Posts Tagged ‘j.c. staff’

Kami Sama no Memo Chou
Studio:  J.C. Staff
Premiere Date:  7/2
Reviewed: 7/7
Genre: Mystery

First Impression: I was right, GoSick without the period setting.

In the first, almost hour long, episode of Kamisama no Memo chou, the hero is introduced as Narumi Fujishima. Living in his own world, he is approached one day by his classmate Ayaka who has a couple of special tasks for him: join the gardening club and help out in a restaurant. When he visits the restaurant for the first time, he is introduced to a number of characters who are all working for a NEET detective named Alice.

Somehow finding himself pulled into her world, Narumi joins those who are working as her assistant as she investigates the mysterious disappearance of a high school girl who went missing after it was revealed she was working as a prostitute.

Good and the Bad

Before this series even started I was getting an image that I was going to be watching GoSick only without the cute Victorian loli character and I was right. This is exactly that only with more people working as assistants to the genius detective. This is both good and bad. While it’s bad for the obvious reasons, it’s good in its own way for the turns that it takes as it presents its opening mystery.

The unique approach here is that this is a series that isn’t going to be afraid to explore some much darker issues. In this first episode, a high school girl loaded down with pressures from real life forces horrible things onto her body and goes missing because of it. Other story tidbits from around the internet indicate that in the future this series will also be exploring the rarely used theme of drugs within the Japanese society. This is a series that is promising things for its future that few series ever do.

The issue here is that the presentation of the first episode isn’t particularly gripping. While all of the usual motions are made, the longer runtime did not play positively for this series. The pacing for the episode felt slow the entire duration and really drug the episode down as the episode was slowly played out. You could almost compare the workings of this episode to an episode of House; “Have we wasted enough time? Good, here’s what really happened…”

Overall

I wasn’t as impressed with this episode as the creators obviously wanted me to be. While a nice attempt at the mystery genre, this first episode feels a little too clunky to get me excited about watching more. I am hopeful for the next couple of episodes but I fear this one is going to end up in the dropped column before long.

Available via Amazon Available via Right Stuf

Maid Sama Collection 1 Released By: Sentai Filmworks Released: 6/7/11 Reviewed: 6/19/11 Rated: 13+

Up until recently, Seika High was an all boys school with a reputation for being a little rough around the edges. With times growing harder and the population shrinking, the school eventually opened its doors to females but retained it’s rough around the edges reputation creating a not incredibly welcoming environment for the female population.

Enter Misaki Ayuzawa, the man hating, fire breathing girl who wants to see the school as a place where boys and girls can coexist. Working hard to get the role of student council president, Misaki manages to achieve her goal by working to comical lengths and earning the trust of the faculty along the way. That’s just one side of her life however.

On the other side, she’s working in a maid cafe while struggling to pay off the debt that her deadbeat father left her and her family with. As she is attempting to keep her double life a secret, she is discovered by the most popular, laidback boy in school named Usui. Seeing it as a chance to keep a fun secret, the series spends the next thirteen episodes exploring the always teasing, often Misaki infuriating relationship that grows between the two.

Good and the Bad

At the risk of spoiling the rest of the review, let me just say this now: I love this series. I have loved this series in the past and I will continue to love this series in the future. It is a deep unabashed love and I can make no secret about it.

What makes this series special is a clever mix of visual humor with sharp writing that keeps each episode fresh while slowly creeping things forward. From episode to episode, the series maintains a fresh new level of fun events occurring within the president’s life. In one episode she may be dealing with students from a richer school picking on her own students while in another she attracts a quintet of brothers who wish to emulate her incredible work ethic. In yet another her best friend falls in love with an underground rock star forcing them all to go on a lunch date together. No matter what is happening in the foreground however, Maid Sama is always delivering in the background.

It doesn’t matter what is happening right in front of you, what keeps this series intriguing are the ever changing movements being made in the background. Weaving an excellent and ever changing relationship between Usui and Misaki, each episode deals with these characters while always ending in an increasingly predictable ‘Usui saves Misaki from Situation A’. Despite this, the display of emotion from these characters as Misaki attempts to figure out how they feel about each other is always hilarious thanks to sharp verbal (and sometimes physical) jabs inserted along the way.

