Synopsis:
Vampire Knight Guilty DVD
Several days after the events of the first series, Yuki Cross struggles to conduct her Disciplinary Committee duties solo until Zero unexpectedly turns up again. His return brings trouble to Cross Academy, however, for the vampiric Senate wants Zero dead because they believe that Zero killed the Pureblood Shizuka, and while Kaname knows differently and puts a stop to the Senate's interference in the Academy, he seems willing to let people think that Zero is involved, much to Yuki's consternation. He also continues to impress on Zero that Yuki belongs to him and he only tolerates Zero's presence (and Zero drinking his blood!) as a means to protect Yuki. Things get even dicier when Zero's twin shows up at the school as a transfer student, one of the Night Class regulars starts acting abnormally, and another seems to change allegiances, but Kaname is conducting as much of his own scheming as what is being directed against him and the Hunter's Society seems to be involved, too. At the heart of it is Yuki, who is haunted by bloody hallucinations as she edges closer to truths she has long forgotten about how she ended up being rescued by Kaname that fateful night a decade earlier and why he has such an interest in her. Her truth, when it finally does come out, changes everything.
Review:
The first season of Vampire Knight established its appeal by grounding itself solidly in a mixture of vaguely Gothic ambiance, an angst-ridden love triangle involving a human girl and two vampires, stereotypical shojo style points, and Vampires Being Cool, all flavored with occasional moments of incongruously silly comic relief. The second season ramps up to the max all but the last of those factors and adds a healthier dose of plot, resulting in a triumph of carefully-tweaked and targeted shojo storytelling execution. Those who were fans of the first season should find Guilty to be a dream come true.
And why wouldn't they, when nearly every shot and line of dialogue (excepting the comic moments) was carefully calculated to make its target audience – teen and preteen girls – squeal in delight? Others may find their gag reflexes triggered by, for instance, the nauseating degree to which the whole “I'm only keeping you alive and sane because I know you'll never betray Yuki” business plays out. Give credit where credit is due, though: original manga-ka Matsuri Hina and director Kiyoko Sayama (whose other directorial credits include shojo staples like Angel Sanctuary and Pretear) know how to push their audience's buttons and do it so well that even those left rolling their eyes over various parts, and those who only muddled through the first season, may still find the second season oddly compelling.
That happens largely because Guilty is far more plot-intensive than its first season. The writers no longer need to waste time establishing character relationships, setting, and mood, so the scheming kicks in much quicker and more intensely. The first season left the impression that Kaname had just as many devious plans directed outward as what were directed towards him, and here those plans come to fruition, while on the other side enemy plans also come to fruition. Caught in the middle is Yuki, who turns out to play a pivotal role in the scheming on both sides, and not one that viewers might initially suspect. The secret of her past and how she fits into everything, when it is finally revealed late in episode 7, is the kind of massive game-changer which can reshape an entire story. It certainly explains why Kaname has always been so protective of her and, naturally, it throws a whopping big wrench into at least one side of the love triangle.
What it does not do, unfortunately, is turn Yuki into a better character. She may be a bit more interesting after the revelation, but both before and after she continues to demonstrate that she has no sense of self-preservation and a brain so wrapped up in feelings that she seems barely aware of anything else. Granted, she spends much of the first half of this season being freaked out by bloody visions, but even that cannot excuse her being so pathetically useless that she exists mostly just to give everyone else something to react to. With Zero mired in his angsty self-loathing and Kaname basically having one steady mood, the supporting cast must supply the character development here, and indeed, we do see some as the other Night Class members examine where their true loyalties and priorities lie and Kaien gets serious enough to show that his days as a Hunter of legendary strength are not completely past. What passes for character depth here, though, is usually just layers of agonizing and self-recrimination.
There is nothing artificial about Studio DEEN's artistic effort in this season, however; in fact, it may even surpass the first season in that regard and certainly stands amongst the best-looking of all shojo series. Even the dark overtones cannot dim the lush, vibrant coloring; rarely has ordinary brown hair looked so vivid. Character designs are still dominated by the long, lanky builds and pointed chins so typical of male characters in shojo titles and Yuki's almost disturbingly wide, rounded eyes, but they are all sharply-clothed and well-rendered, with nary a flaw to be found. Backgrounds are not quite as sharp but still provide a great and impressive variety of suitably stylish settings, and power uses, in most cases, are suitably flashy; the main exception is Kaname's visually lame ability to essentially pop lesser vampires out of existence with a glance. The animation tends to stress quality over quantity, with even the action scenes minimized as much as possible and a lower proportion of SD gags.
The musical score also takes a slight step up during the episode content, with a handful of low-key, organ-based tunes carrying much of the weight. More layering and texturing of the music can also be heard in key dramatic moments. Opener “Rondo” fails to impress, while closer “Suna no Oshiro” by Kanon Wakeshima (who also sang the closer for the first season and has a bit voice role in one episode) does not have creepy style of the first season's closer but nonetheless has its own appeal and impact.
