Archive for August, 2011

Ask John: What Horror Movies Would Make Good Anime?

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

Question:
I was wondering what horror movies would John like to see as an anime adaptation. I recently saw Dario Argento’s Suspiria and later read that Gonzo was planning to make an anime adaptation, but so far there has no more news on it.

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Holy Knight Opening Online

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

The homepage for studio Cammot’s OVA adaptation of Maya Miyazaki’s supernatural fantasy adventure manga Holy Knight has added the anime’s opening credits sequence. The anime will premiere at this weekend’s Comic Market convention in Tokyo.

Granted, while this doesn’t look groundbreaking, it does look like solid work from a new production studio.

Source: Anime News Network

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Maken-Ki Trailer Released

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

Kadokawa has released a trailer for this October’s new harem action/comedy anime series Maken-ki. Koichi Ohata (Ikkitousen, Bakuretsu Tenshi) is directing the show at AIC. Nobuteru Yuki (Escaflowne, X) provides character designs. Limited edition copies of the 8th collected volume of Hiromitsu Takeda’s original manga that go on sale March 1, 2012, will include an unaired DVD episode of the fall anime.

Between action, comedy, and fan service, this trailer seems to clearly confirm what the show’s priority will be.

Source: Anime News Network

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Tibetan Dog Trailer

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

Sina Entertainment has released the trailer for Madhouse’s Chinese/Japanese co-produced film The Tibetan Dog (Tibet Inu Monogatari). The adaptation of a popular Chinese coming-of-age novel opened in Chinese theatrical release last month. The movie will tentatively hit Japanese theaters this fall.

Source: Crunchyroll

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Dreaming Machine Stops Functioning

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

Reportedly Madhouse has quietly placed continued production of late director/creator Satoshi Kon’s final film, The Dreaming Machine (Yume-Miru Kikai), on hiatus due to insufficient funds. Character designer Yoshimi Itazu took over as director after Kon passed away in November 2010. Madhouse CEO Masao Maruyama recently confirmed that only 600 of 1,500 planned shots are finished, and the film will need major new investment to fund its completion. “I do want to go ahead with Dreaming Machine… I don’t care how many years it’s going to take; I will get the financing required to complete the title,” Maruyama stated at the recent Otakon convention.

Source: Crunchyroll

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Yokai Ningen Bem Drama Announced

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

A live-action TV series adaptation of the 1968 anime TV series Yokai Ningen Bem will premiere on the NTV network this October. Actor & singer Kazuya Kamenashi will star as Bem. Model & actress Anne will play Bera, and child actor Fuku Suzuki will play Berro. Although Berro is typically the starring character of the show, the show is actually named after the supporting character Bem. The story revolves around three monsters, feared by humans and hated by fellow monsters, who defend humans from vicious monsters.

Source: Anime News Network

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Opening A Day

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

To refresh your memory or introduce you to an interesting opening animation sequence, I submit the suitably odd opening of the odd 1982 TV series Pataliro! The opening theme is “Pataliro!” sung by Fusako Fujimoto.

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Ask John: Are There Any Multi-Generational Anime?

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

Question:
While watching the second half of Allison and Lillia recently, it occurred to me that generational stories in anime (i.e. ones where the character focus later in the series/franchise shifts to the children or descendants of the characters who were the heroes early on) are very rare. Can you think of any other examples of this?

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John’s AFO Haul

Monday, August 8th, 2011

This past Saturday I attended the 12th annual Anime Festival Orlando convention. I didn’t buy very much, but my dealers room haul is below:

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Opening A Day

Monday, August 8th, 2011

To refresh your memory or introduce you to an interesting opening animation sequence, I submit the opening (plus the few second long ending) of the 1971 color Skyers 5 TV series. The opening theme is “Skyers 5″ sung by Honey Knights.

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Ask John: Why Does Pre-Digital Era Anime Have an Aged Look?

Monday, August 8th, 2011

Question:
Why does pre-digital era anime have an aged look to it? Older anime that was cel painted tends to have a tinge/aged look with heavy noise and jittering of the camera. Western animation from the same time rarely had the same problem. Just an interesting phenomenon I noticed about older anime.

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Disney To Adapt Tuxedo Gin

Friday, August 5th, 2011

Walt Disney Pictures has hired Reno 911 co-creator Robert Ben Garant to write “Tux,” a screenplay based on Tokihiko Matsuura’s romantic comedy manga Tuxedo Gin. The 1997-2000 manga series stars “a young street fighter who falls into a coma and learns that he has lived his life so selfishly that he only has enough karma points to be reincarnated as an animal 15 pounds or less. Trapped in the body of a chin-strap penguin, he tries to overcome the humiliation and rack up enough good deeds to get his old body back and save the girl he loves.” Garant wrote the screenplays for Disney’s 2005 films Herbie Fully Loaded and The Pacifier. The film will be produced by Paul Young and Peter Principato of Principato-Young Entertainment, VIZ Media’s Jason Hoffs, and Shogakukan’s Ichiro Takase.

Source: Deadline

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Full Hikuushi Tsuioku Trailer Released

Friday, August 5th, 2011

The homepage for Madhouse’s upcoming feature film Toaru Hikushi e no Tsuioku (Flashbacks to a Certain Aerial Pilot) has added a full theatrical trailer. The adaptation of Koroku Inumura’s light novel series revolves around a mercenary pilot charged with flying 12,000 kilometers through enemy territory to rescue the heiress of an empire at war. The film will hit Japanese theaters on October 1.

I really don’t like being pessimistic, but I do hope that this film is more interesting than its trailers have been.

Source: Anime News Network

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Opening A Day

Friday, August 5th, 2011

To refresh your memory or introduce you to an interesting opening animation sequence, I submit the opening of the under appreciated 1995 OVA series Idol Project. The opening theme is “Don’t Stop! Su-Te-Ki ni Meguri Aitai” sung by the Idol Project.

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Ask John: What Anime Shows Switch Gears Mid-way?

Friday, August 5th, 2011

Question:
No. 6 seemed like a decent oldschool sci-fi at first, but as of writing it has devolved into constant and overt Boys’ Love pandering to the point of being intrusive upon the sci-fi story. At least with other pander-heavy niche anime, like bishoujo/moe and all those sub-categories (loli, tsundere, etc.), their nature is immediately apparent by glancing at their visual design. No. 6 is more insidious in the way it presents itself as a mainstream product for two episodes before taking a sharp turn into niche-ville. It makes me wonder if I’ve seen anything else that began mainstream and then devolved into niche pandering.

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