Nebs Blog

Kannagi License Next Week?

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:06:25 GMT

For the past week or so, Anime News Network has had a little secret link on their site. If you hover your mouse cursor over the far-left side of any page, a mysterious silhouette appears with a big question mark. Click on the image, & it takes you to the address http://omgitscoming.com. Another mysterious silhouette appeared at the top of the page, which you can see in the image above (currently a different silhouette resides there). It has a clock that's been counting down to something, presumably when "it" comes. Only one week remains.

Today of course being Thursday, the official English Nagi-sama Fan Club Homepage updated its site once again. Though this update was even lighter than past weeks. All she wrote was "Nagi-sama commands you to return next Thursday with a special message from a special someone!" & then the following image was posted underneath:

Look familiar? & the clock on the OMG site is counting down to next Thursday. Seems like a good fit to me. So now the question is, who has it? This kind of marketing stunt does have Bandai's name all over it, IMO. But considering they haven't been doing too well recently, can they really afford to license such an otaku-oriented series like Kannagi? Guess we'll find out soon.

Source: http://www.nagisamafanclub.com/what.html

Endless Eight

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:44:03 GMT

Spoilers:

Endless Eight didn't end! Again next week! GAHH!!

Crunchyroll Censors Juden-Chan

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:03:27 GMT

The idea of Crunchyroll simulcasting "Fight Ippatsu! Juden-chan," or as they're calling it "Charger Girl," seemed laughable when it was first announced. But then I heard that they were actually working with Avex to make the series a little more "family friendly." Now I'm flat out against censorship & probably wont be watching any more of the series on Crunchyroll because of it, but I guess this was the only way they could show it. So what's done had to be done.

So when I first heard that Juden-chan would be censored, I thought "there goes all the peeing scenes." But then I watched the first episode, which premiered today on Crunchyroll, all of the peeing scenes were left intact! There were other edits, mind you (basically mild nudity), but it seemed weird that the erotic peeing was untouched. So then I watched episode 2, which also went up at the same time on CR, & this time ALL of the peeing scenes were edited out. Granted, two of the urination scenes were accompanied by nudity, so those scenes probably had to edited because of that. But the third peeing scene had no visible nudity in the shot. This is really quite odd.

(EDIT: Just remembered that both Code Geass & Kigurumikku have uncensored nudity on Crunchyroll. Can someone explain this mess to me?)

Not only were all three peeing scenes left in episode 1, but there were very few other edits. Episode 2, however, is another story. Besides all three peeing scenes (will every episode have three peeing scenes?) being removed, there tons of other edits as well. I've taken screenshots of all the major changes. Check out the comparisons below. This is totally NSFW, by the way:

Plug's exposed butt in the opening scene of episode 1 was really the only noticeable edit in the whole thing. Seems like a mild thing to edit to me, especially considering all the things that made it past the censors. We even briefly see her uncensored behind later in episode 2.

On to episode 2. I'm not positive if the above shot is actually an edit or not. Her areola looks to be painted over on Crunchyroll's video, but it may just be because I'm not watching the video in 480p & the colors blend together.

Poor Millie-chan gets a lot of edits in this ep. This scene of her "enjoying" the tentacles is completely removed. Apparently the girls in this series urinate when they orgasm, all part of the creator's fetish. The rest of the scene, which shows her face in orgasmic bliss & mascot Bitch-kun yelling at her & calling her a slut for enjoying it, remains untouched however.

Again, poor Millie-chan gets edited. In the Japanese televised version, Plug floats across the screen. In Crunchyroll's stream, she's standing there stationary over the TV set. This is peeing scene number two.

Transformation scene gets slaughtered. As hinted out in the promo for the series, Plug orgasms while she transforms. As such, she has to urinate herself. Though if you're watching this on Crunchyroll, you'd never know it. A long naked shot of her is replaced by a repeat shot of her sticking her tongue out in bliss, though slowed down a good lot.

Breast shots, of course, are removed entirely. But her butt remains left in for some reason.

During the light-bondage struggle Plug & Aresta fall into, a mysterious dark spot is added over Aresta's crotch. This is in order to hide the fact that she's enjoying it, though her unedited face in the shot afterwords makes it clear she is.