Although the English cast has had a full season to settle into their roles, the results are not much of an improvement. Mela Lee still sounds fine as Yuki and Christopher Smith nicely transitions between the silly and serious sides of Kaien Cross, but Ethan Murray still sounds too flat in the critical role of Kaname and some of the casting choices are a little shaky; Patrick Seitz never sounds quite evil enough as Rido, for instance. The English script does stay reasonably close and enough performances are solid that the dub is more just a little inadequate than outright bad.
The release for this Complete Collection follows the same pattern as the one for the first season: the episodes are spread across one double-sided and one single-sided DVD in a slipcovered case which features some sharp bonus artistry, though the picture actually on the slipcover can be considered a bit spoilerish. The only Extras on the disc are clean opener and closer and an updated Relationship Chart, all on the third disk. (The chart is spoiler-laden, so do not look at it until you've completed the series.)
In the end Yuki does (thankfully!) make a concrete decision between her suitors and the story does wrap up its existing story arcs, although the overall story hardly seems over. The final few episodes also drop some references about who Kaname actually is that may be confusing to those who have not read the manga; these make more sense with a bit of follow-up Internet research, however. Despite a bit of drag towards the end, the series definitely delivers on what it set out to do: present a stylish, supernatural romance about two hot guys obsessing over one foolish girl. And in the end, that's what really matters.
Grade:
Production Info:
Overall (dub) : B-
Overall (sub) : B
Story : B
Animation : B-
Art : A-
Music : B+
+ Looks great, considerably more plot, everything story and style-wise that fans of supernatural love triangles could want.
− Brainless heroine, minimal action animation, may be too angst-ridden for some.
Director: Kiyoko Sayama
Series Composition: Mari Okada
Storyboard:
Keiji Gotoh
Nobuhiro Kondo
Kiyoko Sayama
Episode Director:
Matsuo Asami
Ryuichi Kimura
Kiyoko Sayama
Music: Takefumi Haketa
Original creator: Matsuri Hino
Character Design: Asako Nishida
Art Director: Kazuhiro Itou
Animation Director:
Kazuyuki Igai
Ken Mochizuki
Asako Nishida
Eiji Suganuma
Atsuko Watanabe
Sound Director: Hozumi Gôda
Director of Photography: Seiichi Morishita
Producer:
Fukashi Azuma
Yumiko Masushima
Tomoko Takahashi
Monday, 30 September 2013
Vampire Knight Guilty DVD - Complete Series
Synopsis:
Vampire Knight Guilty DVD
Several days after the events of the first series, Yuki Cross struggles to conduct her Disciplinary Committee duties solo until Zero unexpectedly turns up again. His return brings trouble to Cross Academy, however, for the vampiric Senate wants Zero dead because they believe that Zero killed the Pureblood Shizuka, and while Kaname knows differently and puts a stop to the Senate's interference in the Academy, he seems willing to let people think that Zero is involved, much to Yuki's consternation. He also continues to impress on Zero that Yuki belongs to him and he only tolerates Zero's presence (and Zero drinking his blood!) as a means to protect Yuki. Things get even dicier when Zero's twin shows up at the school as a transfer student, one of the Night Class regulars starts acting abnormally, and another seems to change allegiances, but Kaname is conducting as much of his own scheming as what is being directed against him and the Hunter's Society seems to be involved, too. At the heart of it is Yuki, who is haunted by bloody hallucinations as she edges closer to truths she has long forgotten about how she ended up being rescued by Kaname that fateful night a decade earlier and why he has such an interest in her. Her truth, when it finally does come out, changes everything.
Review:
The first season of Vampire Knight established its appeal by grounding itself solidly in a mixture of vaguely Gothic ambiance, an angst-ridden love triangle involving a human girl and two vampires, stereotypical shojo style points, and Vampires Being Cool, all flavored with occasional moments of incongruously silly comic relief. The second season ramps up to the max all but the last of those factors and adds a healthier dose of plot, resulting in a triumph of carefully-tweaked and targeted shojo storytelling execution. Those who were fans of the first season should find Guilty to be a dream come true.
And why wouldn't they, when nearly every shot and line of dialogue (excepting the comic moments) was carefully calculated to make its target audience – teen and preteen girls – squeal in delight? Others may find their gag reflexes triggered by, for instance, the nauseating degree to which the whole “I'm only keeping you alive and sane because I know you'll never betray Yuki” business plays out. Give credit where credit is due, though: original manga-ka Matsuri Hina and director Kiyoko Sayama (whose other directorial credits include shojo staples like Angel Sanctuary and Pretear) know how to push their audience's buttons and do it so well that even those left rolling their eyes over various parts, and those who only muddled through the first season, may still find the second season oddly compelling.
