The folks at AnimeTV have updated their blog with a pic from the set for the upcoming second season, due to begin streaming this month. The picture shows Johnny Yong Bosch along with his new secret co-star. Sure looks like Cristina Vee to me, aka the coolest & hottest female VA out there right now. Seeing how this is the type of project that'd be right up her alley, this should be a perfect fit for the fan-turned-pro. Can't wait til the new season starts!

Source: http://goanimetv.com/?p=391

Bang Zoom Entertainment's online anime review webcast series "AnimeTV" announced a few months back that they would be starting work on a second season after all this time of no new episodes. Well now we have even more solid proof of a return. AnimeTV announced on Twitter yesterday that they had just finished filming the first episode of the new season. Looks like ATV's making a comeback after all.

UPDATE: Further Twitter updates indicated that the new season will start in December, & that a brand new surprise female co-host will join the show (in addition to Johnny, I'm guessing?). Additionally, it seems the ATV review crew, pictured above, has shrunk down a lot since season 1. Probably for the better, as there too many before.

Their own words, in 140 characters or less:

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Between February 2007 & February 2008, the original webcast series AnimeTV streamed 12 episodes of anime reviews & other oddities to online viewers. & then it was never heard from again. Well not quite true, but here we are over a year & a half since the last new episode & still no second season. But according to a recent Twitter update, Anime TV may finally be making a comeback. Witness the awesome power of being limited to 140 characters:

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The first season finale of AnimeTV is here! This episode was actually recorded live at Anime Expo last summer, so it really took them awhile to get this episode out. But it's finally here, & the anime they discussed in the season 1 final episode is actually one of my all time favorite anime, School Rumble. They only get to briefly talk about how awesome the series is before they get interrupted by the Otaku Otoko, who actually arrived in person this time. Does the long standing grudge between Johnny Yong Bosch & the Otaku Otoko finally reach its climax with this meeting? Tune in above to find out!

In actuality, less then half of the video is actually spent on the AnimeTV episode. Most of the rest is actually spent on Haruhi Suzumiya & the ASOS Brigade. First the ASOS Brigade girls lead the crowd to try to create the largest impromptu Hare Hare Yukai dance ever. After that, there's an interview with the real Japanese voice actresses for Haruhi, Mikuru, & Nagato. But if saw ANNtv's interview with them a few weeks ago, it's pretty much the exact same thing. Exact same room even. But it's worth a look anyway if you love Haruhi and/or Aya Hirano. A few other things fill in some time as well, such as an interview with Vic Mignogna.

So that concludes season 1 of AnimeTV. A second season is supposedly in the works, so hopefully they'll start releasing those quickly. The first episode came out almost exactly one year ago from now, so I really hope they don't drag season 2 on like they did for season 1. Also it may have taken me a year to realize this, but watching this ep made me just figure out that Kate Higgins is the one who sings the opening song. It's still corny as heck, but I appreciate it a bit more now. ^^;; But until next time- AnimeTV, GO!

Download: http://www.goanimetv.com/clip/animetv_eps12.mp4

After 5 months since the last new episode, AnimeTV is back! & their talking about one of my favorite televised series from the past year, Eureka Seven. The cast largely seems to like the series, though it's hard to gage how much of it they had seen. It is quite a long series, after all. The Top 5 Countdown stuck with the theme of the week & did the best mecha series of all time. Though it could arguably be considered more than just mecha, Evangelion wound up taking the top spot. & the Under Exposed segment took a look at the anime adaptation of the popular video game series, Fatal Fury. You can watch the episode above, or download it here:

http://www.goanimetv.com/clip/animetv_eps11.mp4

After a long break & nearly 2 months since their last new episode, AnimeTV returns with an episode devoted to former NebsTV series Bleach. The reviewers seem oddly harsh on this series, with most of the team saying while interesting, the show just doesn't live up to the hype around it. It should be noted that they only review the first volume of the series & therefor have only seen the first couple of episodes. As any Bleach fan will tell you, the show doesn't really get going until the Soul Society arc begins. Johnny Bosch, who's both the host of AnimeTV & the lead character Ichigo in Bleach, agreed that at first he didn't understand why it was so popular, but once things really got started he eventually got it. The Top-5 Countdown this week dealt with supernatural anime to go along with Bleach, & the series did reach high on the list at #2. But it was "Death Note" that took the top spot. NebsTV's first series "DNAngel" also made the list.