What makes this series frustrating at times however is that this relationship is really only half this set. Making up the other half of the series, Maid Sama stands apart from other series for really taking the time to develop its supporting cast. From their interests to their histories, everyone from Misaki’s best friend Sakura to the ones who are lovingly dubbed The Three Idiots get some time on screen to become real characters. Even the other girls working with Misaki in Maid Latte are given a little time to be more than just moving props.

Music

While occasionally you’re going to hear a very status quo type of piano theme for background music, the main impression that one takes away from the music is the often ironically rich themes that fill the series. Inside Maid Latte there are very Victorian string themes that fills the room every time Misaki tries to be moe. However be warned that in every single episode you’re going to hear Misaki’s victory theme play at least once in one form or another which will either put a smile on your face or make you want to fast forward until it stops playing for the thousandth time.

Overall

With this release, Sentai Filmworks grabbed a winning series. Filled with heart and humor, this will be a favorite in my collection for years to come. This one can’t be recommended highly enough.

Available via Crunchyroll

Otome Youkai Zakuro Streaming From: Crunchyroll Streaming Premiere: 10/4/10 Reviewed: 2/10/11 Rated: 13+

Taking place in the Meiji era, Japan is entering a new time when influences from the west are becoming common. This is creating a divide between the humans and the magical younin who have lived there for centuries. In order to bridge the gap and create harmony, the military establishes the Spirit Affairs Division to help the two coexist in the new world. Made up of three young officers and four female half younin, the unit tackles cases of disturbances and attacks from restless younin in the area. Along the way, one of the half younin girls, Zakuro, will discover that what she possesses inside of her makes her a highly desired prize to a secret group interested in half spirits.

Good and the Bad

I have to admit that I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this series. In the early going there wasn’t always a lot that led me to think there was a larger point in mind. While the narrative may have suffered a little in the beginning, by the second half Otome Youkai Zakuro establishes a solid story that doesn’t even need to rely on many of the more common themes of the present.

Though it’s difficult not to get lost in this series when JC Staff has used so much effort to create a natural and appropriate world for the characters to live in. Working hard to establish the era, the artwork in this series consists of a soft palette of muted autumn colors. Constantly washed in faded off whites, browns and dark greens the animation in this series is perfect for sending the audience back to an older time and each episode is even introduced with a short flickering film strip title screen.

The setting and backgrounds here are so natural that the mood is almost ruined by the characters living in it. Generally, the setting and characters are mellow, reserved and calm. However, there are still enough reminders of the present with what feels like modern characters dressed up and dropped in a new time period. It’s not to imply that I didn’t enjoy these characters. The characters were easy to like and even made me giggle at their antics but the cute moe twins and ultra tsundere Zakuro can be a challenge to see as a natural fit within 19th century Japan. When placed against the larger story however, this is a trade off that will barely register by the time you’ve crossed the finish line.

There aren’t a lot of series that can wear the shoujo action badge. There are even fewer that can claim to have done it particularly well but this is an example of a series skillfully walking the line between two opposing genres. On its shoujo side, Otome Youkai Zakuro spends most of its run slowly developing the romantic relationships between the leads. These romantic moments and slowly growing feelings are some of the more memorable to pick out. With each relationship, the audience sees things progress in different ways which make the various paths fun to compare.  On its action side, this series sets up battle sequences much better than anyone would ever think. Complete with a ritualistic song and dance, the moments that Zakuro draws her blade are really well put together. Watching her power grow as she fights is always some of the most interesting moments to watch unfold until they are surpassed by the tearful finale.

Music

Staying far away from any electronic sounds, the score for this series is comprised entirely of orchestral pieces. Occasionally using brass for the tenser moments, most of the music is led by flute and piano melodies. Using simple one instrument melodies over what is usually a sea of string instruments, the music and story are natural companions to each other. Playing wonderfully to the emotion, the soft string and flute melodies mark the many moments of sadness within this series without fail.

Subtitles

Watching the series from episode to episode, I was pleased to find the translation and subtitles to be almost entirely clean of error. While occasionally I noticed a simple word reversal, there were never any moments of frustration due to mistimed dialogue or major spelling errors.

