So my rule lately has been that if I can’t write about it when it happens, it’s put into the catch up posts. This news though is something that I felt was important enough to get its own post. Early this morning, Sentai/Section 23 released a press release announcing their May schedule [...]
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Apparently, ADV is not as dead as it seemed (via). And it was proven yet again that the all-grabbing, first-look Funimation monster is not as powerful as we were lead to believe.
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Anime distributor Section 23 has announced its latest wave of new titles in Hell Girl Season 2, Eyeshield 21, Asu no Yoichi [Full Article]
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Oh Section 23, its like you have a tin can connected to my heart. Time again for a round up of their recently released acquisitions, all of which are tabled for May.   Eyeshield 21:  Run Time: 325 min. (13 episodes) Street Date: 5/18/2010  SRP: $49.98    Eyeshield 21 is a comedy football shonen. Really all you "need" to know, but more information is as follows. New kid on campus, Sena Kobayakawa, is convinced to join the Deimon High School Football team(as in American Football, not everywhere else Football.) For reasons too conventional and fun to bother explaining, Sena is forced to hide his identity, and dons a tinted "Eyeshield" over the jersey marked "21." Volia! The secret weapon/team ace Eyeshield 21 is ready to take the team all the way to the Christmas Bowl   I mean, what were you expecting... its a shonen football series. You know you love it already. Though previously unlicensed, Eyeshield 21 is currently streaming on Crunchy Roll. It'll be interesting to see Crunchy Roll will be able to maintain the title in the light of Section 23's sub only release.   Hell Girl: The Two Mirrors Run Time: 325 min. (13 episodes, Half of Season 2) Street Date: 5/25/2010  SRP: $49.98  When you say your job is hellish, its probably just a figure of speech. However, that's part of the contract in Enma Ai's job. "Hell Girl" is an episodic look at society, guided from the eyes of an infernal little girl. Following a formula, each episode follows characters who find such grief and woe that they log onto a mysterious website at night, and sign a contract with Enma to drag someone down to hell. A loan shark, school rival, woman about to marry your true love... people find many reasons to damn those around them, but its at the cost of damning themselves.   Season 2 picks up shortly after the first, and weaves a new set of stories, including the appearance of a second Hell Girl. Even though I may have just typed it, I'll reinforce... this show is methodical. High style, high presentation, but can be a little daunting at times. The Neo-Brectian approach taken to distance the viewer from the cast works, though occasionally too well.   Astute shoppers are probably aware that season 1 was released by FUNimation, though it seems the reception didn't initially warrant a look at the 2nd or 3rd seasons.     Samurai Harem Run Time: 300 min. (12 episodes, Complete Series) Street Date: 5/11/2010  SRP: $49.98   More commonly known as Asu no yoichi, Samurai Harem is the yet another look at the highly talented, yet socially inept youth. Focused on 17 year old Yoichi Karasuma, he's a brilliant swordsman, though his remote mountain training couldn't prepare him for the modern world... oh, and boobs. You can fill in the rest. Appleseed Run Time: 105 min.  Street Date: 5/18/2010  SRP: $39.98  Format: Blu-Ray    After the end of World War 3, the world is a very different place. Mercenary Deunan Knute has been so far removed she continued fighting, oblivious to the wars end. Eventually she is brought to Olympus, the Utopian pride of the post-war civilization. Inhabited mostly by half human, half clone people called Bioroids, Utopia isn't quite as perfect at first thought. Its up to Denuan and her former love, now-cyborg Briareos to find out what lies right underneath the surface of paradise. Technically not a "new" release either, I think I even own Appleseed on UMD. Though, this marks three things...   A) Appleseed's first Blu-Ray release B) Sentai Filmwork's First Blu-Ray C) Sentai Filmworks First English Dubbed Release    Despite ownership, I could never bring myself to watch movies on my psp, and thus I never got around to checking it out. Though, its creator is Shirow Masamune, of Ghost in the Shell fame, so I could definitely get behind the vibe.
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Alphamax is going to release the Ikaruga Ibuki ( 斑鳩いぶき ) Bewitching Ver. ( 妖艶ver. ) 1/6 cold cast GK from the manga/anime “Asu no Yoichi!” ( 明日のよいち���) . Will be released in June 2010. Around 130mm tall, 14,800 yen. Still need to spend a lot of time to clean up [...] Related posts:Asu no... **This is a content summary only. Please visit Nekomagic for full content!**
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The pantsu exposing loli anime about trousersless airborne fighters, Strike Witches, is getting second season, as it has been announced before. A scan from a magazine (maybe Megami 118 already) provides us with more information. The broadcast of the second season will commence in Summer.Unlike the first season, the second season is animated by AIC, who are responsible for Candy Boy, Ookami Kakushi, Asu no Yoichi and other anime.Now, we can only wonder whether Strike Witches II will be ruined by censors or not.