That happens largely because Guilty is far more plot-intensive than its first season. The writers no longer need to waste time establishing character relationships, setting, and mood, so the scheming kicks in much quicker and more intensely. The first season left the impression that Kaname had just as many devious plans directed outward as what were directed towards him, and here those plans come to fruition, while on the other side enemy plans also come to fruition. Caught in the middle is Yuki, who turns out to play a pivotal role in the scheming on both sides, and not one that viewers might initially suspect. The secret of her past and how she fits into everything, when it is finally revealed late in episode 7, is the kind of massive game-changer which can reshape an entire story. It certainly explains why Kaname has always been so protective of her and, naturally, it throws a whopping big wrench into at least one side of the love triangle.
What it does not do, unfortunately, is turn Yuki into a better character. She may be a bit more interesting after the revelation, but both before and after she continues to demonstrate that she has no sense of self-preservation and a brain so wrapped up in feelings that she seems barely aware of anything else. Granted, she spends much of the first half of this season being freaked out by bloody visions, but even that cannot excuse her being so pathetically useless that she exists mostly just to give everyone else something to react to. With Zero mired in his angsty self-loathing and Kaname basically having one steady mood, the supporting cast must supply the character development here, and indeed, we do see some as the other Night Class members examine where their true loyalties and priorities lie and Kaien gets serious enough to show that his days as a Hunter of legendary strength are not completely past. What passes for character depth here, though, is usually just layers of agonizing and self-recrimination.
There is nothing artificial about Studio DEEN's artistic effort in this season, however; in fact, it may even surpass the first season in that regard and certainly stands amongst the best-looking of all shojo series. Even the dark overtones cannot dim the lush, vibrant coloring; rarely has ordinary brown hair looked so vivid. Character designs are still dominated by the long, lanky builds and pointed chins so typical of male characters in shojo titles and Yuki's almost disturbingly wide, rounded eyes, but they are all sharply-clothed and well-rendered, with nary a flaw to be found. Backgrounds are not quite as sharp but still provide a great and impressive variety of suitably stylish settings, and power uses, in most cases, are suitably flashy; the main exception is Kaname's visually lame ability to essentially pop lesser vampires out of existence with a glance. The animation tends to stress quality over quantity, with even the action scenes minimized as much as possible and a lower proportion of SD gags.
The musical score also takes a slight step up during the episode content, with a handful of low-key, organ-based tunes carrying much of the weight. More layering and texturing of the music can also be heard in key dramatic moments. Opener “Rondo” fails to impress, while closer “Suna no Oshiro” by Kanon Wakeshima (who also sang the closer for the first season and has a bit voice role in one episode) does not have creepy style of the first season's closer but nonetheless has its own appeal and impact.
Although the English cast has had a full season to settle into their roles, the results are not much of an improvement. Mela Lee still sounds fine as Yuki and Christopher Smith nicely transitions between the silly and serious sides of Kaien Cross, but Ethan Murray still sounds too flat in the critical role of Kaname and some of the casting choices are a little shaky; Patrick Seitz never sounds quite evil enough as Rido, for instance. The English script does stay reasonably close and enough performances are solid that the dub is more just a little inadequate than outright bad.
The release for this Complete Collection follows the same pattern as the one for the first season: the episodes are spread across one double-sided and one single-sided DVD in a slipcovered case which features some sharp bonus artistry, though the picture actually on the slipcover can be considered a bit spoilerish. The only Extras on the disc are clean opener and closer and an updated Relationship Chart, all on the third disk. (The chart is spoiler-laden, so do not look at it until you've completed the series.)
In the end Yuki does (thankfully!) make a concrete decision between her suitors and the story does wrap up its existing story arcs, although the overall story hardly seems over. The final few episodes also drop some references about who Kaname actually is that may be confusing to those who have not read the manga; these make more sense with a bit of follow-up Internet research, however. Despite a bit of drag towards the end, the series definitely delivers on what it set out to do: present a stylish, supernatural romance about two hot guys obsessing over one foolish girl. And in the end, that's what really matters.
Grade:
Production Info:
Overall (dub) : B-
Overall (sub) : B
Story : B
Animation : B-
Art : A-
Music : B+
+ Looks great, considerably more plot, everything story and style-wise that fans of supernatural love triangles could want.
− Brainless heroine, minimal action animation, may be too angst-ridden for some.