A stationary shot of her face in the CR version. & so ends the episode. Though there were lots of edits, the following is a list of shots that were surprisingly NOT edited in Crunchyroll's stream. Note that most of them (specifically all the peeing shots) come from episode 1. Only the final two really come from the second episode:

The irony is every episode of Juden-chan begins with a cute anti-piracy warning. But if they wish to censor what we see, how do they expect us not to search for the uncensored version through other channels?

http://www.crunchyroll.com/library/Charger_Girl_Ju-den_Chan

AX09: News Coverage Roundup

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:16:28 GMT

It's one thing to have your typical anime websites covering the stuff that goes down at Anime Expo (ANN, Japanator, AnimeVice, NebsTV, etc). But when more unlikely news sites or organizations take notice, it gets a little cooler.

LA Weekly, a local Los Angeles newspaper, did some coverage of America's largest anime convention. One of their reporters did a writeup for the event, as well as created photo gallery of some of the best cosplay there. G4 did pretty much the same thing, writing up an article for AX & adding a cosplay photo gallery. Finally, Japan's own Akiba Blog took notice of the event as well. Check out their coverage in the links below:

LA Weekly: http://www.laweekly.com/slideshow/view/27962381
http://blogs.laweekly.com/style_council/nerdy-in-la/anime-expo-2009-taking-in-the

G4: http://g4tv.com/articles/67616/Con_Report_Anime_Expo_2009
http://g4tv.com/images/2780/TheFeed-Blog---Anime-Expo-2009/48216

AkibaBlog: http://en.akibablog.net/archives/2009/07/anime_expo_in_la_begins.html
http://en.akibablog.net/archives/2009/07/anime_expo_2009_2nd_day.html
http://en.akibablog.net/archives/2009/07/more_cosplayers_anime_expo_2009_in_la.html

AX09: Gatchaman Movie Trailer

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:46:16 GMT

Trigun wasn't the only cam-recorded movie trailer at Anime Expo this year. Imagi's long-awaited Gatchaman CGI film finally showed its first official trailer at the convention as well. The quality of the recording isn't really that good, but it does its job of giving us our first real taste of the film. This is REAL G-Force movie, unlike that Disney wannabe. Imagi's other anime-turned-American-CGI-movie, Astro Boy, is due out this Fall.

AX09: Adult Games Coming to US

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:00:33 GMT

In a time when adult video games are in trouble even in Japan, it seems weird to hear that big-name hentai games are finally being brought over to America. But that's exactly what MangaGamer.com announced at Anime Expo this past weekend. Erotic anime games being licensed, released, & translated in the US are nothing new, but for the most part they've always been low-key obscure games that you've never heard of. Certainly we've never had the likes of KEY games released here. & considering how expensive those must be to license, it might never happen.

Still, MangaGamer.com announced two big adult titles at Anime Expo, news that we're not accustomed to hearing. They are the "Shuffle" romance game & the "Higurashi" horror series. Specifically, they've got the rights to the first 8 Higurashi games, of which the first half will be released in late October (just in time for Halloween). NAVAL's Shuffle will be released this summer, & more NAVAL games are expected to be announced soon. As with all of MangaGamer.com's titles, these can purchased as downloads on their website.

In somewhat related news, another hentai game American licensing company, JAST USA, announced some big titles of their own. Nitroplus, which is a bigger studio than what JAST usually gets, licensed several of their titles to them. The biggest one here is "Zanma Taisei Demonbane," which is what the Demonbane anime series is based off of (as seen on NebsTV).

Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-07-05/mangagamer.com-acquires-shuffle-romance-visual-novel

Free Nana Episode On-Demand

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 01:07:09 GMT

Yesterday I posted how the first episode of Honey & Clover was available for free on iTunes, but Nana wasn't. Well now today, the opposite is true for FUNimation On-Demand! FUNi added the first four dub episodes to their Comcast On-Demand section, with the first episode being free to watch. The other three episodes can be rented for 24 hours for 99 cents each. But hurry, because the episodes are only up for a very limited amount of time. All four episodes will be taken down after this Friday. Keep in mind that the episodes are rated TV-MA, for mature audiences only (& while I feel that may be a little extreme, the truly mature content doesn't show up in these first few eps).

