Today's Updates Figure Review: Alter’s Franco il Nero (Kuro no Franco) Taki Corp. announces Ikkitousen nurse trio Goodsmile presents To Love-Ru Lala, Kiminozo Mitsuki Spring 2008 Anime: Tower of Power Gonzo has one of the spottier anime track records among of late, but if there's one thing they deserve respect for it's their willingness to risk innovation on the business side. This season they're presenting two of their new shows (Druaga and Blassreiter) viewable online at Crunchyroll, subtitled in English, on a "pay what you think it's worth" basis. Whether this will be an effective solution to the fansub dilemma I don't know, but right now Gonzo seems to be the only one trying to bridge the gap. I just wish Crunchyroll didn't feel quite so much like it was written and coded by a Harvard MBA who majored in marketing to tweens... Druaga no Tou ~ the Aegis of Uruk Production Studio: Gonzo Genre: Fantasy, online RPG Original Concept: Namco's Druaga no Tou Director: Chigira Koichi Chief Writer: Gatoh Shouji Character Designer: Hakua Ugetsu (concept), Takaoka Junichi Doujin Potential: fair to middling Figure Potential: quite decent, based on Bakuten precedent The Full Metal Panic tag team of writer Gatoh Shouji and director Chigira Koichi returns to Gonzo with this anime adaptation of the classic Tower of Druaga franchise. The Hakua Ugetsu designs are what initially caught my eye, but with some decent production values and the team of talent they have assembled I have high hopes that this will be the best Gonzo title since Last Exile. Maybe. Iizuki Tasuku's Queen's Gate Iroha We first brought news that doujin illustrator par excellence Iizuki Tasuku would be producing a Queen's Gate volume featuring Iroha from the Samurai Spirits franchise back in February, and ever since I've been eagerly anticipating the volume's April 18th release. I managed to get ahold of a copy a day early, and I've got to say this is a very nice book indeed. If you're a fan of Iroha, Tasuku, or beautiful crane girls reincarnated as ninja maids to serve and protect their husbands, this is definitely an item worth investigating - J-List has it available right now (don't believe the page, it's actually in stock) if you'd like to support HD with your purchase. The World's First Dorodere Luca from Ar Tonelico 2 spawned a new permutation of the moe archetype: dorodere. HD crack web developer Jetfuel explains: Dorodere: a new term for a character who’s dorodoro on the inside (messed up and disturbed), but deredere on the outside (sweet and affectionate). This term seems to have been coined particularly to describe Luca Truelywaath of GUST / Banpresto’s opus Ar tonelico 2, which I may or may not be currently writing up in my first Heisei Democracy column. Thanks to Hatena blog After Seven for the explanation; asking Luca herself didn’t yield a very satisfying answer... Max Factory's Luca is now on sale! Look for Jetfuel's new moe console game themed HD column soon! Figure Recommendations Max Factory's Ruka (Luca) from Ar Tonelico 2 Orchid Seed's Onna Kenshi Feane (HD Review) Comic Gum's Pearl Black Ryomou Shimei (HD Review) Orchid Seed's Gekkou no Carnevale Anna (HD Review) Miyabiya's Bible Black Takashiro-sensei (Imari Review) U-Art's Mogudan Kanu Unchou Alter's Kuro no Franco (Franco il Nero) (HD Review) Ero news below:
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