Director: Kiyoko Sayama
Series Composition: Mari Okada
Storyboard:
Keiji Gotoh
Nobuhiro Kondo
Kiyoko Sayama
Episode Director:
Matsuo Asami
Ryuichi Kimura
Kiyoko Sayama
Music: Takefumi Haketa
Original creator: Matsuri Hino
Character Design: Asako Nishida
Art Director: Kazuhiro Itou
Animation Director:
Kazuyuki Igai
Ken Mochizuki
Asako Nishida
Eiji Suganuma
Atsuko Watanabe
Sound Director: Hozumi Gôda
Director of Photography: Seiichi Morishita
Producer:
Fukashi Azuma
Yumiko Masushima
Tomoko Takahashi
Hyperdimension Neptunia Episodes 1-6 Streaming
Synopsis:
Hyperdimension Neptunia Episodes 1-6 Streaming
In a digital fantasy land, four countries have been battling for ages. The leaders of the four nations—referred to as “goddesses” by their citizens—join together to sign a peace treaty that finally puts an end to the war. Previously the four goddesses fought each other to gain the “Shares” from which they get their power. The new treaty states that they will focus on getting their Shares domestically. Blanc, Noire, and Vert, the leaders of Lowee, Lastation, and Leanbox, go home and start racking up the Shares. Neptune, the goddess of Planeptune, goes home and plays video games. Naturally her Shares decrease, and in order to get her nagging fairy lieutenant off her back, she promises to go study the governance of her goddess peers. In the meantime villainous Arfoire and her mousy sidekick Pirachu are gathering mysterious red crystals in preparation for a lethal attack on the seemingly indestructible goddesses.
Review:
You can make a positive statement about literally anything if you throw in enough qualifiers. So it doesn't really mean anything when I say that Hyperdimension Neptunia is pretty good for a video game adaptation that has no decent characters and a surplus of molesting slime-dogs and lolicon tongue-monsters. But I really do mean it. Neptunia may be about the least promising series to ever be barfed out by the anime-gaming complex, but once it gets its legs under it, it's a surprisingly engaging little adventure. Pointless and unimaginative, sure, and probably artificially elevated by our septic expectations, but engaging nonetheless. Damn. There I go with the qualifiers again.
Honest, Neptunia is surprisingly enjoyable. Not that you'd know that from the first couple of episodes. It takes the series a while to distill something interesting from its mess of moe RPG fluff, and in the meantime it does some truly awful things to us. Among its lesser crimes are the early episodes' dippy plots. Episode one is basically about Neptune crashing at Noire's place, with some time taken out for dull dungeon-crawling action. Episode two revolves around a silly kidnapping plot. Episode three is about the goddesses setting up a party for themselves. These are the kinds of episodes you'd expect from a toothless friends-at-school comedy, not from a fantasy action-comedy. Going up a rung or two on the atrocity scale, there are the Team Rocketish villains, one of whom is literally a big mouse, who go around being kind of inept and distinctly unthreatening.
The truly appalling mistakes, however, are reserved for the show's fan-service. Beginning with the goddesses' magical transformations. Most of the goddesses grow up—and in the case of Neptune, grow up a lot—in their transformed states, so every time one of them transforms (with the exception of Vert, who is a buxom young woman before and after) we get the UFO Princess Valkyrie treatment. Which is to say, the memorable sight of young girls sprouting adult boobs and voluptuous rears. That's weak tea, though, compared to what happens when the show gets serious about titillation. In the first episode that means having puppy-shaped slime monsters swarm the girls and crawl under their clothes, leaving them spent and artistically splattered with dog ooze. In the second episode that means having a tongue monster assault the cast's two youngest girls, Blanc's little sisters Rom and Ram. There's nothing like watching a potbellied abomination slurping little girls to cripple you with convulsive cringing.
While the show's screwing all of that up, it's doing a handful of important things right. Even at its vilest and stupidest the series maintains a good-natured lightness that makes it hard to take serious offense. That lightness is particularly essential when things get downright gross, but it also helps the cast's capering, making it seem silly and fun when by all rights it should be forced and irritating. The blinding cuteness of the girls helps on that front too—Neptune in particular should be a happy-go-lucky blight, but is so damnably cute that you somehow can't hate her—as does the series' periodic aptitude for dreaming up adorable things for them to do. The scenes where Vert's virtual reality system transforms the girls into brawling little slime-monsters are just plain murder.
The most important things, however, that the show does well going into the meat of its first arc are 1. Its action, and 2. The relationships between the goddesses and their little sisters. The first is wholly a function of execution, at least in the show's early stages. The semi-technological magic of the goddesses—they get their power from the Sharicite, which is powered by the esteem that their subjects have for them—has built-in visual appeal, from their surprisingly cool (and, of course, revealing) battle dress to the high-tech design of their melee weaponry. More importantly, though, director Masahiro Mukai knows enough about timing, splashy editing, and action posturing to turn that visual appeal into reasonably exciting action.