The dub itself is quite good in my opinion, which I'll admit I was worried about after seeing Viz's trailer. The English voice actresses for the two Nanas do a good job of bringing their own to the characters. They really shouldn't be compared to the Japanese seiyuu, as they aren't trying to emulate their foreign counterparts. They're doing their own thing, which is really the only thing one can do with series like Nana. Sounding natural is the most important thing in a slice-of-life drama like this, & they can't do this if they try to imitate the Japanese version. Thankfully, they sound just that- natural. Nana Osaki's English voice is appropriately deep & grainy, while Hachi's voice sounds happy-go-lucky without coming across as annoying.

There is a section in FUNimation's onDemand block for "Honey & Clover," but as of this writing there are currently no episodes listed. Whenever they do go up, you can bet that the first episode will be free for it as well. It's Funi's policy, after all. Speaking of which, other recently added free first episodes up on their On-Demand block include Kaze no Stigma, Heroic Age, Claymore, Buso Renki, & Romeo X Juliet.

EDIT: Forgot to mention- why'd they change the ending theme?

Free Honey & Clover Ep on iTunes

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:08:15 GMT

iTunes is once again giving us some free anime downloads to enjoy. Viz Media began adding episodes of both "Honey & Clover" & "Nana" to iTunes today. For Honey & Clover, the first 12 episodes of season 1 have been added, & the first episode can be downloaded completely free. The rest of the episodes will cost you $1.99 each to download, or you can buy the whole "season set" in bulk for $19.99 which includes the bonus OVA episode (which can't be downloaded on its own). The episodes are dubbed in English, & as fan of the Japanese version, I can say for the most part I really enjoyed the episode 1 dub.

The first 11 dub episodes of Nana were also added, which is quite good timing considering today is Nana Day (7/7). Again, each episode will cost you $1.99, or $19.99 for all 11 plus the special recap episode 11.5 (which again can't be downloaded on its own). Unfortunately there are no free episodes for Nana. But get your free Honey & Clover ep, hit up the link below:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewTVSeason?i=319682712&id=318745265&s=143441

AX09: Crunchyroll

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:25:46 GMT

The fact that online streaming site Crunchyroll had a larger booth at Anime Expo than most of the anime companies present is really telling of the times we live in today. At their panel, Crunchyroll announced the simulcasts that they got lined up for the Summer season. Naruto Shippuden, Shugo Chara, GinTama, Shangri-La, Reborn, Saki, Hayate, Chi's New Address, & Kaasan will all continue to show new episodes every week. Time of Eve will also continue, with episode 5 going up just this week.

In terms of brand new shows, the yuri series Aoi Hana already started streaming last week. Besides that, three new series were confirmed as well. Kanamemo, Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou, & Charger Girl (Fight Ippatsu! Juden-chan) are all new for the Summer. Kanamemo has already started, & the other two will be added shortly. I'm not sure what the holdup is since both of them have already begun airing in Japan, & they can't really be considered simulcasts if they're not even streamed in the same week. & Juden-chan on Crunchyroll? I can't believe they'd show such a perverse anime series on their site. On the other hand, they did stream Strike Witches last year. But on the other hand, Strike Witches didn't have girls erotically peeing themselves in every episode.

Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/convention/2009/anime-expo/crunchyroll

AX09: Viz Media

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 06:45:01 GMT

The big news at Viz's Anime Expo panel was the confirmation that they'll indeed be speed releasing the One Piece manga in order to catch up to where the story is in Japan. Similar to what Viz did with the Naruto manga- except even more extreme- they'll be releasing 30 volumes of the series in just 6 months. Beginning in January 2010, they'll be releasing 5 volumes a month starting with #24, & conclude in June with #53. That is a LOT of manga.

While it'll take a few months for the graphic novels to catch up, Shonen Jump will begin publishing the "latest chapters from Japan" (presumably only a few weeks behind like how Naruto is now) beginning with the January issue. Over the next few months, Viz's new One Piece site will update with summaries of the four sagas that take place in between where the English manga is now & where it will be come January. That way, SJ readers wont be totally lost.

