suzaku now, and Suzaku's caption says that he's heading towards the battlefield like a bloodthirsty beast looking for Zero.
    • Posted inMiscellaneous Nagasarete Airantou Random Musings sola

    Random Musings – Da Capo II Anime And Other News

  • As I'm sure many of you have already heard, the big news for today is that Da Capo II is getting an anime. In an interview published in the June edition of Comptiq (the same magazine that Lucky Star is serialized in and pimps every week), producer tororo stated among other things that he wanted the anime to be as long as possible. There's no set air-date yet, and I haven't paid much attention to the game since it came out about a year ago, but I'm interested in seeing how this turns out.
  • In other upcoming anime news, Kamen no Maid Guy is also getting an anime, but I suspect that most people aren't familiar with this series. I was first introduced to the manga almost two years ago when Dom wrote about it over at MegaTokyo. To use his description, it's "the heartwarming story of a maid-loving rich old man, his almost-of-age granddaughter Naeka, and the musclebound, shark-toothed, mask-wearing freak of a maid he assigns to protect her until her 18th birthday." It's very fun to read, and I hope it translates well into anime form.
  • For those of you who are watching sola, it was announced on the official production blog that the show is going to be 15 episodes total, two of which will be DVD-exclusive. The one that is to be included with DVD 4 (on sale September 25th) is going to be "packed with the charms of the characters of sola," but they are keeping secret about the one to be included with the final DVD 5 (on sale October 26th).
  • In seiyuu news, it seems that popular voice actress Horie Yui will be appearing on HEY!HEY!HEY! MUSIC CHAMP soon. Her appearance is being filmed this Thursday, so it might air next Monday. I mention this mainly because many of you may remember how Hirano Aya generated a lot of buzz last year from appearing on the same show.