In today’s update: several new series announcements and site launches, a Kumo no Mukou manga, online anime free and legal – too good to be true?, To Heart 2 xrated sample CG, a Galzoo Island matchmaker, Milky Anime’s release schedule, infernally catchy denpa that WON’T GET OUT OF MY HEAD, Queen’s Blade and NewWORDS releases, the weekly web radio roundup, and so, so, so much more.

In today’s update: several new series announcements and site launches, a Kumo no Mukou manga, online anime free and legal – too good to be true?, To Heart 2 xrated sample CG, a Galzoo Island matchmaker, Milky Anime’s release schedule, infernally catchy denpa that WON’T GET OUT OF MY HEAD, Queen’s Blade and NewWORDS releases, the weekly web radio roundup, and so, so, so much more.

Media Side

  • A flock of new anime sites has been launched today, starting with Kagihime Monogatari, set to air in January 2006. It’s based on a manga by Kaishaku that’s serialized in Dengeki Daioh.
  • The current reigning queen of shoujo manga, Nana, is set to be animefied in spring 2006.
  • The official site for Aniplex’s Kage Kara Mamoru anime is pre-open today, with the official grand opening slated for December 1st.
  • The Nerimadaikon Brothers‘ official anime site has been updated, but I’m still not exactly sure what’s going on there. “Nerimadaikon” still translates as “a woman’s fat legs”, which are not particularly in evidence, although daikon themselves seem to be. It describes itself as an “Oroshitate Musical”, but that just seems to make things more confusing. 卸したて？下ろしたて？
  • Ah! My Goddess will be getting another season of its TV series starting next spring.
  • An official site has been opened for Daimahou Touge, an OVA with the first DVD scheduled for release next spring. Check back on December 16th for the first episode of its net radio. It seems to be based on this manga, with an English subtitle of “Super Great Magical Gap”.
  • Following in the footsteps of the original Pretty Cure and Max Heart will be Splash Star, a new Precure series slated to air next spring. More details forthcoming next month, apparently.
  • Word from the Shinkaiverse has it that Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho is slated to be mangafied starting in the February edition of Afternoon. The art will be provided by Sahara Mizu, the creative force behind the exquisitely rendered Hoshi no Koe volume.
  • The first episode of Rean no Tsubasa will be available for free streaming download for a limited time on the evening of December 10th. It’s only going to be 1Mbps; I assume that’s because it’s the free preview. Here’s a question for the raw anime watchers out there: would you watch a show streamed at 1Mbps, for free but perhaps with commercials, if it were made available online simultaneously with its terrestrial broadcast? I think I would, if it stayed available online for a couple of days afterwards. I’m planning to try to take advantage of this particular opportunity regardless; looks like a neat show they have in the works.
  • Elsewhere on the free online distribution front we have this King of Fighters Another Day OVA from Production IG. There’s a promo clip available for it on Showtime as of yesterday, and episodes one through four will be uploaded weekly starting next week (December 2nd). Unless I’m much mistaken this is an entirely free deal; to quote the lady on the answering machine in that one TMBG extra track on Then: The Earlier Years, “how do they make their money?” …oh. I just tried to watch it, and apparently you need to register as a Showtime member to view their free content. Seems to just involve giving them your email and some demographic data, but still pretty lame.
  • Weekly Web Radio Roundup
  • Hayate Cross Blade is a manga serialized in Dengeki Daioh. Now it is also a drama CD. If this portends what it usually does, I smell an anime on the wind…
  • From Mediaworks, scoops on December 2nd’s release of Dengeki G’s Festival vol. 3 (featuring To Heart 2 xrated), as well as January’s Dengeki GAO and Dengeki Maoh.
  • Newtype gets about 500% more pretentious with yesterday’s release of the first issue of NewWORDS, an “adult-oriented” entertainment magazine. It seems they’re aiming for the otaku hipster crowd with this one, if such a thing exists.

Ero Side

Hobby Side

  • Atelier-Sai has posted a larger picture of their Nerine waitress PVC that will be coming out in February, but it seems they’ve resized it using the fastest, least CPU-intensive jpg filter imagineable. Antialiasing, I say thee nay! I can’t tell whether her face is vaguely alien due to compression artifacts or the paint job (or the ludicrous ears, but that’s a given) so until this issue is resolved she’s out of the preorder camp.
  • Akiba Blog and Akibajin both have scoops online of yesterday’s release of the first two Queen’s Blade books, based on the Lost Worlds game format by Flying Buffalo press. I would have a scoop here as well, if they had been shipped to my local hobby shop on time. ;_;
  • On Sale Today
  • Coming Soon

    December 2005

    • Kotobukiya’s Onodera Karen PVC from Onegai Twins (delayed release)

    January 2006

    • Bandai’s My HiME / Otome SD trading figures
    • Griffon’s [ERO] Ryomo cold cast from Ikkitousen (delayed release)

    February 2006

    March 2006

    April 2006

    • Griffon’s [ERO] Escalayer cold cast from Beat Angel Escalayer (delayed release)

Damn it, the more I listen to these Ultra:U samples the catchier they get. Especially this one. If I can pull myself away from the computer for long enough to run down and pick up this month’s ACE there should be a couple of manga reviews on the plate for later today or tomorrow; if not, I’m probably drowning in denpa.

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D – A – M – E dame dame hai!~