As for the sisterly relations of the goddesses, they're the only thing in the show that is honestly affecting enough to qualify as its heart. The series is careful to give each goddess—excepting Vert, who doesn't have a sister—a different flavor of bond with their little sister(s). Neptune's relationship with her responsible sister Nepgear is all unforced admiration and mutual support. Noire is strict and forbidding with her sister Umi, pushing her hard to better herself and never praising her enough, which leads Umi to have a serious inferiority complex. Blanc clearly loves her mischievous twin sisters, but cannot seem to express it in a healthy way.
The series takes those two things and narrows its focus exclusively to them as it heads into the finale of its first arc. What results is a massive, two-episode battle in which the goddesses—stripped of their power and in increasingly mortal danger—must rely on their untested little sisters to defeat the show's paper-tiger villains, who, it turns out, have real, black villainy running through their bumbling veins. Mukai pushes his action to greater heights, using his limited budget cannily as Nepgear and company soar and clash and the little sisters face down the unhealthy parts of their sisterly attachments in order to unleash their true power. It's unexpectedly involving stuff, helped along by the deeply unsubtle but highly effective emotional manipulations of Mukai and his small stable of composers.
Of course, after it's all over, the show goes right back to cotton-candy fantasy silliness. And even while running full steam the show is never less than wholly predictable and cornily clichéd. Still, for a few episodes we were able to forget that we were watching a show about anthropomorphized game consoles (yes, that's what the show's about) and to put the loli-licking robots behind us. And for that, and for easily vaulting over our rock-bottom expectations, the show deserves at least some measure of praise.
Grade:
Production Info:
Overall (sub) : C+
Story : C-
Animation : B
Art : B
Music : B
+ Channels its sparse strengths into a surprisingly involving serial finale; solid action and high cuteness levels; little sisters are pretty sympathetic.
− Vile fan-service; empty plots; unimaginative writing; uninteresting main characters.
Director: Masahiro Mukai
Series Composition: Shogo Yasukawa
Script: Shogo Yasukawa
Storyboard:
Masahiro Mukai
Hideaki Nakano
Masayoshi Nishida
Koji Sawai
Naokatsu Tsuda
Takeyoshi Yamato
Episode Director:
Masashi Abe
Hitomi Efuku
Jiro Fujimoto
Toshiyuki Kato
Hiroyuki Oshima
Yasufumi Soejima
Yoshinobu Tokumoto
Hirokazu Yamada
Unit Director:
Hitomi Efuku
Hideaki Nakano
Music:
Kenji Kaneko
Hiroaki Tsutsumi
Masaru Yokoyama
Original Character Design: Tsunako
Character Design: Hitomi Takechi
Art Director: Masanobu Nomura
Chief Animation Director:
Sachiko Mori
Hitomi Takechi
Shinya Yamada
Animation Director:
Hiroaki Arai
Toyoaki Fukushima
Noritomo Hattori
Rei Ikagawa
Manabu Imura
Keiichi Ishida
Tomoaki Kado
Shinya Kawano
Ryo Kobayashi
Eri Kojima
Karu Mokurenji
Sachiko Mori
Takashi Nagayoshi
Ryo Nakaya
Mihoko Ōkawa
Takaaki Sekizaki
Shosuke Shimizu
Hyung Woo Shin
Yuuko Sotake
Katsuyuki Takahashi
Masaki Tanigawa
Yumenosuke Tokuda
Eiichi Tokukura
Yuto Toratake
Takenori Tsukuma
Shinya Yamada
3D Director: Masato Hira
Sound Director: Jin Aketagawa
Director of Photography:
Yousuke Motoki
Naoyuki Wada
Producer:
Sho Fujimaru
Kohei Miyajima
Takehiko Sasaki
Shinsaku Tanaka
Shintaro Yoshitake
News Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: ASB's 8th Promo Showcases Lisa Lisa, Old Joseph
Also: Narciso Anasui, Vanilla Ice, BAOH's Ikurō Hashizawa, 128 "customize medals"
Namco Bandai Games began streaming the eighth promotional video for its fighting game JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle on Thursday. The video showcases the third batch of DLC characters that debuted that same day: Lisa Lisa and old Joseph Joestar.
The game is also offering 128 different "customize medals" for updating
your characters' action sequences and costumes. Additional DLC
characters are half price off during the current campaign. The video
then teases the fourth batch of DLC characters: Narciso Anasui and
Vanilla Ice, as well as Ikurō Hashizawa (Baoh) from creator Hirohiko Araki's previous series BAOH, who will be available in the fifth DLC batch.
Namco Bandai Games also streamed 100 minutes of footage from the game's pre-launch event:
Namco Bandai Games also streamed 100 minutes of footage from the game's pre-launch event:
\
News Japanese Box Office, September 21-22
Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki's The Wind Rises (Kaze Tachinu) anime film fell from #2 to #3 during its 10th weekend. The film centers on Jirō Horikoshi (played by Evangelion director Hideaki Anno),
the designer of Japan's famed Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter plane of
World War II. The film earned 184,880,308 yen (US$1,881,157) on 454
screens for a new total of 11,087,842,373 yen (US$112,818,796).
