Posts Tagged ‘bakemonogatari’

Alright so over the weekend I did say on Twitter that I was going to step back for a bit in order to focus on some personal issues/DVD reviews for awhile but this is different. Why? Um, let me get back to you on that and leave it at this is different.

Regardless, last night the news broke that the light novel Kizumonogatari by NisiOishi (Bakemonogatari, Katanagatari) will be getting an anime adaptation! The information is coming via a promotional flyer included with another of NisiOishi’s light novels, Nekomonogatari, and so details are still limited. It is known that the story serves as a prequel to Bakemonogatari and Shaft will be returning to do the animation. Earlier this year, an anime adaptation for the sequel novel titled Nisemonogatari was also listed on Amazon Japan but was quickly scrubbed from existence once people started to notice it. Conspiracy? Probably not but let’s make with the additional announcements here! I’m not going to be able to waste my life away watching foreign cartoons forever ya know!

On a related note, it was also noted alongside the flyer that there will be five additional light novels published in the series with the final being Koimonogatari in December of 2011.

If you couldn’t tell, I’m really excited about this. I have absolutely adored both Bakemonogatari and Katanagatari since their premieres so more NisiOishi anime makes for one happy little anime geek! So now begins the not so patient waiting game. Is it out yet? Is it out yet? Is it out yet? Is it out yet? Is it out yet?

<Via MyAnimeList, ANN>

So how is everyone? It’s been kind of a slow week and I thought it was going to stay that way all the way through today. Course, then Crunchyroll and Sentai shook things up a little and that idea kind of faded away into nothing. So what have I missed this week? More zombies, rumors and fans get the Shaft treatment one more time.

New Anime of the Week:

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka: A boy is killed by a serial killer but is later resurrected as a zombie and ordered to fight for a magical girl named Haruna. Right… on that note, this series started as a light novel last year. New details were expected to be announced in the special One Heart With You net broadcast yesterday but apparently not so much.

To aru Majutsu no Index 2? : This one is still firmly in the rumor column but a store in Japan has reportedly let it leak that a second season of the JC Staff action series A Certain Magical Index is on its way. The first season aired in 2008 and was followed by the spinoff To aru Kagaku no Railgun (A Certain Scientific Railgun) a few months ago. – If this is true than this is awesome news for those of us who enjoyed the first season so let’s just hope that it’s true for now. Confirmed yet? How about now?

Yosuga no Sora; in solitude, where we are least alone: An anime adaptation has been announced for the eroge that I seriously hope gets a shorter title when it premieres. The melodrama revolves around twins who must move in with their grandfather after losing their parents in an accident. After arriving back in the remote village the twins remember why they chose to come back and the promise they made to each other as children. No details on a premiere date or who will be producing it but I’ll keep you informed. – I don’t care if it’s an eroge adaptation, this one has potential so let me hang onto that faint hope before seeing the trailer and having it shattered.

In other news that doesn’t involve me wishing that studios would just release all their info at once…

Tales from Earthsea Gets US Theatrical Premiere: In an interesting twist this week, Disney has announced this week that Tales from Earthsea from Studio Ghibli will hit US theaters on August 13th. The movie was the directorial debut of Goro Miyazaki (son of Hayao Miyazaki) and was first released to Japanese theaters in 2006. After that it’s kind of a blur of everyone including the author of the source novel saying how terrible it was. The release indicates the settlement of a dispute between Disney and SyFy over a series they created based on the same source material. – At last, America can see a “new” Ghibli movie knowing ahead of time that it’s terrible?

Bakemonogatari Delayed Again… Naturally: Who didn’t see this coming? Shaft has announced that the final volume of Bakemonogatari will not be available until July 28th after first being pushed back from March to June. The final episode is still expected to stream on the official website in June but I would take that with a grain of salt at this point.  – You know what Shaft? If you can’t get me Senjougahara on time than forget you! Hmph!… I’m just kidding, can we please have the last episode now???

Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai ED Theme Contest: This is only going to apply to those of you with a NicoNico Douga account but since that might be a few of you, here’s some info you’ll want to know. A new contest has been opened to find the 12 songs that will be used as ending themes in the series Ore no Imouto. Users can submit original song entries to NicoNico from June 1st to July 31st in any genre. The winning songwriters will get to record their songs with the series seiyuus and a small cash prize.

Well, I hope that if you’re a fan of this series that you enjoyed episode 14 because it’s going to be the last one for awhile longer. A date change on the Sofmap website today confirmed that the final episode of Bakemonogatari (and consequently the final DVD) will not be released until late May/Early June (the new official release date for the DVD/Blu ray is June 6th).

When episode 13 streamed in January, I really thought that Shaft had a plan in place to get this series completed but then the weeks of waiting began. Then when episode 14 streamed I really thought that perhaps Shaft would make it in time to keep the original March release date but alas, they’ve gone and broken my heart once again. Don’t think I’m going to take this forever though Shaft, another 200 times of this and I’m out of here!

<Via MyAnimeList>

Alright, it’s been a long day and I still have anime I want to watch before bed so it’s going to be a quick game of catch up tonight.

SakuraCon Announces Noizi Ito: Seattle convention SakuraCon won the news cycle today with their second huge announcement this week. Following up on their first announcement of being the first location in the world to screen Trigun: Badlands Rumble, the convention announced today their latest special guest to be Noizi Ito, character designer for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Shakugan no Shana.

I cannot wait to find out who they are going to be announcing next! (full press release below the cut)

GameSetWatch Interviews Kenji Kawai: If you look at most of my favorite anime titles, you’ll see one common thread among them: they have awesome music scores. Kenji Kawai has made a career out of creating haunting beautiful melodies in Eden of the East, Fate/Stay Night, Higurashi – When They Cry, The Sky Crawlers and many others which makes the interview conducted by GameSetWatch all the more interesting. He mostly talks about his video game scores but talks a bit about working with famed anime director Mamoru Oishii so check it out.

Official Bakemonogatari Site Streams Ep 14: Honestly, I didn’t think that Shaft was actually going to make it in time to keep their promise but there it is… episode 14, the next chapter of the Tsubasa Cat story arc that fans have been waiting for since November is live and ready to be watched by anyone.

<Image via Pixiv>

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Welcome to the first edition of ‘Playing Catch Up’ which is where I do exactly that. Lately balancing life with writing has been a bigger challenge than usual, however writing daily is important to me for more than just the usual professional sounding reasons. So for awhile at least (this is still an experiment, be sure to share your thoughts in the comments) on days when I just do not have the time to keep up with the news as it happens because of either real life or other projects, I will post a wrap up at the end of the day. What I’m aiming for here are a couple of sentences on the top anime news of the day ranked essentially by how much fun I can have/how much trouble I think I can get in with the story.

Dance in the Vampire Bund Gets the Shaft Treatment: Yup, it’s now a treatment. How do I know? Because I just named it one. Alright, fans of the series aren’t going to be happy but the series is going to delayed for one week with a recap episode filling the blank. I know that you might expect me to insert a wise ass comment about Mina Tepes getting shafted but actually Shaft gets a complete pass with me on this for one reason…

Bakemonogatari Episode 14 Streams Next Week: At this point I would give Shaft a pass on damn near anything if means they will finally finish this series.

Bandai Creates Manga Site: I normally don’t report on the manga news but I can’t help myself, Bandai is doing something cool! So today Bandai launched a brand new site dedicated to their manga line. The site is primarily there to provide information on current and upcoming releases but there are also a few previews available (including Lucky Star Vol. 4!) as well. (Press release below the cut)

Sora no Woto Bonus Episodes: Bonus, unaired episodes of ‘K-ON Joins the Army’ were announced for the fourth and seventh DVD volumes because obviously there is just too much action already for the currently scheduled 13 episodes.