Overall

Otome Youkai Zakuro isn’t trying to break new ground with its story. The setting and story have been done before but the difference is that this series does it better. Sweet and quietly compelling, the soft artwork and flowery action sequences might tempt some into quitting early but it’s worth it to fight that urge. Otome Youkai Zakuro is a series you stick with simply for its likeable characters and capable storytelling. A nice period series that didn’t get much attention last year, this is a gentle yet sometimes dark story that leaves fans satisfied but with just enough questions to want more. This is worth your time!

Yumekui Merry
Dreameater Merry
Studio: JC Staff
Premiere Date: 1/6/11
Reviewed: 1/12/11
Genre: Fantasy Action

First Impression: This was one series where I expected nothing but got everything.

 

High schooler Yumeji is living with both a gift and a curse. His gift is being able to look at people and predict what dreams they are having based on the colors he sees glowing from their body. The curse is that every single night he has the same nightmare of being chased through a broken world by cats who are trying to kill him. After meeting a mysterious girl, he is pulled into the broken world again while still wide awake. This time, the weird girl he met named Merry Nightmare is there fighting with him (but not necessarily for him). She is from the dream world and wants to return and the only person she thinks can do that is the same one trying to steal Yumeji’s body for himself.

 

Good and the Bad

I admit it, before the season started I barely gave any thought to this series. The premise sounded boring and nothing in the artwork was getting me excited. Then I watched the first episode and was floored.

When I had nothing to go off of but the plot synopsis I expected this to be a light hearted affair that was going to get by on cat humor and an occasional fight scene. Instead, JC Staff completely wipes the slate and gives audiences an unexpected tour de force of fight scenes, interesting characters and a story hook that is now impossible to get away from. In just about every premiere I’ve watched this season, the main idea of the first episode has been to introduce the characters and humor style first with the story coming second with few exceptions. This is one of the exceptions.

Filled with gritty backgrounds, the artwork produced by JC Staff is some of the best I’ve seen so far this season. While the character designs might look a little familiar (especially if you watched Ookami san last summer), the world that they live in sets it apart from the rest right away. The characters in this series are all cleanly and neatly designed while still retaining a high level of cute and moe. What make these fairly standard designs pop is when they are placed against dirty and gritty backgrounds. Dirty buildings, occasional graffiti; these might seem insignificant at first but compared to the impeccably clean cities that most series take place in, these little details manage to create an a smooth bridge between the real world and dream world that blurs the line of where one world ends and the other begins.

Where Yumekui Merry had me though is in the very strong pacing that the story moves in. From start to finish, Yumekui Merry never feels like it’s rushing forward to get through as many points or flags as possible before the end. Instead everything in this series moves at a simple pace that slowly starts to introduce the important points without glossing over them. By the end of the episode, I never felt like I had been bowled over with information or was lacking in anything that I needed to know right away. The heroes and villains were introduced, the fights were entertaining and the closing moments left me with a serious desire to know more.

 

Music

I wasn’t aware that Keiichi Oku (Peacemaker Kurogane) was composing the music until I looked it up afterward but now I know that I won’t forget it. Starting with a rocking opening theme sung by Marina Fujiwara and moving into the background scores, there were few moments when I wasn’t enjoying the amazing music attached to this series. In the episode, Oku uses a number of instruments and influences to emphasize the mood of every scene. If this is any indication of what is coming down the line, this series is instantly that much better because of it.

 

Overall

I approve of this episode with every fiber of my cat tolerating body. With slick to look at JC Staff animation, well timed fight scenes and a story that really feels like it’s trying hard to do something memorable, it’s hard not to call this premiere a success. This series may not become the best this season but right now, it’s one of the best that I’ve started. This is the fun yet dark action series that everyone should be looking at this season.

January is a really important month for me because there is just so much going on! Oh right, yeah there’s the new year I guess but if you have your priorities in order, you’d actually be referring to the first new anime season of the year! It’s a really small season this year though. I only have 21 new series (down from 29 last year) on this year’s preview, not including the OVAs/OADs that will be listed in part 2. This is just not a season for studios to be multitasking it seems. A quarter ago, JC Staff were the busy ones but this season they’re quietly working on one (Yumekui Merry). Instead, Studio Deen are the busy ones this season with three different series premiering (Starry Sky, Kore wa Zombie desu ka and Dragon Crisis). Studio Pierrot is right behind them with two (Beelzebub and Level E) though that’s only technically since they’re only co-producing one of them.