Warner Japan's remake of Clint Eastwood's 1992 Unforgiven film starting Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai, Inception) fell from #4 to #6 in its second weekend. The film earned 65,445,773 yen (US$665,910) on 327 screens for a new total of 435,088,246 yen (US$4,427,022).
The Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai. (anohana) film fell from #5 to #7 in its fourth weekend. The film retells the anohana
story from the character Menma's point of view with a new epilogue. The
film earned 55,904,369 yen (US$568,826) on 64 screens for a total of
740,158,014 yen (US$7,531,107).
The live-action Sadako 3D 2 film fell from #8 to #9 in its fourth weekend. The film ranked at #8 on Box Office Mojo's chart and earned 33,603,599 yen (US$341,916) on 347 screens for a new total of 638,486,458 yen (US$6,496,599).
Toei Animation and Shinji Aramaki's CG-animated Space Pirate Captain Harlock film fell from #7 to #10 in its third weekend. The film remakes the classic anime Space Pirate Captain Harlock with Toei Animation's highest production budget ever at the equivalent of more than 30 million U.S. dollars. Shun Oguri and Haruma Miura star as the title pirate and the new character Yama, respectively. The film ranked at #9 on Box Office Mojo's chart and earned 31,689,779 yen (US$322,443) on 516 screens for a new total of 389,310,337 yen (US$3,961,232).
The Takanashi Rikka • Kai ~Gekijō-ban Chūnibyō demo Koi ga Shitai!~ film fell from Kogyo Tsushinsha's top 10 chart in its second weekend, and the film has not been listed on Box Office Mojo's chart. Similarly, the second installment in the Code Geass: Akito the Exiled anime project also fell from Kogyo Tsushinsha's top 10 chart in its second weekend, and has not been listed on Box Office Mojo's chart.
Interest Miss World 2013 is a Total Gamer
Young describes herself as an "RPG kind of girl."
Newly crowned Miss World 2013 is stealing some hearts—she's beautiful, she's charismatic, and apparently she's "an RPG kind of girl."
In regards to being a beauty queen, Young said in the interview:
In a way it's kinda like Sims. You dress up your characters, make them go through everyday life with the personality you chose, the job they have, people they meet, marry and have kids with. Just like that. I'm setting myself up [to be] Miss World."To make the obvious joke— Achievement Unlocked.
News Tokyo Raven Anime's 2nd Promo Streamed
Supernatural anime featuring opening theme by Maon Kurosaki to premiere on October 8
The official website for the television anime adaptation of Kōhei Azano's Tokyo Ravens light novel series began streaming the second promotional video for the anime on Monday. The promotional video introduces characters Harutora (voiced by Kaito Ishikawa), Natsume (Kana Hanazawa), Tōji (Ryohei Kimura), and Hokuto (Hisako Kanemoto).
Each character tries to convince Harutora to become an onmyōdō occult
practitioner. In the end of the video, he becomes Natsume's Shikigami,
to which she says, “Now you belong to me.” The video also features the
anime's opening theme, “X-encounter” by Maon Kurosaki (Hakuōki Reimeiroku, Highschool of the Dead).
Takaomi Kanasaki (Is This a Zombie?, School Rumble: 2nd Semester) is directing the series at 8-Bit with series composition by Hideyuki Kurata (Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens, Oreimo, The World God Only Knows). Katsuko Watanabe (The Everyday Tales of a Cat God, Place to Place, Juden Chan) will serve as character designer. Additional cast members include Ayane Sakura as Suzuka Dairenji, Aki Toyosaki as K-ON!, Eri Kitamura as Kyōko Kurahashi, Hiro Shimono as Tenma Momoe, Koji Yusa as Jin Ōtomo, and Hiroyuki Yoshino as Reiji Kagami.
The school supernatural fantasy centers around Harutora, a boy from a branch of the Tsuchimikado family of onmyōdō occult practitioners. However, he lacks the ability to see spirit energy, so he is now just an ordinary high school student. Natsume, a girl who was Harutora's childhood friend and the next head of the Tsuchimikado family, reunites with Harutora and changes his future.
The anime will premiere on Japanese television on October 8.
The school supernatural fantasy centers around Harutora, a boy from a branch of the Tsuchimikado family of onmyōdō occult practitioners. However, he lacks the ability to see spirit energy, so he is now just an ordinary high school student. Natsume, a girl who was Harutora's childhood friend and the next head of the Tsuchimikado family, reunites with Harutora and changes his future.
The anime will premiere on Japanese television on October 8.
Interest TV Spot Shows the PS Vita... Evolved
A new TV spot for the PlayStation Vita shows the next evolution of the handheld console.