Shameless Plug: Did you check out my thoughts on the Christopher Handley sentence? This is a dangerous precedent that is being set, not only was this man arrested for owning comic books but he is also being punished for his thoughts.

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So early this morning, I saw a headline (Sankaku Complex link) while going through my Google reader, I got a little excited and went along with a rumor that hadn’t been confirmed yet. After a new manga series taking place in the Edo period was announced earlier, fans have been waiting patiently for news regarding another anime series and I admit, I really thought this was it.  In the February issue of Newtype, the producer of Code Geass Yoshitaka Kawaguchi talks about the future of the series. In the interview, Kawaguchi states that he wants to announce a new animation project soon but never actually says any of the magic phrases such as ‘new season’, ‘spinoff’ or ‘green lit’. He did use the phrase stage or musical version though and it made me cringe a little in my seat to even type that.

Now, since I’m playing rumor monger anyway let’s go ahead with one more. ANN has reported earlier today that Amazon Japan is now listing DVD and Blu ray editions of Kizumonogatari and Nisemonogatari. Why yes, those titles do sound remarkably similar to another series that ended in with ‘monogatari’ that aired over the summer… and I’m not talking about the one that started with Umi.

Both written by NisiOisin, both titles serve as the prequel and sequel respectively to the hugely popular Bakemonogatari. Unfortunately once again, this isn’t an announcement and so we can’t really say that this is going to happen. Besides, aren’t we all STILL waiting for episodes fourteen and fifteen of Bakemonogatari which were supposed to stream on the official website WEEKS ago???

<Via ANN>

Ah the chill in the air, lights going up everywhere, hearing the same fifty songs over and over again until you want to hang yourself which all means one thing. Tis the season for top ten lists! Everyone seems to be working on their own year end lists (I’ll probably even write one or two myself before the end of the month) and that includes 2ch.

The residents of 2ch have made their votes known and ranked their top 10 anime of the year 2009. For the most part, the list reads pretty much as you’d expect. The top five are dominated by quality (with only a dash of moe inserted by Saki) with the bottom half receiving a similarly varied result. I can’t really disagree with many of the rankings here; Bakemonogatari is an easy pick for number 1 though I might have replaced Kimi ni Todoke and TM8. The full ten are listed below the cut, numbers in parenthesis are the number of votes it got from fans.

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Senjougahara is watching what you buy

When the first volume of a new series is released on DVD, the sales figures can be a very telling figure in determining how successful the series actually is. Fans can say all they want about a series while it’s on television but for studios and creators, it’s the DVD and (now) Blu ray sales that bring in the profits over the long run. So when the first DVD of both Bakemonogatari and the Endless Eight Haruhi Suzumiya did respectable sales with their releases, it caught my attention. I really enjoyed Bakemonogatari but wondered, would fans keep buying the releases by the thousands in the future? Likewise, the first volume containing the dreaded Endless Eight story arc sold over 12,000 copies which is frankly more than I ever thought it would. The latest figures have come in for both Bakemonogatari Vol. 2 in Japan and the second of four Endless Eight DVDs and surprisingly both have remained in the top five of the Oricon sales charts.

Setting new records for TV anime, Bakemonogatari initially sold 56,000 copies (combined DVD and Blu ray) of the first volume in its first two weeks on the streets. That number was big enough to set a record in itself but now the second volume of the series has gone on to sell 39,000 copies on Blu ray in its first week. This makes it the best selling TV anime Blu ray release in history easily beating the 33,000 copies sold by K-ON earlier this year. The only other anime to have stronger sales is Evangelion 1.11 which sold 49,000 in its first week.

In a related note, the first of three unaired episodes has finally begun streaming from the official website. Delayed an extra week due to production issues, fans are finally be able to see the final episodes of the Tsubasa Cat arc. I suggest you go do that instead of thinking about the depressing news that follows in the next paragraph.