So there’s a lot to cover to let’s get into it already. Part 1 of this season’s review covers everything up until 1/8, which is roughly half the season. Don’t forget that I’ll be spending the entire month getting my early impressions up as I am able to view the new episodes. Feel free to chime in with your own opinions along the way.

Haiyoru! Nyaruani: Remember My Mr. Lovecraft
Studio: DLE Inc.
Premiere Date: 12/10
Genre: Comedy
Adapted From: ONA/Light Novel

What It’s About

A Cthulhu deity has taken the form of a seemingly harmless silver haired girl. While wandering around, she comes across a high school boy, Mahiro Yasaka, being attacked by aliens and saves him. For those unaware, that’s never just the end of it when it comes to Cthulhu.

Why You Should Care

I haven’t looked at this one yet but I already know it’s going to make for interesting viewing. The most experienced people on the cast are the voice cast and character designer, Koin (Kanokon). But come on… it’s anime and Cthulhu! Are you really going to tell me that you’re not the least bit curious?

Starry Sky
Studio: Studio DEEN
Premiere Date: 12/23
Genre: Shoujo Romance
Adapted From: PSP Games

What It’s About

Yahisa Tsukiko is the first female to enroll in what was formerly an all boys school. While making her way through the school and meeting her classmates, she bumps into 12 different boys. Not so coincidentally, they all have personalities that match the 12 signs of the zodiac.

Why You Should Care

Studio DEEN is producing three series this season so if you don’t like this one, there are still two more chances down the road.

Cast and crew for this series include fan favorites Jun Fukuyama  and Daisuke Ono playing Azusa (Mr. Sagittarius) and Suzuya (Mr. Cancer) respectively; music is being composed by Tomoki Kikuya (Squid Girl, Kyouran Kazoku Nikki, Hidamari Sketch, Asu no Yoichi, Da Capo II) and the bishies are safe in the hands of Maki Fujii (07-Ghost).

Rio – Rainbow Gate!
Studio: XEBEC
Premiere Date: 1/4
Genre: Ecchi Comedy
Adapted From: Slot Machine
Available via Crunchyroll

What It’s About

Originally a popular slot machine character (don’t laugh, anyone remember pachinko based series Umi Monogatari?), Rio Rollins Tachibana makes her debut working in a casino where she is known as the ‘Goddess of Victory’. What she really wants is to get closer to her mother who was also known as one of the best card dealers ever and to do this she must collect 13 special cards called ‘gates’.

Why You Should Care

I’m not saying that this is absolutely going to be an ecchi series but it does have the same studio (Xebec) and director (Takao Kato) as To Love Ru. It’s also premiering on acid nipple satellite network AT-X. Draw your conclusions here.

Kimi ni Todoke Season 2
Studio: Production I.G
Premiere Date: 1/4
Genre: Romance
Sequel

What It’s About

The continuing stories of shy girl Sawako making friends in her class. In the first season, she was able to strike up a relationship with the most popular boy in class among others.

Why You Should Care

All of the cast and crew remain the same; Production I.G is still handling the animation and Hiro Kaburaki remains in the directors chair. The only change is the addition of Mamoru Miyano playing Kento.

This is one the series from this year that I would love to sit down and give another chance someday. It didn’t grab me the first time but there is still something special to this series.

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
Magical Girl Madoka Magica
Studio: Shaft
Premiere Date: 1/6
Genre: Magical Girl
Trailers

What It’s About

After days of research and watching all 10 trailers here’s what I’ve put together about this series: there are magical girls and they grant wishes.

Why You Should Care

This is the first series of the season that I’ve given up all hope of being able to resist based solely on the crew: animation from Shaft (Bakemonogatari, Maria Holic, Hidamari Sketch), director Akiyuki Shinbo (Bakemonogatari, Hidamari Sketch), music composed by Yuki Kajiura (Madlax, Noir, Aquarian Age, Pandora Hearts, Mai Hime), theme songs from ClariS (OreImo) and Kalafina (Sora no Woto) and character designs from Umi Aoki (Hidamari Sketch).