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Today is the first Thursday in the new year and one week of the new year is almost over. But it's not the only thing that will end very soon. This is the last installment of Pettanko Thursday and a new weekly post will take up its place sooner or later.First character today is Ezomori Nozomu from anime, which is well-known for its level of sexuality and explicitness, Kanokon. Nozomu is a silver-haired wolf spirit who has lived for 200 years. She might appear emotionless and uncaring, but in fact she is in love with Kouta. That's the guy whom Chizuru, an uber-horny fox-spirit, always forces into various indecent acts, giving him virtually no break.Nozomu makes fun of Chizuru's gigantic breasts and says they are flabby. On the other hand, Nozomu has nothing that could loosely hang and those jibes might be a way how to relieve her inferiority complex. Still, despite her childish appearance, Nozomu often tries to engage herself in sexual romping with Kouta.Nozomu lives by herself in an apartment. As nobody else lives there, she doesn't have to care about anything and always sleeps on the floor, naked.Next comes Ikaruga Ayame from Asu no Yoichi. She has tsundere personality and is disappointed with her oppai growth. Her sisters have been very well endowed, and she isn't like them. Still, she has quite standard 78 cm.Ayame always struggles when she does any household chores.Ayame comes from a family that owns a dojo, so even she learns martial arts.The very last character of the whole Pettanko Thursday series is a classic among flat anime characters. It's Lina Inverse from a series with long history, Slayers. Lina is the main protagonist from Slayers and probably also the most powerful when it comes to magic.If you wanted to beat her, the best method might perhaps be to lock her up and give her no food, as she is almost constantly hungry and craves for lots of food.If you wanted to enrage her, the infallible way is to say a comment on her flat chest.Lina's most favorite activities, besides eating, might be destroying anything with magic.Other people call Lina with various nicknames such as "the Bandit Killer" and "the Dragon Spooker".And that's it. Pettanko Thursday is now officially over. I hope you enjoyed it at least a bit.
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Hanazawa Kana 花澤香菜 has the moe-est voice in anime.As Shiika in Mushiuta, Sora in Sketchbook (2007), and Sora again in the underrated Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto - Natsu no Sora (2008), Kana-chan took vocal moe to a new level. (click photos to enlarge)But already in 2007 we could hear that there was more to her, in her strangely communicative grunts as the main character in Potemayo. In 2008 she did the quite un-moe Zange in Kannagi, although with uneven results. And in the spring of 2009, she shifted her moe voice to create the fey but powerful ojousama Sharon Rainsworth in Pandora Hearts.Then in the fall of 2009, as Suou in Darker than Black 2, she broke out as a real actress. She is entirely believable as the conflicted Suou, tossed about in a sea of events she does not understand, but gradually adapts to.And although the voice is still that of a young girl, she produces a range of sound, from whispers to screams, that shows more and more technical mastery.Kana-chan broke into voice-acting at 17, in 2006, as the popular character Kaminagi Ryouko in Zegapain. But she had been in show business since at least 2001, when she was a 12-year-old child actress. She was a regular cast member in the TV drama Gakko no Sensei that year. And she had a minor seiyuu role in Last Exile in 2003.Here are images of a few of her important anime roles: (mouseover for captions) After her performance in Zegapain, the highly respected seiyuu agency Osawa Office took her on. Osawa represents such major seiyuu as Kawasumi Ayako and Noto Mamiko. As seiyuu Minagawa Junko said: "Isn't Osawa amazing to have recognized her?" And I agree. Her acting in Zegapain is adequate at best, but she had that voice, and Osawa realized even then that she might have the ability to make the most of it. There is something about her voice that gives presence to her characters.Here is a video showing clips of her roles up to Natsu no Sora, in the summer of 2008:<object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y9FViJj4nLE&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y9FViJj4nLE&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object>Kana-chan (the name she likes to be called by) is rather shy, and comes across in her many radio shows and guest appearances as somewhat out of it, and not too bright. In fact, she is intelligent and capable, just a bit dreamy. She has been a university student since 2007, working and studying at