In anime news, the long-awaited Kakashi Chronicles is finally getting animated. The special will stream on Viz's site on August 6. Speaking of Naruto, DVDs for Shippuden will finally start coming out beginning September 29. Unfortunately, Viz will no longer be releasing it in season box sets like they did for the first series, & will now instead be doing the obsolete single DVD releases. It is, however, the only way to watch the dub of the series. The first Shippuden movie will be released shortly after on November 1.

Viz also announced that they got the second Death Note Relight special & will be releasing it on October 27 (just in time for Halloween!). Meanwhile, the DVD for L: Change the World will come out on August 18. The second Bleach movie will be getting a DVD release on September 8, after getting a limited theatrical release at Viz's new San Francisco theater on August 19.

Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/convention/2009/anime-expo/viz-media

AX09: Bandai Entertainment

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 05:51:25 GMT

At their Anime Expo panel, Bandai Entertainment announced that they have licensed the new Eureka Seven movie. In fact, it'll shown on the big screen in American theaters for one night only on September 24. Currently about 300-400 national theaters are listed as taking part. They also announced that the entire Eureka 7 anime series has begun streaming for free on Anime News Network, in both sub & dub formats. As in exclusive to ANN, & not just mirrored from another site like Hulu or Crunchyroll. Though if I had to guess, I'd say the series will eventually land on Crunchyroll somewhere down the line.

Bandai also briefly mentioned the Escaflowne Movie being released on Blu-ray. & now, a few days after the con, it was announced that it'll indeed be coming out on Blu-ray on September 1 of this year.

Separately, Namco Bandai announced at their own panel that they'll be adding many popular Japanese songs to the American iTunes store. These includes songs by JAM Project, as well from anime series like Haruhi & Lucky Star.

Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/convention/2009/anime-expo/bandai-entertainment

AX09: Media Blasters License Rumors

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:47:48 GMT

According to an Anime Expo con-goer, he heard "straight from a rep's mouth" that Media Blasters had licensed the anime series "Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei" & "Moyashimon." Both titles will also get dubs, something that MB doesn't always do with their titles anymore. No official announcement of the such has been made yet, but it seems likely to be true. Media Blasters does seem to be keen on freely blabbing news to con-goers who ask, without making any announcement first. They did tell me about Moribito returning to Adult Swim at ACen, after all. This news also comes shortly after they quietly licensed Blade of the Immortal, further proof that MB doesn't always make big announcements of their licenses.

The same con-goer also talked to some FUNimation reps on hand at AX. Apparently not only is FUNi confident about One Piece simulcasts returning to their website, but all the episodes that have been missed during this downtime will be put up as well. Meaning most likely episodes 391 to present will all be up. Eventually.

Source: http://forums.toonzone.net/showpost.php?p=3303993&postcount=127

Weekly Tidbits

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:17:58 GMT

For the third time in a row, Joey Chestnut beat out former champion Takeru Kobayashi in the annual 4th of July Hot Dog Eating Contest. Chestnut downed a record 68 dogs at the Cony Island event, 3.5 more than Kobayashi. [AP]
A look at an amazing Japanese papercraft castle. [Tokyo Bling]
For the first time since June of 2008 "Watchmen" did not top the monthly BookScan graphic novel list. It was dethroned by none other than "Bleach." [ICv2]
Pioneering online video streaming site Joost is standing down. Said to be "Hulued" to death, they are now opting out of streaming. [Advertising Age]
Superstar anime director Hayao Miyazaki, who's newest film Ponyo is about to hit the US, will appear at San Diego Comic-Con International, his first appearance at the show. [LA Times]
Speaking of Ponyo, a review of Disney's dub of the film has been posted. [ANN]
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" powered its way to an amazing total of $201.24 million in just 5 days. [ICv2]
Megami Magazine's latest character poll has half of the Top 10 being filled with the K-On girls, with Mio & Yui at first & second place. [Sankaku Complex]
Miku Hatsune's new PSP game is full of pantsu fan-service. [Kotaku]

AX09: Trigun Movie Trailer

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:38:34 GMT

Yasuhiro Nightow & Satoshi Nishimura, the two guys behind the Trigun manga, brought a special surprise with them at their Anime Expo panel- the world premiere of the Trigun Movie trailer! The film was originally slated to come out in 2009, but that doesn't seem very likely at this point. It's still in the middle of production, & no release date was given at the panel.