The video shows several everyday items, and those same items "evolved"— bento, karakuri ningyo, manicured nails, purikura, and finally, the PS Vita.
The new version of Sony's
PS Vita will be lighter and thinner than the original, and comes with a
longer-lasting battery, a micro-USB charger, and 1GB of built-in storage. It will also be available in different colors, such as pink, yellow, lime green, blue, black, and grey.
[Via 0takomu]
The video shows several everyday items, and those same items "evolved"— bento, karakuri ningyo, manicured nails, purikura, and finally, the PS Vita.
[Via 0takomu]
discuss this in the forum
News Hiroshi Kamiya, Maaya Uchida, Yuuki Kaji Lead Noragami Anime's Cast
Aki Toyosaki, Asami Imai, Daisuke Ono, Jun Fukuyama, Mikako Komatsu, Miyuki Sawashiro also join anime premiering January
The November issue of Kodansha's Monthly Shonen Magazine is announcing the cast for the anime adaptation of Adachitoka's Noragami manga on October 6. The cast is as follows:
- Hiroshi Kamiya as Yoto
- Maaya Uchida as Hiyori Iki
- Yuuki Kaji as Yukine
- Aki Toyosaki as Kofuku
- Asami Imai as Tomone (Mayu)
- Daisuke Ono as Daikoku
- Jun Fukuyama as Kazuma
- Mikako Komatsu as Mutsumi
- Miyuki Sawashiro as Bishamon
The anime is being directed by Kotaro Tamura (Wolf Children assistant director, Baccano! episode director) at studio BONES from scripts by Deko Akao (Arakawa Under the Bridge, Pretty Rhythm Aurora Dream). Toshihiro Kawamoto (Cowboy Bebop, Wolf's Rain, Golden Boy, Gosick) is designing the characters.
At the boundary between this realm and another, there live eight million gods, dead spirits who serve the gods, and other assorted spirits who help and meddle in the affairs of humans. A sweet middle school girl named Hiyori Iki has been enduring bullying from her classmates, and she goes to the restroom by herself to cry. Scrawled on the bathroom wall is a phone number and the message, "I solve your troubles."
Adachitoka launched the manga in the Monthly Shonen Magazine in 2011, and one-shot manga stories have also run in the spinoff publication Monthly Shōnen Magazine + since that same year. Kodansha released the seventh compiled volume of the manga in June.
Adachitoka's first manga project was the art in the Alive - Saishū Shinka teki Shōnen (Alive - The Final Evolution) manga, which Del Rey published in North America. Alive was also slated for a television anime, but the project was suspended and eventually cancelled in 2009 due to the delisting of the Gonzo anime studio from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The anime will premiere on Japanese television in January.
Sunday, 29 September 2013
News Vertical Adds Tetsuya Tsutui's Prophecy Manga
Also: Shinobu Hashimoto's Compound Cinematics: Akira Kurosawa and I biography
North American publisher Vertical, Inc. announced at its panel at Anime Weekend Atlanta on Saturday that it will release Tetsuya Tsutui's Prophecy (Yokokuhan) manga.
The manga revolves around the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Cyber Crime Division in there pursuit of a criminal arsonist. One day, a man with a newspaper mask publishes a video online of a food processing factory set ablaze. The division labels the arsonist "Newspaper Man" and tries to discover the motives behind his crimes.
The series launched in Shueisha's JUMP Χ magazine from in 2011 and ended last month. The third volume was released in Japan on September 10.
Vertical also announced it will release Shinobu Hashimoto'sCompound Cinematics: Akira Kurosawa and I biographical novel. Hashimoto worked with Kurosawa on the filmsThrone of Blood, The Hidden Fortress and The Seven Samurai. Both filmmakers received the Jean Renoir Award for Screenwriting Achievement from The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) in January.
News Crunchyroll to Stream Yowamushi Pedal Cycling Anime
Wataru Watanabe's story about otaku-turned-racer to begin on October 7
Video service Crunchyroll announced on Thursday that it will stream theYowamushi Pedal (Yowapeda) televisionanime series as it airs in Japan. The streams will be available to premium subscription members in the United States, Canada, Caribbean, South Africa, and Central and South America starting October 7 at 2:00 p.m. PT, and free users can watch them one week later.
The story centers around Sakamichi Onoda, an otaku at Sōhoku High School. He loves anime and games so much, that he would ride his commuter bicycle to and from Tokyo'sAkihabara shopping district in a 90-kilometer (about 60-mile) round trip over steep slopes after school. Onoda's life changes when he encounters his school's cycling team, and he ends up joining the competitive sport of bicycle racing.