the same time, and will graduate in 2011. And she has hosted her own radio show for over a year. The show is called: Can Hanazawa Kana Do It Alone?Between her drama work when she was 12 and Zegapain when she was 17, Kana-chan didn't get much work, but kept searching for her place in show business. A post on 2channel describes her as having been an "underground idol," and there are photos to prove it: Kana-chan doesn't have a great singing voice, and that may be one reason her idol career never took off. But she did do a great job with the partly-spoken OP4 of Bakemonogatari, "Ren-ai Circulation":<object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3VHMA4AcZNs&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3VHMA4AcZNs&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="340" width="560"></embed></object>The adult Kana-chan (now 20) is no raving beauty, but she is quite attractive in an old-fashioned sort of way, as well as seeming to be a genuinely nice person: Here are a very recent and the oldest photo here. One of Kana-chan fron an interview this fall about Kobato. One showing her when she was twelve, and just about to begin her entertainment career: Here's a ridiculously cute video interview she did for Voicha magazine in late 2007:<object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GwBAs-6qj58&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GwBAs-6qj58&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="340" width="560"></embed></object>Here's another video, from about the same time, with her co-stars in Sketchbook, Nakase Asuka (centre) and Makino Yui. The beginning is Kana-chan at her loopy best:<object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nj4bIkd2Ky8&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nj4bIkd2Ky8&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object>Here's a clip she did with her friend Tomatsu Haruka, talking about strange food combinations that Nagi ate in Kannagi, in which Kana played Zange to Tomatsu's Nagi. Tomatsu puts Italian-style salad dressing on her rice, while Kana-chan puts Bulldog sauce (like HP sauce) on hers. The bubbly Tomatsu thinks the Italian dressing makes the rice taste great, like "Italian cuisine." Kana-chan tries it and says drily: "It's okay."<object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/eSDFKNw9PF4&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/eSDFKNw9PF4&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="340" width="560"></embed></object>And here they are doing a brief recording session, reversing their roles in Kannagi so that Kana-chan plays Nagi and Tomatsu plays Zange:<object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/j-lqesYSPBY&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/j-lqesYSPBY&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="340" width="560"></embed></object>Here is a very recent clip of Kana-chan talking about her role as the heroine Sofia in the Wii game Tales of Graces, which was released 10 December 2009:<object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PGMzLn_WeQ0&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PGMzLn_WeQ0&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="340" width="560"></embed></object>Finally, here is a brief clip from the 2006 TV drama Uramiya Honpo, showing the 17-year-old Kana as a girl in hospital first greeting a friend who has come to visit, and then actually dying on screen:<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-4dae9c53deeffe2" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.blogger.com/img/videoplayer.swf?videoUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvp.video.google.com%2Fvideodownload%3Fversion%3D0%26secureurl%3DpgAAAPCZD0ddCGBZjZs6HcCGJYdFx7cOI4aE--qXXKR8WwYKzutq5nvsD8fXM7toJJVPQGB6gK4h4nlvOp9B6Eowcgc3s_q90obL3e2edTzGU4lVWhHVJXMqXw1ORKX_B1xNy0hq_-EmVnmH9k-Mtw-GXc78BKPxOII9zBE4DfSeCpzrIYCXr-WTbkZ5ZlQxgt76lZnFFxlPu_xgzNOyaP3fbSqMD6b51dwHJhJmer3HC9st%26sigh%3D93WQba6rAAH_e26ibdJH8JRKOic%26begin%3D0%26len%3D86400000%26docid%3D0&amp;nogvlm=1&amp;thumbnailUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2FThumbnailServer2%3Fapp%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D4dae9c53deeffe2%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw320%26sigh%3Do-e40LoujkTXS1m-GAiiBHSSrjA&amp;messagesUrl=video.google.com%2FFlashUiStrings.xlb%3Fframe%3Dflashstrings%26hl%3Den"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.blogger.com/img/videoplayer.swf?videoUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvp.video.google.com%2Fvideodownload%3Fversion%3D0%26secureurl%3DpgAAAPCZD0ddCGBZjZs6HcCGJYdFx7cOI4aE--qXXKR8WwYKzutq5nvsD8fXM7toJJVPQGB6gK4h4nlvOp9B6Eowcgc3s_q90obL3e2edTzGU4lVWhHVJXMqXw1ORKX_B1xNy0hq_-EmVnmH9k-Mtw-GXc78BKPxOII9zBE4DfSeCpzrIYCXr-WTbkZ5ZlQxgt76lZnFFxlPu_xgzNOyaP3fbSqMD6b51dwHJhJmer3HC9st%26sigh%3D93WQba6rAAH_e26ibdJH8JRKOic%26begin%3D0%26len%3D86400000%26docid%3D0&amp;nogvlm=1&amp;thumbnailUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2FThumbnailServer2%3Fapp%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D4dae9c53deeffe2%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw320%26sigh%3Do-e40LoujkTXS1m-GAiiBHSSrjA&amp;messagesUrl=video.google.com%2FFlashUiStrings.xlb%3Fframe%3Dflashstrings%26hl%3Den" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object>Data:-- born 