AX09: Funimation

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:22:47 GMT

Anime Expo was a bit quieter this weekend when compared to years past. There weren't tons of new announcements made by every company, but FUNimation did have the most things going on.

In terms of new licenses, they've FINALLY gotten the DVD rights for the first 13 episodes of DragonBall, something they've been trying to get for the past decade. Now that they have those, Funi will start re-releasing the entire DragonBall series in remastered season sets, similar to what they've done for DBZ & GT. Season 1, the first 31 episodes of the original series, will be released on September 15. They also got the anime adaptation of the Nintendo DS game "Sands of Destruction" (World Destruction: Sekai Bokumetsu no Rokunin). Both Funi's season set & Sega's American release of the game will hit in Spring 2010. Finally, in a very up the the wire last second announcement, they cleared the rights to Production I.G's Sengoku Basara. Funi also stressed that they haven't lost the One Piece DVD license & DVD sets will continue to come out. They also stated that they don't have the Rebuild of Evangelion 2.0 movie yet.

FUNimation confirmed that they plan to launch ShoDojo.com, a brand new online anime community site to take the place of their now defunct animeOnline. Thousands of streaming anime episodes will also be a part of the site, meaning they're probably planning it to compete with Crunchyroll.

FUNimation also announced the dub cast for Slayers Revolution. & they're keeping most of the original cast! Best news I've heard all con. The fabulous Lisa Ortiz will resume her role as the lead character Lina Inverse, & most of the others will also be the same. The only exception is Xellos, who will now be voiced by the (relatively speaking) newcomer & extremely talented Michael Sinterniklaas. He will also direct the dub. Pretty interesting how FUNimation, which is located in Texas, is letting all the recording for this series go to New York. Especially considering Zelgadis' VA no longer lives there & has since moved to join the California voice actors. The main cast:

Lina: Lisa Ortiz (Serenity in Yu-Gi-Oh, Amy in Sonic X, Lala-Ru in N&T,H&T)
Gourry: Eric Stuart (Brock/James in Pokemon, Kaiba in Yu-Gi-Oh, Dik Dik in Ultimate Muscle)
Amelia: Veronica Taylor (Ash in Pokemon, Max in Dinosaur King, Carly in 5D's)
Zelgadis: Crispin Freeman (Itachi in Naruto, Jeremiah in Code Geass, Koichi/Thomas in Digimon)
Xellos: Michael Sinterniklaas (Trey in Shaman King, Leonardo in Ninja Turtles, Dean Venture in Venture Bros)

Finally, FUNimation screened the dub premiere of Rebuild of Evangelion 1.0. They also explained the whole 1.0/1.01/1.11 mess. The original 1.0 is what will be shown in American theaters this summer. The remastered with new scenes 1.01 is what will be released on DVD this Fall. The super remastered 1.11 with even more new scenes will then be released on Blu-ray & DVD in Spring 2010. No word on them also releasing the new TV version that just aired in Japan this weekend. Oh, & the premiere was accompanied by a bunch of Rei clones singing "Fly me to the Moon":

Source: http://blog.funimation.com/tag/anime-expo

Weekend Video Break

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:29:41 GMT

Needless Ending:

Toilet People:

Washing Machine People:

Most Incredible Collaborative Music Video Ever:

Brad Pitt Japanese Commercial:

WoW Freakout:

Fenrir:

Japanese Little Mermaid:

Junkyard Tree:

Ironwork:

Gankutsuou Abridged 2:

New Evangelion Theme:

Sacred Blacksmith trailer:

Mazinger Toy:

Yu-Gi-Oh Crossover OVA Announced

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:01:49 GMT

In honor of the Yu-Gi-Oh anime's 10th anniversary, it's been announced that a brand new crossover OVA is in the works! The title is said to be "Battle Royal! Yugi VS Judai VS Yusei! Deja vu, Acceleration!" The title suggests that the three main protagonists from the three different Yu-Gi-Oh series- Yugi Muto in Duel Monsters, Judai Yuki in GX, & Yusei Fudo in 5D's- will all be dueling against each other. Possibly even a Riding Duel, meaning we'd get to see Yugi & Judai on D-Wheels.