The Underexposed feature this week took a look at "Samurai Girl: Real Bout High School," a comedy action series from 2001. After that they had the lead dub actress from that series Wendee Lee make a guest appearance. Of course that's far from her only role in anime. After all, she's basically the queen of all dub anime, with being in so many series & probably more than any other actress in the industry. She talked about her favorite role of Faye Valentine in Cowboy Bebop, & also mentioned how most recently she's played the lead role of Haruhi in another former Nebs TV series the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. You can see what she has to say by watching the video above or downloading it here:

http://www.goanimetv.com/clip/animetv_eps10.mp4

AnimeTV's live Anime Expo special isn't until next weekend, & the show will be largely in reruns for the rest of the summer. But they gave us a special treat this week with a "recut" version of their very first episode, which of course was a review of NebsTV's "the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya." Basically it consists of different footage of the cast geeking out over Haruhi (which is always fun to do), & shows some new footage of the dub as well. The end of the episode also shows the ATV crew covering the American Haruhi DVD launch event, as we knew they would. I did like the quote the one guy used while covering the event: "I'm going Bankai on this bitch today!"

But what truly made this episode worth watching was the new Top 5 countdown they used, & it was a category that's very dear to my heart. It's the top 5 tsundere anime! For those not familiar with what tsundere anime is, they're best of checking Wikipedia to fully understand its meaning. The short explanation is its girls who usually act bitchy but have a hidden soft side to them. Suffice to say, tsundere girls are my favorite type of anime girls. =b

Haruhi came in at #5, & here's where some controversy arises. The fact that weather or not Haruhi is tsundere is something that's always been debated upon by anime fans. While it's true that Haruhi does have some tsundere qualities to her, & it was these very qualities that partially drew me to her, I don't think she can be considered a true tsundere character. Even if she can, there are far better candidates that should've made the list but didn't (Lum in Urusei Yatsura, Eri in School Rumble, Louise in Familiar of Zero, Shana in Shakugan no Shana, etc). That's not to say that Haruhi isn't awesome, but a good tsundere-type she is not.

Fate/Stay Night came in at #4 because of the decisively hot Rin Tohsaka (although you've got to wonder if the guy who put the video for this piece together realized what tsundere meant, as no footage of Rin is actually used & instead they show Saber). NebsTV's Full Metal Panic comes in at #3 thanks to Chidori (again I think there are better choices, but at least Chidori really is tsundere). Love Hina nabs the #2 slot because of Naru (though I personally would've preferred Asuna from Akamatsu's other series), & none other than Neon Genesis Evangelion comes in at #1. Because let's face it, Asuka is the QUEEN of all tsundere. & she rocks hard because of it (but yet again no actual footage of Asuka is shown, & instead we get Rei =\).

That's about all for this episode. Fortunately we have the Anime Expo special to look forward to next time. But if you wanna see much of the same except with new footage, you can download the episode here:

http://www.goanimetv.com/clip/animetv_eps1_recut.mp4

Nope, it isn't time for part two of Episode 009 yet. The ASOS Brigade has put up a new video showcasing "the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" American DVD launch event. Quite the crowd showed up for the event, including Bang Zoom's president & the crew of AnimeTV. Some fan videos can even be found online. They've also announced that they're trying to "organize the largest impromptu Haruhi dance ever assembled" at Anime Expo. It'll be recorded by Comcast's Anime Selects to appear On-Demand, & once again AnimeTV will be there too:

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The newest episode of AnimeTV covers the sci-fi space series Planetes. This was the first series covered by AnimeTV that I've never seen & don't know anything about. I've heard of it before, but I knew next to nothing about it. So I can't provide any of my own commentary about the series this time around.

The Top 5 countdown this week was sci-fi anime. Evangelion made the list, but it was Ghost in the Shell that took the top spot. Another segment of Under Exposed took a look at the yaoi series Gravitation. I've seen the first few eps of Gravitation, & it has some genuine funny & touching moments. But a yaoi series still isn't likely to make my priority list. But if you want to check out what the crew had to say about both of these series, you can download it here:

http://www.goanimetv.com/clip/animetv_eps9.mp4

This week, Tsubasa Chronicle was finally reviewed after being held back for 2 week. The crew was pretty split down the middle for this series, as is most of the anime fandom. If you love CLAMP & know all of the characters that appear in the crossover epic that is Tsubasa, then you'll probably love this series. If you're not familiar with CLAMP (or at the very least CardCaptor Sakura), then this anime probably isn't for you.

The Top 5 Countdown was on fantasy anime. & wouldn't you know it, former NebsTV series FullMetal Alchemist took the #1 spot. Another Under Exposed feature was shown, this time for the action series s-CRY-ed. Sure it aired on Adult Swim & might be more known than other "underexposed" series. But ask an anime fan to list 5 anime that have aired on Adult Swim, & chances are they wont say s-CRY-ed. Because of the weird final few eps of the show, I'm not sure if I'd classify it as a great series. But it was entertaining at the very least.