So psyched to see this it’s not even funny. Alright, maybe a little.

IS: Infinite Stratos
Studio: 8-Bit
Premiere Date: 1/6
Genre: Sci-Fi School Comedy
Adapted From: Light Novels
Trailers

What It’s About

In the future, wars are fought with exoskeletons called Infinite Stratos and are almost exclusively piloted by females. When 15 year old Ichika discovers that he is one of the few exceptions, he is given a full scholarship to an all female school that trains IS pilots.

Why You Should Care

There are a couple of reasons to get optimistic about this one. Director Yasuhito Kikichi has done giant mechs (Macross Frontier) and one of the writers, Fumihiko Shimo, has done school romance (Clannad, Full Metal Panic, Kanon [2006]). Additionally music is being composed by Hikaru Nanase (Chrno Crusade, Canaan, Da Capo, Scrapped Princess, Super Gals).

However, it’s still a school comedy with giant mechs and this is the first time studio 8-Bit has been credited for animation production. Keep your expectations reasonable.

Yumekui Merry
Studio: J.C. Staff
Premiere Date: 1/6
Genre: Action Comedy
Adapted From: Manga
Trailers

What It’s About

Fujiwara is a completely normal boy beyond the fact that earlier in his life he discovered a power to see the auras surrounding people while additionally having constant dreams about cats fighting a war. Not surprisingly, while walking around one day an odd cat girl falls on top of him and drags him into the middle of a war being fought by cats.

Why You Should Care

Early looks at the animation from JC Staff make me want to care about this release but it’s already becoming a struggle.

Director Shigeyasu Yamauchi has the most impressive resume out the cast and crew with having worked on 5 different Saint Seiya releases.

Wolverine
Studio: Madhouse
Premiere Date: 1/7
Genre: Action
Adapted From: Marvel Comic
Trailer

What It’s About

Wolverine, the tough mutant with superhuman healing, senses and retractable claws travels to Japan to investigate Advanced Idea Mechanics. While there he’ll run into familiar figures from his past.

Why You Should Care

Iron Man wasn’t really received that well so it’ll be curious to see how the second of four Marvel anime adaptations (Blade and X-Men are still to come) sits with fans.

Just like with Iron Man, the pilot will be directed by a veteran, in this case famed director Rintaro (a whole host of Leiji Matsumoto titles). Starting with episode 2, the series will be directed by Hiroshi Aoyama (Rocket Girls). As a side note, how lame is that? “Alright guy, Rintaro has done his thing. Now make the rest of the series just as good.”

Wolverine will be played by Rikiya Koyama who has done other tough guys like Emonzaemon in Katanagatari, Jubei in Ninja Scroll and Reiji in Witchblade.

Gosick
Studio: Bones
Premiere Date: 1/7
Genre: Mystery
Adapted From: Light Novels
Trailer
Available via Crunchyroll

What It’s About

Taking place at the St. Marguerite Academy in the fictional European country Sauville during 1924, a boy named Kazuya Kujo transfers into the school. Eventually he meets and befriends a girl named Victorique who is only interested in solving mysteries (including some that even the local detectives can’t figure out). Throughout the series, Kazuya and Victorique will make their way around solving cases and forming bonds with those who need help.

Why You Should Care

Beyond animation from Studio Bones (Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, Ouran High School Host Club, Fullmetal Alchemist) it’s hard to come up with reasons to be genuinely excited about this one. Director Hitoshi Nanba worked on Heroman and Kotaro Nakagawa composed the music for Code Geass and Hayate the Combat Butler but other than that… eh.

Cardfight!! Vanguard
Studio: TMS Entertainment
Premiere Date: 1/8
Genre: Card Fighting
Trailer
Available via Crunchyroll

What It’s About

Again, after careful research this is what I’ve come up with: the main character is a third year middle schooler and becomes really good with a new card game. But someone else comes along who says they are better and so the two must duel. Probably repeatedly.

Why You Should Care

Yet another series about dueling cards but this one was put together by YuGiOh mangaka Akira Ito, Duelmasters technical advisor Satoshi Nakamura and Bushiroad president Takaaki Kidani and they really want you to like this series. So much so that JAM Project has been acquired to sing the OP.

