AnimeNation Anime News Blog

Question:
My interest was piqued as of late by platonic character relationships in Japanese animation, and I’m curious if you could dissect a few productive, hallmark, intriguing, or even deceptive examples. Some qualification is necessary: very strong character relationships (usually different genders, though this isn’t always the case), neither romantic or sexual (“…without physical desire”; Collins English Dictionary), which are still intensely devotional. In effect, a relationship that is seriously thoughtful, if not obligatory in admiration where romance might exist, but logically does not/cannot.

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Further proving my observation that manga artists that get one anime adaptation nearly always get a second, Korean artists Lim Dal-Young (Kurokami) and Kim Kwang-Hyun’s Japanese published supernatural action manga series Freezing will be getting an anime adaptation next spring. The manga series, which has been ongoing since 2006, is about a teen boy who enrolls in a military school that trains mostly teen girls to defend against vicious alternate dimensional invaders.

This is a bit of a surprise considering how poorly the Kurokami TV anime seemed to go over in Japan.

Source: Anime News Network

The Mainichi Newspaper has revealed the development of an anime adaptation of its three volume (so far) 30-sai no Hoken Taiiku (Health and Physical Education for 30-Year-Olds) guidebook series. The book series is a manual for Japanese men in their 30s who have never experienced romance or sex with a woman. Details about the anime including length and format have not been revealed yet.

JapanToday reports that a 2005 study by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research determined that roughly one out of every four 30-34 year-old Japanese men have never had sexual intercourse. Japan is suffering from a widely reported declining interest in marriage and commitment to long-term interpersonal relationships.

Source: Anime News Network

Japanese anime & film production company T.O. Entertainment has announced that Vexille and TO director Fumihiko Sori will helm the anime film adaptation of BioWare’s RPG game Dragon Age. Oxybot, the studio that animated the CG anime film Vexille and the two episode TO OVA series will animate the feature length Dragon Age OVA. FUNimation will distribute the film on DVD internationally excepting Japan late next year. The movie will get a Japanese theatrical release.

Presumably this means that the Dragon Age anime will be CG rather than 2D.

Source: Anime News Network

Animation studio 37°C Binetsu, the studio behind the Boku no Pico yaoi shota OVA series, has released the first teaser trailer for its upcoming 30 minute Shounen Maid Curo-kun ~Tenshi no Uta~ OVA. While the teaser trailer consists of limited animation illustrations, the OVA will be full, traditional anime (as in the sample image above). The yaoi anime adaptation of Masaki Hiiragi’s manga series is the story of Curo-kun, a boy sold into servitude to pay his father’s debts. The Shounen Maid Curo-kun ~Tenshi no Uta~ OVA will hit DVD on September 23.

37°C Binetsu released a limited animation Shounen Maid Curo-kun “digital comic” OVA earlier this year.

Source: Rakugakidou

The Peugeot BB1 concept car.

To refresh your memory or introduce you to an interesting opening animation sequence, I offer the catchy and memorable opening of the 1996 Hana Yori Dango TV series. The theme song is “Futsuu no Nichiyoubi ni” (An Ordinary Sunday) performed by Tomohiko Kikuta.

Question:
I am aware you have a dislike for English dubs. Are there any dubs you do like, or do you watch some dubs? I can understand the argument about the original version carrying the truer intent and stuff like that. However, in my biased opinion, a true hardcore otaku will enjoy anime overall. That means they can enjoy the localized edits of certain anime and the ideally unedited version of the original product. I just think you are generalizing English dub as something to be disdainful [of]. There are dubs better than Japanese out there. Anime pioneer Fred Ladd says that Osamu Tezuka was very pleased with what he did with Kimba. “He liked the English version very much,” he [Ladd] says. “We injected humor where he [Tezuka] hadn’t envisioned any, and it just delighted him. We saw facets of the show that just didn’t play in Japanese culture, but worked well in English… For instance, we gave all the characters comic names, such as Mr. Pompous – for some reason that name really delighted Tezuka.” You can’t really argue with [what] Tezuka said about this. This was a word of God from the father of modern manga and anime.

In regards to localizing and changing the artistic integrity and intent of the artist’s vision with dubbing and editing, I agree on this at certain angles. However, I think even if an artist made a work for a specific group of people, they may have to accept it be changed for other people to enjoy. I think the general intent of artists is to have something for everyone to enjoy.

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The homepage for the upcoming Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai! (My Little Sister Isn’t That Cute) television series has added a streaming 63 second trailer. The adaptation of author Tsukasa Fushimi & illustrator Hiro Kanzaki popular light novel series will premiere in October. The original novel series revolves around high school boy Kyosuke Kosaka, who discovers that his coldly aloof younger sister is secretly a moé otaku.

Source: Moon Phase

The homepage for this October’s Motto To Love-ru ~Trouble~ television series has added a second streaming trailer. The trailer doesn’t include any graphic sex or nudity, but it is still risqué enough that conservative viewers should proceed with caution.

Source: Anime News Network

Japanese publisher Flex Comix has announced that Yukiwo’s slice of otaku life manga series Musashino-sen no Shimai (Sisters of the Musashino Train Line) will get a film adaptation. The announcement doesn’t clarify if the movie will be animated or live action. The 2007 and ongoing manga stars Ranko “Ran” Midorikawa and Hikaru “Pandora” Midorikawa, sisters that live a carefree life in the Saitama region of Japan and routinely shop in Tokyo’s Akihabara and Shibuya districts.

Source: Anime News Network

Tenga, the world famous Japanese manufacturer of male masturbation aids, has formally announced plans to sponsor a hip-hop music performance group named “Tengal 6.”

I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with this; it’s just unexpected and a little bit odd for reasons I can’t quite pinpoint.

Source: Canned Dogs

To refresh your memory or introduce you to an interesting opening animation sequence, I offer the beautiful opening of the 1999 Himiko-den TV series. The theme song is “Pure Snow” performed by Yuuko Sasaki.

Question:
Could the Scott Pilgrim movie “save” the anime/manga/video game genre from future godawful Hollywood adaptations? It’s got a director who actually has experience in popular entertainment as well as genuine familiarity with the sub-cultures in question. While it’s true that the movie industry still has problems with adapting its own Western brands [LXG, Catwoman, and Marmaduke, anyone?], it seems to have a better record with them than with the Eastern source material, even when it gets Asian directors to helm the projects. [*cough* DB: Evolution and Airbender *cough*]

Now, the Scott Pilgrim movie could actually be a train-wreck, too, and might be rigged with positive reviews by fanboys and fangirls who were going to see it anyway. But at least it has the potential to be profitable over the long-term through positive word of mouth. And personally, when I saw the trailer, I thought that either way Wright would still be perfect for the live-action Bleach. So could it at least raise the bar for other “niche” properties, like Death Note and/or Akira, based on its long-term prospects? Or will it just be written off as another adaptation which has more internet appeal than it does general appeal, and thus force us to endure other by-the-numbers Hollywood versions of anime/manga/game series?

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ICv2 has published an exclusive interview with Viz Media Senior Vice President and General Manager Alvin Lu.