AnimeNation Anime News Blog

LaLa Magazine will formally announce this week that studio Brains Base and director Takahiro Omori are developing both a third season of their Natsume Yujin-Cho television series adaptation of Yuki Midorikawa’s manga, and an adaptation of Midorikawa’s 2003 one-shot supernatural romance tear-jerker manga story Hotarubi no Mori e (“Firefly’s Light in the Forest”). The final episode of director Omori’s Zoku Natsume Yujin-cho television series aired in Japan almost exactly two years ago. The third series will be titled “Natsume Yujin-Cho San.”

This is certainly unexpected and very welcome news. Like Denno Coil, Natsume Yujin-cho is an exceptional anime sadly still unreleased on American DVD/BD.

Source: Anime News Network

The advertising obi found on new copies of the seventh volume of author Asaura’s satirical light novel series Ben-To reveals that the best-selling novel series is getting an anime adaptation. The light novel series premiered in 2008 and revolves around a poor high-school boy caught up in the fierce competition for clearance priced supermarket bento ready-made boxed meals.

Source: Anime News Network

Next week’s new issue of Weekly Shonen Champion Magazine, scheduled for Japanese release this Thursday, will formally announce the development of a second Shinryaku! Ika Musume TV series. Crunchyroll simulcast the first season as it aired on Japanese television last fall. The show became a bit of a cult hit, so the announcement of a second series is little surprise.

Source: Anime News Network

The 43rd collected volume of Kousuke Fujishima’s Aa! Megami-sama (Ah! My Goddess) manga will be released in Japan on September 22 in a regular edition and a limited edition that includes an exclusive OAD directed by Hiroaki Gohda. Gohda directed the Ah! Megami-sama TV anime and the first OAD that hits Japanese bookstores this week in limited edition copies of the 42nd volume of Fujishima’s manga.

Source: Anime News Network

The first half of the pilot episode of the Weekly Shimako Daikaiju Shima Kosaku no Maki Flash anime series is now on YouTube. The parody adaptation of Kenshi Hirokane’s business drama manga is animated by Flash anime studio DLE (Eagle Talon).

Source: Anime News Network

To refresh your memory or introduce you to an interesting opening animation sequence, I submit the opening of the 2009 Mariaholic television series. The opening theme is “Hanaji,” sung by Yuu Kobayashi.

Question:
What’s up with all the father-son relationships in anime? One of the subtle themes in anime is the father/son relationship. I recognized that in most anime this relationship tends to be more negative or in other words, traumatized for the hero. For example the famous Evangelion anime shows us how the protagonist Shinji Ikari developed his hate for his father Gendo Ikari and how this influenced Shinji’s character. In Code Geass our (anti-)hero is fighting against the Empire from his own father for personal reasons. In Clannad the main-character Okazaki Tomoya also hates his father and if you think about it everything he does is somehow influenced by this fact. In “Kimi ga Aruji de Shitsuji ga Ore de” this theme is also present. Although being very funny, this anime also tries to explain how the main-character developed his personality due his problematic family background.

So my question simply is, does this mirrors Japan’s society and families? If not, why do the creators include this theme? Or is it just to make the hero more believable and sympathetic?

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Japanese television network Animax has launched a webpage for April’s X-Men anime television series from Madhouse. The site features a streaming teaser that actually resembles what I imagine an anime adaptation of X-Men should look like.

Sexy Storm is sexy.

Source: Anime News Network

Kadakowa has released a trailer for the upcoming Nichijou (“Everyday”) Episode 0 OVA. The 20 minute anime short is animated by present masters of slightly off-kilter school slice-of-life comedy anime Kyoto Animation, and will be released with limited edition copies of the sixth volume of Keiichi Arawi’s Nichijou manga on March 12. A Nichijou TV series will premiere on the Chiba TV network in April.

Source: Anime News Network

Studio Ghibli and director Hiromasa Yonebayashi’s film Karigurashi no Arrietty took the Japan Academy Prize for Best Animated Film at this year’s award ceremony last Friday, winning over competing films Colorful (studio Asention), Doraemon: Nobita’s Mermaid Legend (Shinei Animation), Detective Conan: The Lost Ship in The Sky (TMS Entertainment), and One Piece: Strong World (Toei Animation).

This is fairly predictable as the reviews for Arrietty have been positive, and the competition this year wasn’t especially strong.

Source: Anime News Network

To refresh your memory or introduce you to an interesting opening animation sequence, I submit the opening of the Kamisama Kazoku television series from 2006. The opening theme is “Brand New Morning,” sung by Mizuhashi Mai.

Question:
Is there any talking or plans to do a “When They Cry” season 2 dubbing, or do the fan forever have to go [fan]sub if they want to see the rest of the series?

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Toei Animation has formally announced plans to develop a full CG St. Seiya movie to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Masami Kurumada’s fantasy action manga franchise.

An American produced CG Gaiking movie, I don’t mind. A Japanese produced full CG Captain Harlock anime seems viable. Full CG St. Seiya? I’ll believe it when I see it. St. Seiya feels like a franchise that will be especially difficult to satisfyingly and convincingly develop in CG.

Source: Anime News Network

The homepage for the Fairy Tail manga & anime franchise has announced that the 27th collected volume of Hiro Mashima’s popular shounen manga will be released on June 17 in a limited edition that includes the series’ second OAD. The 25 minute long “”Yousei Gakuen Yankee-kun to Yankee-chan” episode will adapt the original manga side-story that first published in a supplemental booklet included with limited edition copies of the manga’s 16th collected volume. The first Fairy Tail OAD will be included in limited edition copies of the franchise’s 26th collected volume that go on sale in Japan on April 15.

Source: Anime News Network

On January 24, FUNimation filed a copyright infringement suit in Northern District of Texas court against 1,337 anynomous individuals that FUNimation charged illegally downloaded One Piece episode 481 via BitTorrent. On February 10 Senior US District Judge Royal Furgeson declared that FUNimation cannot collectively sue all 1,337 individuals because the accused downloaders did not act “as a group in their allegedly infringing actions”; rather the individuals were each acting individually. Thus, if FUNimation wishes to sue, FUNimation must file a separate suit against each downloader individually. 1,336 of the original defendants were immediately dropped from the initial lawsuit, leaving just one defendant targeted by the suit. FUNimation evidently has not yet made any further decision regarding the continuance of its lawsuit. If FUNimation wishes to individually sue any of the remaining 1,336 individuals initially targeted by the suit, FUNimation will have to file separate lawsuits, each entailing a $350 filing fee.

Unfortunately, doesn’t this come across like a publicity stunt that backfired?

Source: Anime News Network