Speaking of s-CRY-ed, the star of that & countless other anime Steven J Blum was there to chat it up with the ATV crew. Steve Blum is probably the most well-known & highly favorite voice actor in the American anime industry. While talking to the cast, he said both Cowboy Bebop & Digimon were the 2 most important shows in his career that really helped push him into the big time, & also the shows he had the most fun working on. When I met Mr. Blum at ACen 2005, he talked about how the role of Guilmon was one of his all time favorites. He also made a first-time announcement that he'll be playing the leading role of Wolverine in the upcoming cartoon "Wolverine & the X-Men." To see all that & more for yourself, you can download the video here:

http://www.goanimetv.com/clip/animetv_eps8.mp4

This week AnimeTV was supposed to post an episode about Tsubasa Chronicle, but due to circumstances beyond their control they had to postpone that episode. Makes one wonder what could have happened. Was it issues with FUNimation? Who knows. But instead we get an episode about one of Japan's best anime of 2006, Fate/Stay Night.

The series is so good that it was licensed even before it began in Japan, & I enjoyed watching it quite a bit. NebsTV fans may remember that a fake video of it was posted on the site as an April Fools joke. I've described it before as an adult version of Zatch Bell, & I still feel that is a proper description for the series. Not adult in the sexual sense, although there is a bit of some sexual tension (it is based off of a hentai series, after all). But rather because of the amount of blood & violence.

The Top 5 video game-based anime was listed, to which Street Fighter took home the #1 slot. All of the titles on that list were action series, though. I think fans should've thought outside the box a little more & listed series like Kannon or Air, but oh well.

A new segment entitled Under Exposed was shown for the first time, which basically seems to consist of anime that are licensed in America but aren't too well known. This week, they actually took a look at former Nebs TV series Grenadier. Grenadier was a fun albeit short series that we showed last year, & despite the amount of fan-service it actually had a good story & nice fight scenes. Basically Trigun with huge, gigantic boobs.

No word this time on what anime the next episode will cover. Probably has something to do with the confusion of switching from Tsubasa to Fate/Stay. But in the meantime you can download this week's episode here:

http://www.goanimetv.com/clip/animetv_eps7.mp4

AnimeTV takes a look at the hilarious & wacky anime "Hare+Guu" this time around, & there was a lot of arguing on both ends for this series. While all agreed that the series starts off hilarious, some thought it got a bit tiring after awhile. The countdown this week was for the top 5 wacky anime. While FLCL takes the top spot & the other shows are also good, some of my personal favorites are missing from the list that I feel they should be up there as well. School Rumble, Yakitate Japan, Full Metal Panic Fumoffu, & Abenobashi are all gems as well.

Speaking of wacky anime, Otaku Otoko returned to look at another series that's currently Japan-only. This time it was the original Kinnikuman series, based on the classic Shonen Jump manga. It's sequel series was brought to America under the dub name of Ultimate Muscle by 4Kids, but the original series (starring Kid's father King Muscle & bunch of other old timers who made guest appearances in the later series) remains unlicensed in the States. The original Kinnikuman was extremely popular & huge when it was airing on Japanese TV in the 1980s. Likewise, I have always praised Ultimate Muscle as being the best dub 4Kids ever created. It was funny, smart, & very well managed by them. They did change a lot, but the writing was perfect for this comedy series.

The next episode will focus on fan-favorite Tsubasa Chronicle, which will be interesting considering the first DVD has yet to be released. Expect exclusive first looks at the dub by FUNimation here. In the meantime though, you can download the episode here:

http://www.goanimetv.com/clip/animetv_eps6.mp4

This week, AnimeTV reviews the shojo series "Paradise Kiss." I saw the first few episodes of this series awhile back & thought it did have a certain charm to it. But ultimately it wasn't my style, as it is a shojo series after all. That's not to say that I don't like shojo at all. Full Moon wo Sagashite was a favorite of mine a few years back, & what I've seen of NANA I like.

The crew also listed their top 5 favorite shojo series of all time, with Fruits Basket being #1. Can't say I blame them for that choice, but 2 others that made the list hold a higher place in my book. CardCaptor Sakura & especially Fushigi Yugi are among my all-time favorite anime. Ouran Host Club also made the list, which by the way will be coming soon to NebsTV. ^_~

Also includes was a small look back at .hack//SIGN. As much as I enjoy .hack//ROOTS, it's not nearly as good as the original series was. Speaking of, for those who've been staying up late to catch .hack//ROOTS at its early morning time, the show is taking a break for while & has been on reruns for the past 2 weeks. New episodes are expected to return in August & finish the series up. For now, make sure to catch the AnimeTV episode above.

The fourth episode of AnimeTV is now up, & this time they're taking a look at Trinity Blood & vampire anime in general. Not much else new this week, aside from a Pokemon fan who's more obsessed with Pikachu than pdutogepi is. XD

This week, Naruto is the topic of discussion on AnimeTV. The episode also takes a look back at the classic anime series "Magic Knight Rayearth" and have Julie Maddalena guest star to talk about her experience with the series and voice-acting in general. Believe it!