So, my last birthday present finally arrived. It feels a little weird getting a present that I’ve already kind of been using for…a week. I completely lack the ability to wait for a single this awesome. So, to make this clear, this is a song from Shugo Chara!, sung by Nana Mizuki, who plays Utau. This [...]
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And with this, Meikyu Butterfly can now be retired in Shugo Chara. I enjoyed Meikyu Butterfly a lot, but having it play over and over in Shugo Chara got tiresome. Heck, even Sailor Moon Stars rotated the 3 or 4 songs Three Lights did. True, the song wasn’t played in every episode or even every other [...]
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Originally a popular shoujo light-novel by Tani Mizue started in 2004, I didn't have any idea what it was before Nana voiced the leading female in its drama CD adaptation last year. I wasn't that interested until I knew its anime version will be airing next season. Set in England during the Victorian era of 19th [...]
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..and also Mishima's, actually, but I dunno how old he is now because I don't give a damn about that lucky bastard. I'm sure fans who follow Nana and Yukarin would have recognized him as the not-so-appealing guy who appears almost everywhere in their making of DVDs. And so, the story was Nana tricked both of [...]
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Mizuki Nana and Hirano Aya will star together in White Album, an idol anime to air beginning in January 2009.The anime is based on a PC game of which a PS3 version will also come out next year. The story involves Yuki (Hirano, in red), a new idol whose career increases the distance between her and her boyfriend. Rina (Mizuki, in white) is already a top idol, and the show will follow the evolution of the relationship between the two.The story is set in 1986, during the Japanese "bubble" period. The economy was about to reach its peak for a while and then crash.This is being billed as a "dream battle" between the two seiyuus. Here's hoping it brings their fans closer together, rather than driving them even further apart. No doubt the producers expect a bonanza from character CDs.Since their singing styles are so different -- Nana's is much more polished and Aya's rocks more -- I look forward to seeing whether the music producers can make this combination work. The same goes for their acting styles, with Nana's more conventional and Aya's more idiosyncratic and harder for other seiyuus to blend in with. Here's hoping this will be a fruitful combination rather than a disastrous one.Seven Arcs (Nanoha, Sekirei) will be the company in charge of animation production. Director will be Yoshida Taizou 吉田泰三, who did key animation on Eureka Seven and other shows, and storyboarded and directed several episodes each of Nanoha StrikerS and Otogijushi Akazukin, but who is a first-time director here. Music by Elements Garden.Here is a Japanese site describing both the game and the anime.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE VIZ PICTURES ANNOUNCES DVD RELEASE OF ROCK AND ROLL ROMANTIC DRAMA NANA 2 DVD Release And Special Poster Promotion Highlight Sequel To Hit Film NANA Based On Popular Shojo Manga Series San Francisco, CA, JULY 22, 2008 – VIZ Pictures, an affiliate of VIZ Media, LLC that focuses on Japanese live-action [...]
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"Really!!?Orikon ranking...#6!!!?(���□���;)!!(���□���;)!!(���□���;)!!Party!!!That's so great, everyone!!Thank you ゜+。(*′∇���)。+゜The first album in my life at #6...It's thanks to all of you.And the staff worked so hard.Really, thank you so much."-- from Hirano Aya's blog this morningI've now had a chance to listen to the album a few times, and I like it. I'd like to have seen unnamed world on it, but I basically like all the new material and most of the old.She doesn't have a "pretty" voice, but there is actually a lot going on in the way she phrases and inflects the lyrics. And she can rock.My own favorites on the album? For You, with its swinging energy and emergent melody. The sad joy of Yorokobi no Uta. The way Aya's voice matches the grinding force of the music in Harmonia Vita. And Aya proves, contrary to my expectation, that her voice can handle a ballad in Hoshi no Kakera. Even Aimai Scream/My Ice Cream is cute, and really gets rocking toward the end. And I've always liked Neophilia and Maybe I Can't Goodbye. But my favorite Aya song remains the Uma Kamen theme from the third Sumomo mo momo mo character CD. About the only song on the new album that I don't much enjoy is the title track.Want a hug? I think she's in the mood to give them today.The comparatively high placing of this album does have something to do with this being a week in which none of the top acts released albums, as j1m0ne has pointed out, but I think Aya will take it, anyway.Hers is not a style of singing -- or a quality of voice -- that can appeal to fans of more mainstream acts like Mizuki Nana or Chihara Minori, but I personally play more Hirano than either of them.Just as j1m0ne, in her full review of this album, complains about the accompaniment overpowering Aya's voice, that's how I feel about the treacly, overblown arrangements favored by Nana-chan. The music of those two singers, both more skilled and popular as singers than Aya is, tends to bore me. Tastes differ.Here is the Lantis page for the album. Here is amazon.com.
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The Essentials Name: Mokke Genre: Drama, Comedy Episodes: 24 Released: October 2, 2007 - March 25, 2008 Based On: Mokke manga by Takatoshi Kumakura Director: Masayoshi Nishida Produced By: Madhouse, Tezuka US Distribution By: N/A Major Japanese Cast Mizuki Hibara: Nana Mizuki Shizuru Hibara: Ayako Kawasumi Ojii-chan: Katsunosuke Hori Obaa-chan: Hisako Kyouda Kazama: Chiwa Saito Hisako: Mai Hashimoto Takatsu: Rie Kugimiya Major English Cast N/A Scores Animation: 8/10 (x 4 = 32 pts) Story: 9/10 (x [...]
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I vaguely read about Mizuki Nana being involved in some sort of kart racing event a few months back but didn’t really bother to find out the details until now. So, details: A bunch of seiyuu will be spending the 3rd of August in a 7-hour endurance 4-stroke kart race on Twin Ring Motegi in Tochigi. [...]
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After nearly a one-month hiatus because of the new season, I'm back to doing Daily Doses. This particular post is a bit of a backlog post for the big items from the past few weeks. If you watched the first Gundam 00 series and haven't yet been spoiled about a certain something, I urge you NOT to go to the official site. I made the mistake of doing so after I saw the commercial that aired after this weekend's episode of CODE GEASS, and I got spoiled when I checked out the details on the list of Mobile Suits. New Anime Announcements (list almost entirely courtesy of MOON PHASE)      • BLACK LAGOON is getting a third series.      • Kyou no Go no Ni is also getting a television anime (instead of more OVAs).      • ef - a tale of melodies anime has been announced for this Fall season.      • Umineko no Naku Koro ni is getting an anime.      • Shounen manga Kuroshitsuji is getting an anime.      • Mystery/supernatural novel series Mouryou no Hako is getting an anime that'll be         produced by Madhouse and will have character designs done by CLAMP.      • Love adventure game Akane Iro ni Somaru Saka will be getting an anime this Fall. This         series is going to have a truckload of voice talent, including the likes of Hirano Aya,         Kugimiya Rie, Inoue Marina, and Tanaka Rie. The Tales of the Abyss anime adaptation will air this Fall on MBS, meaning it has a good chance of taking Macross F's Thursday timeslot since Gundam 00 is likely replacing CODE GEASS R2. The White Album anime adaptation has a website now with news that the series will start January of 2009. It will feature Hirano Aya and Mizuki Nana in two of the lead roles. And finally, in the aftermath of the leaked BONES document incident, MOON PHASE confirms that he got word a while ago that there is indeed a new Full Metal Alchemist series in the works - an original manga version - likely to be officially announced at the end of the year. If you find anything that you think I should mention on any particular day’s Daily Dose, please send me an email with the words “ANIME NEWS” somewhere in the subject line. Image at left courtesy of サツキ on pixiv (account needed to access)....and yes, I have been reading Toradora! recently
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