25 February 1989-- from Tokyo-- 158cm tall (5'2")-- likes: taking baths-- abilities: mimicry, magic, storytelling-- favorite food: dried taro-- likes: men who have dark hair and look good in a suit and glasses-- likes: Tomatsu Haruka, Kawasumi Ayako, Tsuji Ayumi-- likes: "picopico pop" electronic music like Perfume, Nakata Yasutaka, MOSAIC.WAV. Asian Kung-fu Generation.etc-- the mangaka of Potemayo was a big supporter of hers at auditions for the anime's cast, saying her version of Potemayo's sounds was just right for the character-- in the early years of elementary school, she and her friends used to "see fairies" and play by kicking and punching them-- she tends to daydream and lose focus, and her coworkers rag her about it. Toriumi Kousuke (Gil in Pandora Hearts) called her "Kana on a cliff," referring to the Miyazaki film Ponyo On a Cliff.-- she has one sibling, a brother four years younger, and she shows him her animes-- she has been a regular on twelve radio shows, two of which are still onStaff in:(2007) Sketchbook ~full color'S~ (TV) : Theme Song Performance (ED2)(2008) Kyouran Kazoku Nikki (TV) : Theme Song Performance (ED)(2008) Sekirei (TV) : Theme Song Performance(2009) Bakemonogatari (TV) : Theme Song Performance (OP4)Cast in:(2003) Last Exile (TV) as Holy Madosein(2006) Magical Witch Punie-chan (OVA) as Tanaka Potaru(2006) Zegapain (TV) as Kaminagi Ryoko(2007) Getsumen To Heiki Mina (TV) as Hazemi Nakoru/Minazuki Mina(2007) Mushi-Uta (TV) as Anmoto Shiika(2007) Higurashi no Naku Koroni Kai (TV) as Tomomi (eps 14.15)(2007) Potemayo (TV) as Potemayo(2007) Sketchbook ~full color'S~ (TV) as Kajiwara Sora(2008) Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino- (TV) as Angelica(2008) Shina Dark - Kuroki Tsuki no Ō to Sōheki no Tsuki no Himegimi (OAV) as Mapul(2008) To Love-Ru (TV) as Yuuki Mikan(2008) Blassreiter (TV) as Elea(2008) Kyouran Kazoku Nikki (TV) as Midarezaki Yuuka(2008) Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto: Natsu no Sora (TV) as Suzuki Sora(2008) Sekirei (TV) as Kusano(2008) Strike Witches (TV) as Suwa Amaki (ep 12)(2008) Kemeko Deluxe! (TV) as Riko At Androids(2008) Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens (TV) as Suzushiro Hakua; Zange(2008) Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino- (OAV) as Angelica(2009) (The) Tower of Druaga: the Sword of Uruk (TV) as Henaro(2009) Asu no Yoichi! (TV) as Ikaruga Kagome(2009) Basquash! (TV) as Coco JD(2009) Pandora Hearts (TV) as Sharon Rainsworth(2009) To Love-Ru (OAV) as Yuuki Mikan(2009) Bakemonogatari (TV) as Sengoku Nadeko(2009) Sora no Manimani (TV) as An Yukie(2009) Cencoroll (movie) as Yuki(2009) Kobato. (TV) as Hanato Kobato(2009) Darker Than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini (TV) as Suou Pavlichenko(2010) Seikon no Qwaser (TV) as Mitarai Fumika(2010) Durarara!! (TV) as Sonohara Anri(2010) Bungaku Shoujo (movie) as Amano ToukoLinks:Anime News Network (eng)Wikipedia (eng)ja.Wikipediablog (radio show)live radio show video from TAF last summerpic search (English)pic search (Japanese)video search (English)video search (Japanese)idol photos
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I’ve already talked about the best and worst of 2009’s anime, but what about those in between? Surely some of those shows deserve attention, too. This post is for the honorable mentions that were good, but not quite good enough to make the “Top 10 Best” list. 5. Sora no Otoshimono Sora no Otoshimono is a hilarious [...]
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Winners: Minna and Fuuko. Group A2-2 Results: 1位　364票　(Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke @ Strike Witches) 2位　263票　(Shokatsuryou (Shuri) @ Koihime†Musou) 3位　233票　(Ikaruga Ayame @ Asu no Yoichi!) ========================================================= Group B2-2 Results: 1位　455票　(Ibuki Fuuko @ Clannad ~After Story~) 2位　404票　(Yuno @ Hidamari Sketch x365) 3位　124票　(Sairenji Haruna @ To-LOVE-Ru) ========================================================= Next Matchups (Groups A & B – Day 03): *my picks: Tacos and Bossu ========================================================= Saimoe ‘09 Bracket: *Click/Refresh to update[How to vote][Bracket 2 'A'][Bracket 2 'B']
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