Other interesting names attached to the crew include director Tsuji Hatsuki (Rurouni Kenshin, Samurai X, YuGiOh Duel Monster GX) and Tsubasa Yonaga (Ren in Big Windup!) as the lead card dueler.

Freezing
Studio: A.C.G.T.
Premiere Date: 1/8
Genre: Sci-Fi Action
Adapted From: Manga
Trailer

What It’s About

In an alternate future where Earth has been invaded by aliens, Aoi Kazuya enrolls to fight in the resistance. Entering a school that’s training genetically modified women called Pandoras to fight and men to be their partners, Aoi ends up meeting the most powerful and popular girl named Bridgette. Despite being warned of her unique personality, Aoi teams up with her to fight together.

Why You Should Care

At first I thought this was going to just like Infinite Stratos. Now I see that the primary difference is that this series will be darker, bloodier and more ecchi.

This is another series premiering on AT-X and features not only the director of IkkiTousen (Season 1), Takashi Watanabe, but also two writers who have worked on the franchise.

Animation is being produced by A.C.G.T who you might remember from Koi Kaze, Seven of Seven (I’m trying not to hold that one against them) and Human Crossing.

Onii-chan no Koto nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara ne!!
Because For Some Reason My Big Brother Doesn’t Like Me At All
Studio: ZEXCS
Premiere Date: 1/8
Genre: Sibling Complex Comedy
Adapted From: Manga
Trailer

What It’s About

Nao is in love with her brother Shusuke but contains her feelings because those types of relationships are still illegal. However, once she finds out that she isn’t actually a blood relative but rather adopted after her real parents died all bets are off! With no laws to stand in her way, Nao begins her quest for a real relationship with her brother despite his ex constantly standing in her way.

Why You Should Care

Tired of sibling complex series yet? Seems like this is a trend that’s going to be around for awhile longer.

This one will be broadcasting on normal television so keep your ecchi expectations a bit lower.

The cast and crew behind this series is impressive at least: ZEXCS (Da Capo, Chu Bra, Canvas2, H20 Footprints in the Sand) is handling animation, Keitaro Motonaga (Akane Iro Somaru Saka, Katanagatari, School Days, Princess Princess) is directing and Tomoki Kikuya is composing his second score of the season (Starry Sky being the other).  The cast includes Eri Kitamura (Yui in Angel Beats, Saya in High School of the Dead) as Nao, Toshiyuki Toyonaga (Tayura in Kanokon) as Shusuke and Marina Inoue (Kiryuu in Akane Iro Somaru Saka, Natsuru in Kampfer) as Iroha.

Mitsudomoe Zouryouchuu!
Studio: Bridge
Premiere Date: 1/8
Genre: Comedy
Sequel
Available via Crunchyroll

What It’s About

The continued adventures of the Marui triplets making life miserable for their teacher as he tries to hook up with the bumbling school nurse.

Why You Should Care

No crew announcements but the animation studio is staying the same so I’m assuming this means all or most of the cast and crew will be returning.

Whew, that’s it for now. Later this week I’ll be posting the second half which covers the rest of January, February and all of the OVAs and OADs that are starting to be released this season. So, got any picks on what looks good this season?

Anyways, I’m going to do my best to get trailers and announcements up but forgive me if I miss a few. So alright, first one I’m coming across is a new anime (of some sort) based on the magical girl slot machines Kaito Tenshi Twin Angel… wait, seriously? (looks again) Yeah, alright, awesome… what is that one again?

The story behind the game is that Haruka and Aoi are first year high schoolers by day but at night the turn into Red Angel and Blue Angel and thwart villains! The new series will be produced by JC Staff but the announcement is obscuring what kind of the anime it will be but I’m guessing it’ll be a TV anime. The logic I’m following is that in the announcement, it’s also mentioned that the original net animation announced earlier this year is going to be an OVA instead and so what would be the point in releasing two different OVA series around the same time? But that’s just my guess and I openly admit that I’m usually pretty bad at guessing.

Here’s the announcement straight from the show floor:

Via ANN

I really have to say, this whole partnership with Kadokawa thing that Crunchyroll has… it’s working for them.