That's all we know so far, more information as it becomes available! Can't wait, go Judai! XD

UPDATE: As kc_alex2 helps point out, while a 10th anniversary special has been confirmed, there's nothing official yet saying it'll be about Yugi VS Judai VS Yusei. So for the time being, consider this a rumor.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/playthedamncard/1640923.html

This Week in Free (Legal) Anime

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:52:32 GMT

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers- the Movie:

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's 33-34:

http://www.4kidstv.com/yu-gi-oh-5ds

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX 39-45:

http://www.4kidstv.com/yu-gi-oh-gx

Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 13 (raw):

Japanese Spider-Man 18:

AX09: SPJA Award Winners

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:06:26 GMT

The winners for the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation 2009 Awards were revealed this weekend at Anime Expo. Personally I disagree with many of the choices made this year. It seems fan favorites won over superior talent for a lot of the categories. See for yourself below:

Category 01: Best Voice Actor (Japanese)
Kappei Yamaguchi – DEATH NOTE - L

Category 02: Best Voice Actor (English)
Kyla Hebert – GURREN LAGAAN - Kamina

Category 03: Best Voice Actress (Japanese)
Junko Takeuchi - NARUTO - Naruto Uzumaki

Category 04: Best Voice Actress (English)
Michelle Ruff – BLEACH THE MOVIE: MEMORIES OF NOBODY - Rukia Kuchiki

Category 05: Best Casting Director
Jaime Simone - BLEACH

Category 06: Best Character Design
Masaru Kitao of Madhouse – DEATH NOTE

Category 07: Best Mechanical Design
Yoh Yoshirari – GURREN LAGAAN

Category 08: Best Male Character
L – DEATH NOTE

Category 09: Best Female Character
Rukia Kuchiki – BLEACH THE MOVIE: MEMORIES OF NOBODY

Category 10: Best Mascot Character
Mokona – xxxHOLIC

Category 11: Best Backround Design
Minoru Nakamura of Studio Pierrot - BLEACH

Category 12: Best Original Video Animation
LUCKY STAR OVA - Bandai Entertainment

Category 13: Best Feature Film
THE GIRL WHO LEPT THROUGH TIME - Bandai Entertainment

Category 14: Best Television Series
GURREN LAGAAN - Bandai Entertainment

Category 15: Best Original Score
DEATH NOTE Score – DEATH NOTE - Yoshihisa Hirano and Hideki Taniuchi

Category 16: Best Original Song
“Tonight, Tonight, Tonight” - Bleach - Beat Crusaders - Aniplex Inc. – BEAT CRUSADERS

Category 17: Best Director (Japanese)
Tetsuro Araki – DEATH NOTE

Category 18: Best Director (American)
Karl Willems - DEATH NOTE

Category 19: Best Manga - Action
TSUBASA: RESERVOIR CHRONICLE - Del Rey Manga - Clamp

Category 20: Best Manga - Comedy
FAIRY TAIL - Del Rey Manga - Hiro Mashima

Category 21: Best Manga - Drama
MONSTER - Viz Media - Naoki Urasawa

Category 22: Best Publication
Shonen Jump - VIZ Media

Category 23: Best Full Motion Video in Video Game
FINAL FANTASY IV - Square-Enix

Source: http://www.anime-expo.org/2009/07/03/anime-expo-2009-rides-on-a-high-for-its-second-day-in-los-angeles

Haruhi's "Endless Eight" is Endless

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:50:16 GMT

For the third week in a row, "the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" aired an episode titled "Endless Eight" where the characters are stuck in an endless loop, replaying the same last two weeks of summer vacation for thousands of times. & once again, Kyon was unable to determine what it is that'll make time move forward again, meaning that next week's episode will also be "Endless Eight."