The main cast includes:
Daiki Yamashita as Sakamichi Onoda, skilled at climbing hills due to his Akiba trips 
Kousuke Toriumi as Shunsuke Imaizumi, the cool, competitive "golden rookie" 
Jun Fukushima as Shōkichi Naruko, the speedy sprinter 
Kentarou Itou as Jin Tadokoro, the sprinter who is tough in spirit and body, and tends to dive headlong into competition 
Showtaro Morikubo as Yūsuke Makishima, the "iridescent peak spider" 
Hiroki Yasumoto as Shingo Kinjō, the indomitable captain
Also joining the cast is Megumi Han as Aya Tachibana, Junichi Suwabe as Toji Kanzaki, Daisuke Kishioas Junta Tejima, Hiroyuki Yoshino as Yasutomo Arakita, Satoshi Hino as Hayato Shinkai, Tetsuya Kakihara as Jinpachi Tōdō, Tomoaki Maeno as Juichi Fukutomi, Tsubasa Yonaga as Sangaku Manami,Atsushi Abe as Tōichirō Izumida, and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Hajime Aoyagi.
Osamu Nabeshima (D.Gray-man, Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas, Zetman) is directing the anime at TMS Entertainment. Reiko Yoshida (Tamako Market, K-ON!, Bakuman.) is in charge of the series scripts, while Takahiko Yoshida (Welcome to the NHK, Big Windup!) is designing the characters.
Wataru Watanabe launched the original manga in Akita Shoten's Weekly Shōnen Champion magazine in 2008, and the story already inspired stage plays. The limited edition of the manga's 29th volumebundled an original anime DVD with the same main cast as the television series on August 8.
News Takashi Miike's Live-Action Mogura no Uta Film's Teaser Posted
We Were There/Honey & Clover's Toma Ikuta stars as troublesome police officer
The official website for Takashi Miike's live-action film of Noboru Takahashi's crime manga Mogura no Uta (Mole's Song) began streaming a teaser trailer for the film on Friday. Within a span of 30 seconds, actor Toma Ikuta (We Were There, Akihabara @ DEEP, Honey and Clover) can be seen performingoutlandish gags and stunts to resemble Reiji Kikukawa, the main character.
In the story of the original manga, Reiji Kikukawa is known as a troublesome member of the police force due to his tendency to enforce justice through his own morals. He goes undercover to infilitrate a gangster syndicate.
Kankuro Kudo (The Legend of Kamui, Maiko Haaaan!!!, Miike's Zebraman, Ping-Pong, Go) wrote the film's script. The film will open on February 15, 2014.
Miike's live-action adaptation of Yūsuke Kishi's Aku no Kyōten (Lesson of the Evil) psychological suspense novel ran in Japanese theaters this year. Among dozens of other titles, he recently directedthe Ace Attorney game's live-action film, the Crows Zero prequel to Hiroshi Takahashi's Crows manga, and the For Love's Sake film version of Ikki Kajiwara's Ai to Makoto manga.
News Tales of Symphonia: Unisonant Pack Remaster's Regal Promo
2nd full promotional video also streamed for October PS3 HD remaster of 2003 game & sequel
Namco Bandai Games began streaming the Regal promotional video for Tales of Symphonia: Unisonant Pack, the PlayStation 3 remaster of both Tales of Symphonia games, on Thursday. In the video, Regal (voiced by Akio Ohtsuka) explains to Lloyd and the others that he never wants to fight with his blood-stained hands ever again.
In addition, Bandai Namco Games is also streaming a new, full promotional video featuring the remixed versions of the game's two theme songs:
The game's official website is also currently streaming character promotional videos for Lloyd, Marta,Emil, Colette, Genis, Sheena, Zelos, Kratos, and Presea.
The video game set will bundle both the original 2003 Tales of Symphonia game (with its added features from the earlier PlayStation 2 port), as well as the Tales of Symphonia: Ratatosk no Kishi(known as Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World in North America) sequel for the Nintendo Wii.
The remaster will feature new cover art, new Mystic Artes cut-in images, and new Tales of the Abyss-themed costumes for Lloyd and Genis. Sheena and Colette will also receive a Judith and Rita costume respectively from Tales of Vesperia. All three theme songs for the game will be remixed forTales of Symphonia: Unisonant Pack, including Day After Tomorrow's "Starry Heavens" and "Soshite Boku ni Dekiru Koto" opening themes that were used for the original game's GameCube and PlayStation 2 releases respectively, and misono's "Ninin Sankyaku" song that served as the sequel's opening theme.
The remastered game will ship in Japan on October 10 for 6,980 yen (about US$70). The first copies will come with an original greeting card with an illustration from animation studio ufotable, a greeting card from Katsuyuki Konishi (voice of Lloyd) and Hiro Shimono (voice of Emil), an original PlayStation 3 custom theme, as well as other unannounced contents.
Namco Bandai Games plans to release the set in Europe, Australasia and the Americas early next year under the working title Tales of Symphonia Chronicles.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)