In a press release sent out today, Crunchyroll announced the addition of three harem comedies to the site today, one of which is getting resurrected from the old ADV graveyard. Joining the other comedies that fans are already enjoying are Good Luck Ninomiya kun, H20 Footprints in the Sand and Maburaho (this one is the zombie) . The first three episodes of the first two series are already available for all access users while four episodes are available of Maburaho. Additional episodes will be added weekly while premium members have access to the series in their entirety.

For regions, Good Luck Ninomiya-kun and H2O Footprints in the Sand will be available in: North America, South America, United Kingdom, Ireland, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Middle East and Africa. Maburaho has almost the same coverage being available in: North America, South America, United Kingdom, Ireland, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Netherlands, Portugal, Middle East and Africa.

Now, ready for the rundown?

I’m starting with Maburaho simply because this is the only one out of the three I am glad to see brought back (not only do I own this entire series but I own it in singles). The JC Staff produced borderline ecchi comedy premiered in 2003 takes place in a world where everyone uses magic. High school student, Kazuki, is one of the worst and weakest magicians but thanks to his lineage is destined to father one of the most powerful magic users ever. When this gets out, every girl in school is literally trying for the chance to birth that kid. Yes, the series is as ridiculous as I just made it sound but for a harem series, this is one of the bright spots of the epic 2005 DVD peak.

Second up is ZEXCS produced eroge adaptation, H20 Footprints in the Sand. Originally premiering in 2008, this is the first of the two getting North American debuts. In this series the lead is the mysteriously blind and emotionally scarred Takuma. After moving to a more rural area with his uncle, he enrolls in a new junior high and gets to know various girls. Oddly, as he gets the know them his vision gradually starts to heal.

Finally, produced by AIC Spirits and premiering in 2007, Good Luck Ninomiya kun is based off the light novel series featuring Shungo, a high school student who is usually home alone due to his sister being on mercenary missions. One day Shungo finds out that his sister has sent two siblings, Mayu and her older brother Mikihiro, to live with him to cure Mayu of her fear of men. And just for giggles she’s also blackmailed the student council president into being their maid.

I admit to this much… a small part of me wants to push everything aside and watch all three of these series. Not a big enough part that I’m actually going to do that but the temptation is there.

Full press release below the cut

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So if you’ve been sticking with the blog for awhile you may remember me putting up weekly catch up posts to cover stories that I couldn’t get to. Then I got bored with that idea and let it kind of fade away. But now I’m finding myself in need of something regular to post again and thus have resurrected my weekly game of catch up. It’s been slightly rebuilt but is all the stronger for it. Getting into the real reason why you’re reading this, six new anime were announced this week including 2 movies and a Type-Moon adaptation that has already has me ready to give up a few hours of my life to see.

Take Moon: Out of all the releases announced this week, this is the one that made me sit up and take notice. In the latest issue of Comic Rex magazine was an announcement an anime adaptation of Take-Moon. Created by Eri Takenashi (creator of Kannagi), the manga series creates humorous side stories featuring characters from various Type-Moon games including Fate/Stay Night, Melty Blood and others. Seiji Kishi (Angel Beats!) has already been chosen as director. – Seriously, just reading the initial announcement was enough to make me look forward to seeing this.

 

Prince of Tennis Movie: Jump Square magazine announced via their January issue that a new Prince of Tennis movie is in production. The movie will follow the manga which ran from July 1999 to March 2008 though which parts of it are going to be animated is yet to be seen. – Never got into this one but I’m sure there are tons of fans out there who are excited to hear this.

 

Ao no Exorcist: Speaking of the January issue of Jump Square, it’s also been announced that manga series Ao no Exorcist (Blue Exorcist) will be getting a TV anime adaptation. The story follows a boy raised by a famous exorcist who discovers that he is actually the son of Satan. Refusing to follow that path, he enters an academy to learn how to fight demons until a dark power is unleashed from inside of him. – Interesting story idea, might have to check this one out when its released.