In news that is slightly more depressing, the second volume of the Haruhi Suzumiya Endless Eight arc has managed to sell over 12,000 copies putting it into a solid third place on the sales charts and proving that otaku will buy anything. On that note I’d like to speak personally to everyone who is actually buying these DVDs… Cut it out! Bad otaku! You cried bloody murder when it aired originally and yet you’re still supporting it? And if you’re one of the few on this side of the Pacific who is taking the time and money to import these DVDs: Stop that! Kyoto Animation has over 12,000 enablers in Japan already; do you really want to be part of that?

<Via Japanator>

Love the Senjougahara!

Oh I’m sorry, did the sound of my head banging against the wall in annoyance wake you up? The official website for Bakemonogatari has announced that the final streaming episodes of the series will be delayed for a week. The delay is being blamed on the production schedule and promises that the first three final episodes will begin streaming on November 2^nd. Bakemonogatari has been on break since last month after getting through a successful first season on television (despite the series certain episodes not even being finished before broadcast). Finally, fans get to see the final three episodes of the Tsubasa Cat story arc and Shaft delays. I suppose we shouldn’t be entirely shocked after fans realized that Shaft couldn’t even get this series looking complete in time to air. I don’t know about any of you but a week delay is not enough to dampen my excitement about the last three episodes.

<Via ANN>

So as I mentioned earlier, the day job really took its toll with my schedule this past week. Between working the hours and trying to keep up with early impressions of the new season (by the way Sora no Otoshimono, To aru Kagaku no Railgun, The Sacred Blacksmith and Seitokai no Ichizon have all been posted), I just didn’t have the time or energy. So when it comes to writing Highs and Lames this week, I’m left with good news and bad news. The good news is that this was a really light week for news. The bad news is that even if I try to link to everything I missed this week, this would be ridiculously long. So in the spirit of pulling a solution out of my ass, I bring you the Best of What I Missed Edition of Highs and Lames! Ug… I still need a better title for this column.

Two New Anime Announced: Two new anime series were announced this week was green lit. The first series to be announced is the new collaboration between ufotable (Tales of Symphonia) and Yu Yagami (Dokkoida, Those Who Hunt Elves), Yawarakame. The series will premiere on the BeeTV mobile service and feature Miyuki Sawashiro performing the title role of Kame, every female role and all of the primary characters. I don’t even have to know how many different characters that equals to make me a little impressed.

Also announced this week was a flash anime adaptation of the light novel series Haiyore! Nyaruko-san titled Haiyoru! Nyaru-Ani. The series is about a Cthulhu deity who can take any form but it’s usually a cute silver haired girl. One night, the deity named Nyarlathotep saves a boy named Mahiro from aliens. This series had me at Cthulhu deity in the form of a cute silver haired girl. The animation is going to be produced studio DLE who also produce the flash series Eagle Talon.

Bakemonogatari Continues Strong Sales (NSFW): In an update to the quick mention I made last week, the first volume of Bakemonogatari has continued its impressive debut. In two weeks, the first volume managed to sell 56,000 copies. There are still a number of volumes left to be released and three episodes which will begin streaming for free from the official website later this month. Could a second season announcement be around the corner? Gods I hope so! The first volume is available now on DVD or Blu ray from YesAsia.com.

Demonbane Website Opened: The official English website for the upcoming Demonbane from Nitro+ (localized by JAST USA) has finally opened for fans. The site currently only features some base information about the story and characters but will be growing over the coming months.

LAME

Moero Downhill Night Delayed Again: It was only supposed to be a week but thanks to someone along the line printing music on the discs instead of eroge, the physical copies of the game are being delayed yet again. Luckily at least, anyone who pre-ordered the download version was sent codes to get their copies of the game. Everyone else is going to have to sit tight for awhile longer to drive around the passes with Michi. It’s still available for preorder from J-List (NSFW) and Right Stuf and my early review is here.

STUFF YOU DIDN’T KNOW YOU NEEDED UNTIL NOW

It seems to be almost kismet that this motorcycle helmet modeled after the Veritech fighters in the movie recently found its way onto J-List. The helmets are being released in February 2010 so you have time to get your money saved up for this one.