Continuing our discussion about how Bandai Entertainment screws up everything it touches, we now move on to their manga division. Specifically, their English release of the Lucky Star manga. As we know already, the first volume was originally scheduled to come out in May but wound up releasing in late June. The second volume was then supposed to come out in August, but since this is Bandai we're talking about, of course it got delayed. The release date was then moved to October, which came & went without it showing up yet again. But now Bandai has come out & announced that volume two of Lucky Star will be officially hitting shelves this Tuesday, November 16. They seem to be serious this time, but we'll know for sure soon enough.

The weird thing about all this is that these delays came after the fact that the first volume sold surprisingly well, so much so that Bandai had to order a second printing of it. So what better way to keep the hype of a hot new series than to delay the second part by three months without hardly any word on the matter? Regardless of whether the first volume sold great or only just mediocre, there's no excuse for such a massive delay. Only if the first volume completely tanked could one justify Bandai dragging their feet on this, & that didn't happen.

To make it up to the fans, however, Bandai will be releasing the third Lucky Star volume just a month later in December. Again, they sound serious about this, but I'm taking this news with caution regardless. After that, Bandai promises things will be fully back on track with volume four coming out in February, just as originally scheduled way back in the day. Once again, we'll see.

Source: http://www.mania.com/lucky-star-goes-back-to-back_article_118789.html

Winners: Chiaki (Minami-ke) & Kana (Saki)

Both "Lucky Star" klutzes finished in last place today. Damn, I can't believe Tsukasa did so bad. Both Hiiragi sisters are now out of the tournament, despite being the two top finishers last year. & with only Miyuki & a few minor characters left, LS is over in this tournament. Well, the series did enjoy a good two year run. Guess the third time wasn't the charm. & with no more anime in sight, this might be the last year for the girls as well.

I was disappointed by Last Order losing her round as well. Yutaka losing was more predictable. I've never seen any of "Minami-ke," but it's really popular. But still, I have no attachment to Chiaki so I have no interest in seeing her move on any further. As for Kana, she's cute & all (gotta love nekomimi modo), but I still wanted either Tsukasa or Holo to win. Full results:

( Read more... )

The English version of the popular AkibaBlog website recently took a trip to the real life Washinomiya shrine, which is an important setting in the Lucky Star series, in order to write a report so as to better educate American fans.

The four-part series writes about the shrine's history, how it became a tourist attraction, how it's adopted & accepted its Lucky Star connection, attractions near the site, & the Haji Festival that takes place there once a year. Blogger Greg even gathered up a few souvenirs to give away to readers (I got a t-shirt ^^). Lots of nice pictures are included to, so make sure to check out the report. Hit up the links below:

Part 1: http://en.akibablog.net/archives/2009/06/visit_report_on_holy_lucky_star_shrine.html
Part 2: http://en.akibablog.net/archives/2009/06/title_visit_report_on_holy_lucky_star_shrine_vol2.html
Part 3: http://en.akibablog.net/archives/2009/06/title_visit_report_on_holy_lucky_star_shrine_vol3.html
Part 4: http://en.akibablog.net/archives/2009/06/title_visit_report_on_holy_lucky_star_shrine_final.html

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:

( Read more... )

Bandai Entertainment revealed their August DVD releases, & unfortunately a lot of the list features subbed-only titles. One of which is the complete collection for sola, which isn't too surprising considering it was originally licensed by Bandai Visual USA before they folded into BE, & they only did sub-only releases. & yes, a DVD release for sola is long overdue. The next title is a little more disappointing to hear that it's not getting a dub- the .hack//G.U. Trilogy. Considering all the other .hack// anime series got dubs, it's a bit disheartening to see that this one wont.

But the real tragedy here is that the Lucky Star OVA will be sub-only. We knew that Bandai's releases of the TV series wasn't selling too well since they had to cancel the special edition version of the final DVD, but who would have thought the sales were bad enough to not even warrant a sub for the OVA. As a dub supporter, I must say that I'm pretty upset about this. It just feels wrong after the good job that went into the dub of the TV series. The only bright side to all this is that no dub means cheaper releases. The Lucky Star OVA will retail for only $14.98.

Bandai's not completely done with dubs however, as there are a few releases scheduled for August that do have English tracks. But a lot of Bandai's releases that do have dubs seem to keep getting delayed. Seriously, how many times has Bandai delayed titles this year? This time, Code Geass R2 Part 1 & Ghost Slayers Ayashi Part 3 move from July release dates to shiny new August ones. Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Season 1 Part 2 rounds out the August list, unless of course it gets delayed too.