No one's really sure why the hell Kadokawa is doing this. In a way it's kinda cool & interesting how they're displaying this story. Just saying time is repeating in a loop is one thing. Actually showing it repeating time & time again is another. On the other hand, what's really the point? Is Kadokawa doing this to once again troll us Haruhi fans? Lord knows that they love messing with us. But that's just stupid & pointless. It's not like they're so short on stories that they're forced to stretch "Endless Eight" out to four episodes (at least). "Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya" & "Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya" are both very long & important stories that fans truly expected to air as part of the new season, each expected to take about 5 episodes to cover. "Snowy Mountain Syndrome" was another story expected to air this season & would take a few eps to tell. So again, it's not like they needed to pad the season out.

In the novels, "Endless Eight" was only one chapter long. Fans were a little surprised that the first EE ended without it even being established as a loop, but figured that the second EE would explain this & solve the case. Well it was established in the second one, but it ended without Kyon being able to fix it. So fans figured he'd get right the next time. He HAD to. But, as we now know, he didn't, leaving us praying he does for the fourth EE episode. At the very least, the previously assumed airing order can be totally thrown out the window now.

While all three (soon to be four) "Endless Eight" episodes are all essentially the same (though to Kadokawa's credit, each episode does include completely original animation with nothing being reused or recycled), there were some key differences between the first & second times. Namely, the gang discovering that they're in a loop. But the third episode truly is pretty much EXACTLY the same as the second. There's just no reason for it to even exist. Now the question is, how long will this go on for? Are they taking the title literally & will be doing it eight times? Will ALL of the remaining season 2 episodes be "Endless Eight?" It shouldn't have even gotten to four, but hopefully that'll be the end of it. Guess we'll find out next week.

Lucky Star Manga Finally Hits US

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:32:08 GMT

Originally scheduled to come out in May, Bandai's English release of the Lucky Star manga finally hit American stores just last week. I got my hands on the first volume earlier this week, & have been greatly enjoying it. It's taller & larger than your average manga book, probably to be better present the 4-koma style that Lucky Star is. The down side to this is that it's a bit more expensive than your average manga as well, retailing at $10.99. There is a nice four page color section as well:

It should be clear that Lucky Star isn't like your average manga. The 4-koma presentation allows for only very short stories, & there's no real plot at all. Of course any fan of the Lucky Star anime should find no surprise the series not having a plot. That said, it's a very relaxing book to read. You can pick it up & put it down whenever you want. The stories wont have you crying or cursing or getting your blood pumping. It's just fun. & those of us who are fans of the anime will find it very comforting to read the breezy daily life activities of characters we've grown to love & attached to. It's hard not to smile at these girls.

Volume 1 covers the entire first year of Lucky Star's run. Specifically, the year 2004. The strips are broken down into 25 "episodes," each containing strips that have some kind of connection to tell a small story. The amount of strips in each episode varies, but it seems to average at about 10. All in all there are about 500 4-koma strips in this first book alone, give or take. A few translator notes are included at the end as well. All in all, the stories here are very similar to what was animated in the TV series. But for Lucky Star fans & newbies alike, this is a very enjoyable & easy read that I fully recommend picking up!

Gundam 00 SS Airing Cuts Endings

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:15:07 GMT

SyFy began airing Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Second Season this week, but there's a very important flaw in how they're presenting the series. As is usual with their AniMonday series, SyFy speeds through the ending credits & cuts out anything that would come after them. Normally this is only the next episode preview. But sometimes it can be more, as was the case with the Gundam 00 season one finale. For the first season at least, this was just a one-time problem. But in the Second Season, every episode has an epilogue scene after the ending credits. & if the first two episodes are any indication, SyFy doesn't plan to show any of them.

These aren't just random, unimportant scenes that are being edited out either. The first episode has Tieria talking to Saji about why he didn't shoot Setsuna, & then it shows Setsuna tracking down the second Lockon & telling him his deceased brother's connection to Celestial Being. It was pretty confusing in the beginning of episode two as to how Setsuna & Lockon II ran into each other without this scene. Then the epilogue of episode two was cut out, even though it shows the rest of the Ptolemaios crew being introduced to the second Lockon for the first time. Then we jump to Allelujah in prison, saying Marie's name to himself. Perhaps none of this is EXTREMELY important, but it's not like it's fluff material either. Hopefully SyFy & Manga Entertainment will be able to fix & rectify this mess.

