Watch! Seiyuu-san reports rumors that Yamamoto Hiroshi, the ill-fated first director of Lucky Star, is back in the game, directing Opoona - The Animation for Gonzo."Yamakan" is the visual and comic genius (my opinion) who created the Suzumiya Haruhi ED and the Lucky Star OP, as well as doing the Mikuru's Adventure and ENOZ concert episodes of Suzumiya Haruhi.KyoAni yanked him as director of Lucky Star after four episodes, for reasons that still aren't fully clear, and may possibly have to do with either unusual comic timing or poor budget control.The photo shows him with Hirano Aya a year ago, before Lucky Star aired.Opoona is a future fantasy role-playing game for the Wii that was released in Japan in November and sank without a trace. According to Wikipedia: "Opoona, a descendant of the brave Cosmo Guards, after being separated from his family during a visit to the planet Landroll finds himself injured in a hospital and unable to remember how he wound up there. It is your job as Opoona to earn a license to travel to other colonies and find out what exactly happened to his brother and sister."The rumors are based on posts on 2channel, in the Sawashiro Miyuki and Saitou Chiwa threads. Both posts say that the director will be Yamakan and the writer will be Kuroda Yousuke, the lead writer on such shows as Gundam00, Ookiku Furikabutte, Honey & Clover, Best Student Council, Madlax, Kokoro Toshokan, etc., etc. But the posts give different possible casts.In the Sawashiro Miyuki thread, it says that the cast will include: Kugimiya Rie, Sawashiro Miyuki, Noto Mamiko, Nakata Jouji, Inoue Kikuko, Hirano Aya, Namikawa Daisuke, Kuwashima Houko, and Wakamoto Norio.In the Saitou Chiwa thread, it mentions Saitou Chiwa, Yamaguchi Kappei, Toyoguchi Megumi, Wakamoto Norio, Inoue Marina, Kadowaki Mai, Miyano Mamoru, and Tomatsu Haruka.There is no suggestion of when the show would come out, if these are more than rumors.According to Japanese Wikipedia, NewType reports that he has started his own company, called Ordet, in Osaka. On MoonPhase, he is listed as director of the OP for an anime called Kemeko DX, which is slated to come out sometime this year, animated by Hal Filmmaker.
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