Source: http://www.mania.com/bandai-announces-august-titles_article_115403.html

Inspired by the live Haruhi Suzumiya concert from 2 years ago, Lucky Star will now be holding their own concert in Japan next month! Just like the Haruhi event, the voice cast of the Lucky Star anime will be appearing live in person in front of a large crowed at Tokyo's renowned Nippon Budokan arena. Also like the Haruhi one, Aya Hirano will be the star of the show, doing as live-action performance of her character Konata. Most of the rest of the cast will be appearing as well, with one notable exception. See if you can spot who:

( Read more... )

Bad news for Lucky Star limited edition collectors. Bandai Entertainment has announced that they're canceling the limited edition version of sixth volume (the last one) of the series. The regular edition version will come out as scheduled, but the more expensive one with extra goodies wont. Actually one mailer from Bandai says it's only been "delayed indefinitely" (like that's a good sign anyway) but another release from them says it's fully canceled.

More than likely the reason for the cancellation is due to low sales of the special edition, & I can't really say I'm surprised. The limited edition shirts were... interesting to say the least. But I knew it was something I didn't want, especially for all the extra money. But collector's of these limited edition releases now wont be able to get the cheerleader shirt, the Misoji Misaki CD, the Motteke Sailor Fuku Re-mix 001 CD, or the special DVD cover art that only the LE's have. For those who have been filling their Lucky Star boxset with the LE DVDs, they'll have to deal with having a different style cover to finish it.

Bandai also canceled at the same time their stand-alone release of the Gurren Lagann Best Sound CD. The CD will still come with the Limited Edition version of the Gurren Lagann Part 3 DVD set, but consumers will no longer have the option of buying the disc individually.

Source: http://www.mania.com/bandai-announces-april-titles-cancels-others_article_112713.html

Paying visits to shrines has always been a big part of celebrating the New Year in Japan. & for the second year in a row, the real-life Washinomiya shrine made popular by "Lucy Star" became a huge attraction. This year in fact, over 420,000 people visited the shrine during the first three days of 2009 alone. About 300,000 more than last year.

More interestingly though is the fact that real, life-sized model of Konata's house is being built in Japan. Creator Yoshimizu Kagami is moving out of his old house & will be turning it into an exact replica of the Izumi household that's seen in his manga & the anime series it inspired. This special otaku mecca will be open to the fans beginning this Spring.

Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-01-02/estimated-300000-visit-lucky-star-shrine-on-new-year

After blogging Saimoe 2008 for the past 2 & a half months, the tournament has now reached its end. With both Hiiragi twins from "Lucky☆Star" making it to the end, which one was crowned Saimoe queen of 08? It's....

KAGAMI HIIRAGI!!!! That's right Kagami won with 1037 votes, beating out her sister Tsukasa who managed 976 votes. Congratulations, Kagamin! While I think there were a few more deserving characters to win, she was the best choice among the final 8 girls. & it's definitely better than last year's result. Best of all, we'll get to see both Hiiragi sisters compete again next year in Saimoe 2009, their third year in a row. Can Kagami do the unthinkable & pull off the first repeat win in Saimoe history? Probably not, especially with Taiga from "Toradora" competing next year. =b Congrats again to Kagami & thanks for following the tournament here on the Nebs Blog! See ya next year!

( Read more... )

Have you voted for the Saimoe final round yet? Because the battle is going on right now! Last year it was Rika & Nagi in the final round, with Rika taking it all.

This year it's both of the Hiiragi twins from Lucky Star. So who will win, Kagami or Tsukasa? Make sure to cast your vote for the most important election of the year! Oh sure, there's the whole Obama vs McCain battle in 2 days, but neither of them are all that moe now are they? =b But anyway, make sure to vote & check out the Saimoe 2008 promotional video above!

Today's results shouldn't surprise anyone. You knew who'd win, I knew who'd win, everyone knew who'd win. But let's through this for formality's sake. Kagami Hiiragi of "Lucky☆Star" won her round, getting three times the amount of second place Yume Asakura of "D.C.II." Haruna Sairenji of "To LOVE-ru" came in third.

Likewise, Konata's lesbian lover & "Lucky☆Star" co-star Kagami Hiiragi won her round as well. She beat out Yuka Uchida of "Minami-ke," though admittedly not by as wide a margin as Konata did. Still got over twice the amount though, so still big. Mizore Shirayuki of "Rosario+Vampire" came in third.