More Anime Sequels Announced

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:47:53 GMT

In addition to Queen's Blade, Eden of the East, & Sengoku Basara, two more Spring anime series have announced that they'll be getting a second season. You can now add Natsu no Arashi (which has been streaming on Crunchyroll) & Asura Cryin to the list as well. Both shows had the announcement once their supposed final episodes aired in Japan.

But the biggest sequel news comes not from a Spring 2009 series, but a little bit older series. The very ecchi anime series "Kanokon" has officially received a new season, according to the new August issue of Megami Magazine (haven't gotten mine yet). It's tentatively titled as "Kanokon R," though to be fair it hasn't really been confirmed what format the sequel will be. It could be an OVA or even a movie, though more than likely it'll be your standard TV anime series sequel.

Source: http://www.animevice.com/news/more-kanokon-natsu-no-arashi-asura-cryin-you-got-it/1603/

Fairy Tail Anime Announced

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:31:14 GMT

The latest issue of Weekly Shonen Magazine confirmed that Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail manga will be getting a much anticipated anime adaptation beginning this Fall. No episode count has been given, & the manga is still going strong with no signs of stopping anytime soon. So it's hard to say what the anime will do when it catches up to the manga's storyline.

Mashima's previous manga-turned-anime, Rave Master, had its adaptation end after 50 episodes leaving the story unfinished. The rest of the manga (& there was quite a lot of it still) was never animated, thus leaving fans who only watched the anime no way of knowing what happened next. Whether Fairy Tail pulls the same stunt, or does a Naruto/Bleach & create filler arcs, probably depends on how popular the anime becomes. But if its anywhere near as popular as the manga is, then that shouldn't really be a problem. Here's synopsis of the story:

A young sorceress, Lucy Heartfilia, travels to the land of Fiore to join the magical Fairy Tail Guild. Along the way, she meets Natsu Dragneel, a teenage boy looking for a dragon named Igneel. Shortly after their meeting, Lucy is abducted by Bora of Prominence, who was posing as Salamander of Fairy Tail, to be sold as a slave. Natsu rescues her and reveals that he is the real Salamander and has the skills of a Dragon Slayer. He offers her membership into the guild, which she accepts, and they become a team performing various missions for the Fairy Tail guild.

Source: http://www.moetron.com/2009/06/27/fairy-tail-anime-announced

July Anime Birthdays

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:01:16 GMT

Lots of big, notable, & important birthdays for the month of July! Nami from One Piece, the Hiiragi twins from Lucky Star, Suzaku from Code Geass, Judai from GX (sorta), Vash from Trigun, Mai from Mai Hime, Sasuke from Naruto, & Ichigo from Bleach all celebrate this month! Can I get a "wow"? & just because I'm biased, I have to mention that Misao, also from Lucky Star, has her birthday this month as well. =3 Lots more after the jump:

3- Nami (One Piece)
3- Neji Hyuga (Naruto)
3- Hatenko (Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo)
7- Kiba Inuzuka & Akamaru (Naruto)
7- Kagami Hiiragi (Lucky Star)
7- Tsukasa Hiirgai (Lucky Star)
7- Lucia Nahashi (Venus vs Virus)
7- Sumire Takahana (Venus vs Virus)
7- Mokuba Kaiba (Yu-Gi-Oh)
8- Shirley Fenette (Code Geass)
8- Okita Sogo (Gintama)
9- Wang Liu Mei (Gundam 00)
10- Suzaku Kururugi (Code Geass)
15- Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach)
17- Tatsuki Arisawa (Bleach)
17- Saki Kijima (Hayate the Combat Butler)
18- Judai Yuki (Yu-Gi-Oh! GX)
20- Misao Kusakabe (Lucky Star)
20- Fuko Ibuki (Clannad)
21- Vash the Stampede (Trigun)
21- Insector Haga/Weevil Underwood (Yu-Gi-Oh)
22- Mai Tokiha (Mai-Hime/Otome)
23- Sasuke Uchiha (Naruto)
23- Takeshi Momoshiro (Prince of Tennis)
24- Milly Ashford (Code Geass)
29- Touya "Meijin" Kouyou (Hikaru no Go)