In today’s update: Suzumiya Haruhi hijacks HD and subverts it to her own demented ends; also porn (lots and lots of eroanime news), and maybe some figures.
Haruhi-ism
I decided yesterday afternoon to do some Visual Culture Society-style research into some of this season’s anime offerings, and this is what the bookstore gave me in exchange for my hard-earned yens. The first few pages of the Haruhi novel mirror Kyon’s monologue at the beginning of the second episode exactly, but beyond that I’m afraid I may be lost at sea…
In other Haruhi news, Kyoto Animation has an official site open with various bits and pieces that aren’t on the series’ rather chaotic official official site. Looking back through the various months of gallery pages is making me sad at all of the missed magazine spread opportunities… who knows how many of those are full-fledged posters.
Don’t forget the Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu SOS-dan Radio Division, currently broadcasting its 10th installment live from Cure Maid Cafe in Akihabara. They’ve got the three lead girls on, and it’s a lark to listen to.
For those who missed the announcement on ANN a couple of days ago, a trailer is online for Miyazaki Goro’s Ged Senki. Seems the animation quality is about on par with Howl, which was a step down from Sen to Chihiro in my book; I find the typical Ghibli designs a bit in conflict with how I remember LeGuin’s stories from when I read them years ago (too bright and “plain” in general), but I’m willing to give them the benifit of the doubt.
In other old trailer news, check out the offering for Ufotable’s Coyote Ragtime Show if you haven’t already. It’s in the uber-l33t b@ckd00r section of the flash interface, for the n3wbs pwned by lackage of coherent English site instruction. Warning: contains scenes of gothic lolita violence, and MISTER.
Majikano web radio has launched! Why now, after the series is over? Saa….
Game site eg has a review online of Kouenji Joshi Soccer, the moe-est of the moe harem soccer dating sims out from Starfish on April 13th. Striking a goal straight to your heart!
A special Pink Sweets installment of Cave’s Ibara web manga is now online for your viewing pleasure. I’m not sure what this all has to do with shooting swarms of bullets at hordes of enemies cascading down from the top of a scrolling 2D screen, but it’s moe, and that’s what matters, right?
Moving on to porn:
Lilith is hard at work on its two titles set for an April 30th package release, Dorei na Kanojo 2 and Mahou Jinguu Riruje, both of which have several sample images online for perusal. Fullmetal Madness fans, be sure to check out the former.
In other Lilith news, an announcement came on Friday that the eroge brand is teaming up with Ani-An under the joint “Pixy” label to produce what will presumably become a series of eroanime OVAs, starting with Hime Kishi Riria vol. 1 (no release date set as of this post).
Eroanime coverage continues with news from 2D Dream Magazine that Ma ga Ochiru Yoru, a novel serialized in the magazine, will recieve the eroanime treatment (presumably courtesy of Himajin, as they did duty on Mahou Shoujo Sae, also a 2D Dream original).
Digging deeper into Himajin’s site reveals quite the scoop: it seems they’ll be animating a two-episode original series titled Akai Ibara, in collaboration with one of my personal favorite doujin / eroge artists, Zundarepon. The characters pictured in the Himajin promo have appeared on his site from time to time (aside from the mother-daughter pair, which it seems he’s recycling from an earlier work), and I’m glad to see them finally being utilized beyond their role as site mascots. More info on the production can be found here.
Updates from Vanilla Anime: Toumei Ningen vol. 2, Donburi Shimai vol. 1.
…and it looks like that’s all we have time for this morning. Figure news on tap for tomorrow~
Mucho points on the Hattori Mitsuru presence in the book haul! I have nothing but love for Mitsuru. Even though he’s no great writer and his characters all kinda look the same…
Hehe, true enough on both counts. I picked this one up on a whim, hoping for something similar to the yuri short he did about six months back in Young Animal Island (I went as far as scanning it with the intent to translate, it’s sitting on my hard drive here somewhere…). After a brief perusal I’m not optimistic about the girl/girl potential of this offering, though. :(
Just to comment on the animation quality of Gedo… I would say, from what we’ve seen so far, it is a step lower than Howl.
The quality of the drawings themselves are not poor, nor is the movement of the drawings, however, as a whole the images do not feel as unified as what we’ve come to expect from the style this film was created in.
The animation looks great because it is animated by a team of greats. To my eye, it also looks like it was animated by a team of greats, but not unified by the sure hand of the director– The presence of a familiar style minus Hayao’s stric supervision of the animation is strange and makes the film feel somehow rough. I’m nit-picking, and I do think it looks great, but what I’m really saying is… Hayao Miyazaki’s hands on approach is all too rare, and maybe soon it will be even more so… His gardening son had better be a good storyteller to make up for it if he’s going to keep with a style not his own…
But here’s hoping!
>>Shingo
Awesome that you want to translate Concerto, but Animewaves got to that one before ya.
http://www.animewaves.net/index.php?goto=m-concerto
And as my experience with his other manga has shown me, Concerto was pretty much ‘it’ as far as yuri content goes. Disappointing if that’s your thing, but I was personally rooting for Ozu and Watsuki all through Inu Neko Jump… Call me a traditionalist, but that’s what I am. :p
Gahh, sorry about the double-post, but if you like Hattori Mitsuru’s style I’d strongly encourage you to check out his lingerie gallery at Manga-Gai if you haven’t already:
http://www.manga-gai.net/contents/hattori_shitagi/hattori01.html
Ahh, pointless lingerie shots… I love them so. And the best part of the gallery is that so few of the situations illustrated make any sense at all.
>>DMC
Re: Concerto: oh, snap. Ah well. Guess I can delete those raws now… Thanks for the info, the more unfinished projects I can write off like this the easier I’ll sleep at night.
Thanks for the gallery link! I’ll check it out when I’m in an environment more suitable to lingerie browsing. I really do like his work, it’s jagged in a fresh, bracing way. Like he should be animating a commercial for mint chewing gum, or something.