( Read more... )

Alright, here's the REAL Lucky Star OVA trailer for your viewing pleasure. Not the doggy one we got last time. The OVA looks to maintain all the Lucky Star craziness & randomness that the TV series had, which is definitely a good thing. At one store in Japan that's taking preorders, they have a picture of Kagami acting all tsundere by saying "Well, you don't need to make preorders if you don't want!" Love it. XD

As a bonus, a few more trailers for new anime premiering this Fall. One is for another OVA called "Zettai Shougeki ~Platonic Heart~," which takes fighting girls & exploding clothing to a whole new level. The other treat is the latest trailer for Gundam 00 series 2. Check them out below:

( Read more... )

Boy, what a way to kick off the D Group. Huge competition resulted in the highest vote counts yet for Saimoe 2008. The Rena VS Maria battle was the hardest fought round yet, with both of them getting over 1000 votes each. As I expected, the lovely Fatina (The Tower of Druaga) basically watched the battle from the sidelines, coming in an extremely distant third place. Can't say I was surprised by that, but what did surprise me was how many votes the other two got. If they were in separate brackets, they'd both easily advance. But as luck would have it, two of the most popular girls in the tournament went head-to-head in the first round. The end result was Maria (Hayate the Combat Butler!) with 1034 votes & Rena Ryuuguu (Higurashi Kai) with 1056 votes. Yes, Rena won. & Maria has been kicked out far earlier than she deserved. I knew it'd be close, but I really thought Maria would win in the end. I am sad.

Speaking of close, one of the biggest names in this tournament fought today as well- Konata! & even though she went up against one of the least important, least popular Nanoha girls, Konata still just BARELY one. I think this demonstrates how scary these Nanoha characters can be. They are too powerful of a force. Just imagine if Konata went up against one of the more important girls, she'd probably get kicked out already! At the rate this is going, the top 8 will be ALL Nanoha. But in the end, Konata Izumi of "Lucky☆Star" beat out Reinforce II (Nanoha StrikerS) & Karen Sonomiya (Sky Girls).

& finally, there was one round that wasn't close. Kotomi Ichinose of "CLANNAD" beat out both Setsuna Kiyoura (School Days) & Nora Arendt (Spice and Wolf). Considering she's a "hot loli," I really thought Setsuna would win. & considering how cute she is, I wanted her to win as well. I know I know, support the "home team" & choose Nora from Spice/Wolf. In truth though I actually thought she'd win, but in the end otaku can't withstand the moe-ness of Clannad.

Tomorrow, we have maids, maids, & more maids competing against each other, including two from NebsTV series. Yui from Koharu Biyori looks to take on Reika from Ninomiya-kun, while going up against yet another maid character as well. Yui will likely win this round. The cute Haruna from To Love-ru enters Saimoe, but will likely lose to the Shigofumi girl. & Hiyori from Lucky Star will likely win her round, despite going up against characters from Code Geass & DCII.

Source: http://www.moetron.com/2008/08/31/%ef%bd%a2saimoe-%e2%80%9808%ef%bd%a3-group-d-day-1-block-1st-round-results/

So I thought Kagamin had her work cut out for her today, but instead she won by landslide & crushed the competition! So as a result, Kagami Hiiragi of "Lucky☆Star" beat out Sanae Furukawa (CLANNAD) & Shion Sonozaki (Higurashi Kai). I really thought Shion was gonna make it difficult for Kagami, but she actually came in last. So yay, go Kagamin!

In a surprising move, "Pastel" Ink Nijihara from the controversial fan-service/English-teaching anime "Moetan" actually won her round. Kaguya Sumeragi (Code Geass R2) & Kafuka Fuura (Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei) both failed to advance, despite me thinking they'd both do better than Ink. Not that I'm unpleased with this result, as I wanted her to win. I just didn't think that it would happen. Never underestimate otaku's love for hot lolis with clothing that leaves nothing to the imagination.

& finally, Amu Hinamori of "Shugo Chara!" managed to beat out both Rin Itoshiki (Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei) & Aoi Nogami (Zettai Karen Children). Boy, not a good day for the Zetsubou-sensei girls, was it?

Tomorrow, the awesome Kaaya from "Tower of Druaga" enters the Saimoe Tournament. & while I'll be rooting for her, I have serious doubts that she'll advance. Even greater than my doubts about Ink-chan. But another competitor I'll be rooting for & does hold promise is Sakuya from "Hayate the Combat Butler!" One of the cuter girls in the series (but then aren't they all?), but she faces very tough competition from a certain Shigofumi character. Should be a tough battle between the two of them. I know at the very least that this guy will be voting for Sakuya with all his might.

Source: http://www.moetron.com/2008/08/28/%ef%bd%a2saimoe-%e2%80%9808%ef%bd%a3-group-c-day-2-block-1st-round-results/

Over 30 new anime series are scheduled to begin airing in Japan this Fall, so there's a LOT of good stuff coming our way. & chief among them is the Lucky Star OVA trailer, which only just came out yesterday. Easily gaining the top spot above, this is a MUST WATCH trailer just to see how awesome it is! If the actual OVA is anything like this preview, we're in store for the best piece of animated material in Earth's history.

The other videos below may pale in comparison, but they're worth checking out anyway. A few repeats I've posted before too, but only because they're so good. Here they are for your viewing pleasure:

( Read more... )