Tiger and Bunny: I wish that I could make this kind of thing up but Sunrise beat me to the joke by making it real. Now set to premiere in April of next year is a new mech series from Sunrise called Tiger & Bunny. No word on the story but the crew already has Keiichi Sato (creator of Karas and The Big O, director – Wolf’s Rain) as director, Nishida Masafumi handling script and composition and Katsura Masakazu (DNA², Video Girl Ai, I”s) doing character designs. Also mentioned in the initial report is a new form of advertising which will allow companies to place their logo on the characters (I presume during broadcasts). If I’m understanding properly that means this could literally turn into a weekly series of 20 minute long commercials. – I think it’s going to be awhile before I feel like I’m ready to stop making fun of this one.

 

Fuse the Movie: Getting back into movie adaptations, the second one to be announced this week is for the mystery novel Fuse: Gansaku Satomi Hakkenden from Kazuki Sakuraba (who also created Gosick which will be getting a TV anime adaptation in January). The novel follows a female hunter who is after human/dog hybrids called Fuse which have been attacking people in Edo until she hears more about their fates from one of Fuse she’s after. – Sakuraba seems to be on fire right now, keep your eye on this name over the next year.

 

Kyo Koi o Hajimemasu OVA: wrapping things up, a new OVA has been announced based on the manga series of the same name. The series follows a high school girl who loves to give people cute hairstyles even though she’s indifferent to fashion herself. On the first day of school, she meets a boy who keeps teasing her so she cuts off his long hair as payback beginning their relationship troubles. This is actually the third animated release based on this series after two OADs produced by JC Staff were bundled with the 9th and 10th manga earlier this year. The new release will hit shelves on February 25th. – This has two OADs? Wow, how did this one manage to sneak past my radar? Will have to correct this oversight in the very near future.

Curse you press releases for always arriving right as I was about to work on something else!

So while manga fans are busy floating in the sky thanks to Viz Media announcing an uncensored rescue of fighting series, Tenjo Tenge, what is there for anime fans to get excited about today? Well, according to a press release from Crunchyroll, how about the premiere of ecchi fighting series Ikkitousen? Yay?

Produced by JC Staff, this fighting series about seven warring schools and the heroine determined to unite them premiered in 2003 (before being released to DVD here in 2004-2005). Originally this was a license that belonged to Geneon before they took their ball and went home. The license was eventually rescued by Funimation in 2008 and even had a new box set release as recently as last year. It’s not unprecedented for a series to premiere on Crunchyroll after first having a DVD release but being that it’s usually the other way around, it’s still a little weird whenever the roles are reversed.

As of today, Crunchyroll has only added the first season to their site. However, the second and third seasons have been licensed by Media Blasters for awhile now. If you add in that they’ve been promoting some of their series (Queen’s Blade and Kanokon for instance) with Crunchyroll streams it becomes a not huge leap of logic to see additional seasons added at some point but when I contacted Crunchyroll by email, there were no firm plans in place to add them. So in the meantime, everyone will just have to deal with one season worth of fighting and pantsu flashing and I’m sure that somehow you’ll find a way to cope with that.

Full press release below the cut

Edited: Incorrectly identified fourth season as licensed by Media Blasters.

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HUGE news for those who enjoy otaku comedy!!

A huge announcement has made its way to the surface: Funimation will be rescuing the classic Nabeshin directed comedy series Excel Saga! If you never saw this series when it was released by ADV in 2002-2003, you are missing out on something very special from anime history. Produced in 1999 by JC Staff, the parody comedy about aliens and the princess that they’ve kidnapped trying to take over the world is based off the manga series and pokes a very healthy amount of fun at the various genres and tropes from the 80’s and 90’s. The rescue was first spotted by Astronerdboy who, after seeing the listing on Amazon, confirmed through Funimation that the complete series will be re-released March 29th, 2011.

Unfortunately the announcement doesn’t include any additional details such as extras. And I know that I usually bring up extras simply because they’re neat to have but this time I have one particular extra in mind. On the original ADV releases, there was a ‘pop up liner notes’ extra which explained every single obscure joke and reference (and there are a metric TON of them in this series). I would LOVE if Funimation could retain that extra but I’ve confirmed via email that there has been no discussion about extras quite yet.

Updated: Because they’re better at my job than I am, ANN has also confirmed that Funimation has rescued two other great former ADV titles: Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 (which, in my opinion, is still the best version of that series) and the Bee Train ‘girls with guns’ action mystery Noir.

I already own the Excel Saga Im-Perfect Collection but the other two I REALLY want to add to my collection!