Category Archives: News

Boku Wa Tomodachi Ga Sukunai Anime Adaptation Green-Lighted!

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I am excitebike!

I usually don’t newsblog, but when Boku Wa Tomodachi Ga Sukunai is concerned, I can’t resist the urge to tell everyone to stop whatever they are doing and go read it. Today, it was revealed that the soon to be released 6th volume of the light novel comes with an anime announcement! This was enough to make my head explode and every resulting head fragment explode once again ad infinitum until the sheer amount of explosions creates a black hole that sucks up all suffering on this planet.

Boku Wa Tomodachi Ga Sukunai tells the story of Kodaka Hasegawa, son of a Japanese father and a dirty gaijin mother. Thanks to her genes he’s got blonde hair, which quickly gives him the reputation of a delinquent. Combined with his sharp eyes, Kodaka seems to suffer from a severe case of Ryuji syndrome and therefore doesn’t have many friends. One day when he enters a classroom, he hears a girl enthusiastically talking to someone. Upon closer observation, this someone turns out to be… no one. When Kodaka asks her what’s going on, the girl introduces herself as Yozora Mikazuki and tells him she was talking to her ‘air friend’ Tomo. Kodaka refrains from calling Yozora out on the fact that she still has an imaginary friend and after a short conversation, Yozora drags Kodaka into founding The Neighbour’s Club, where socially inept people can make friends.

If you think this sounds like Haruhi meets Toradora!, you’re quite right. No news on when the anime will air and who will be animating it. I’m placing my bets on AIC or J.C. Staff, or if we’re very lucky Kyoto Animation or SHAFT. However, there might be some news on the voice cast already, if the recently released drama CD is any indication. Kodaka will possibly be played by Kimura Ryōhei (Akira Tachibana in Eden Of The East) and Marina Inoue (Yoko in Gurren Lagann) will probably take up the role of Yozora. Other drama CD cast members include Yuka Iguchi, Kanae Itou and Kana Hanazawa.

I’ll stop bothering you with this now, but man…
I am excitebike.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica Resumes

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As you may have heard, SHAFT’s hugely successful series Puella Magi Madoka Magica has been on indefinite hiatus following the Sendai earthquake. While most other shows resumed after only a week, SHAFT has taken the opportunity to do what they do best. But after a month of silence, there is finally an official schedule for the remaining episodes.

According to the official MBS website, episodes eleven and twelve will both be aired in the original timeslot on April 22nd.

Working!! Second Season Announced!

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I don’t know about you, but April 1st always makes me twitchy. It is all too successful at drawing innocent yet naive otaku out of their shells, giving them a taste of the oh-so-sweet candy, only to fall over laughing as the aforementioned sweet explodes in the poor victims face. In this case, for me, the “candy” was news of a second season of Working!! (a.k.a Wagnaria!!), a delicious series that took me by surprise with its charm. Although I first believed it to be a prank, according to ANN the news is actually legitimate! Confirmation was posted on the official website today with a trailer.

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gweDrEoeLSY’]
(Edit: Subbed version available! Turn on closed captioning)

In case you didn’t know, Working!! is completely centered around a family restaurant, staffed by hyperactive and funny high schoolers. While there is plenty of moe to be had, somehow there is very little blobbery, making it a very enjoyable series to watch. Also on the good news front; the first season will be released onto Blu-ray on August 24. Now that the hype around April Fools has subsided for another year, I can really focus on looking forward to watching this series, and less about being pranked. What about you?

Funimation Apologizes for Fansub Lawsuit, Adds HD Streaming

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Funimation marketing director Lance Heiskell, who carries the self-appointed moniker of “Your Friendly Neighborhood FUNimation Marketing Director Guy,” apologized profusely via the Funimation Update Blog on Friday for his company’s recent attempt to sue fansubbers.

“Let’s face it, it was kind of a dick move.” Lance wrote. “The whole affair was just a tawdry attempt to impress the Japanese licence-holders with our firm stance against piracy. Guess THAT backfired, huh?”

The lawsuit, which sued 1337 “John Does” for downloading an episode of One Piece, was drastically neutered when a Texas judge dismissed 1336 of the defendants. Funimation chose to abandon the lawsuit a few weeks later.

Lance was candid in his opinion of the suit, openly admitting that RIAA-style legal extortion may not have been the best method of engendering good will among anime fans. “It was a bad idea from the start. I mean, suing 1337 people just because it spells out “leet”? That was unbelievably immature. We were trying to scare the fansubbers, but in the end we just made ourselves look like enormous douchebags.”

More after the break.

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SHAFT Postpones Release of Madoka

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My translation of this article:

2011/3/15 Volume 1 BD/DVD Postponement Notice

We offer our heartfelt sympathy to everyone affected in the Touhoku Pacific region.
Because of the earthquake, there are power shortages and issues with distribution. We were planning to release Puella Magi Madoka Magica Vol. 1 on March 30th. Because of the situation, we have decided to postpone its release.

We deeply apologize for the large amount of trouble this will cause everyone, but we ask that you please understand and cooperate with us. Please check Aniplex’s official site from now on for updates regarding the release date.

You’ve probably already heard about the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan. It’s obvious things like this would happen, since frankly there are much better things to allocate limited power and resources to than manufacturing and shipping anime DVD’s. Madoka’s preorder statistics indicate that it could end up becoming the best selling anime series of all time, so I can only imagine how tough this decision must have been for SHAFT. This news is disappointing to say the least, but it’s great that they have their priorities so well established.

If you’d like to join SHAFT and do your part to help Japan recover, follow the link under Japan Earthquake and Tsunami at the top of our sidebar.

FUNimation’s Hypocrisy Revealed

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Video in Funimation’s dubbing room as seen in America’s Greatest Otaku

Remember FUNimation, the moralist anime production company that tried to sue 1337 anonymous bittorrent users for downloading a One Piece fansub? Well, it turns out that for all their bloviating about piracy, they are nothing more than a bunch of filthy hypocrites.

The screenshot above is taken from the latest episode of America’s Greatest Otaku, Tokyopop’s attempt to emulate reality television with an anime spin. It shows a monitor in FUNimation’s dubbing studio, with episode 3 of Sora no Otoshimono playing for the benefit of the dub actors.

Keen eyes on the ANN forums quickly noticed something strange about the subtitle font being used. Turns out it’s from HorribleSub’s illegal rip of CrunchyRoll’s stream.

Sora No Otashimono, Episode 3, 08:42

The evidence here is irrefutable. Unless FUNimation went to great lengths to replicate HorribleSub’s unique font in Aegisub, there is no question that they are using illegal rips for their dubbing work. This is particularly damaging after they made such a grand show of suing thousands of people whose only offense was WATCHING FANSUBS. No question about it, FUNimation has had their ethical soapbox shattered.

More after the break.

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For Better or Worse? Two New K-ON! Manga Announced

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To the surprise of absolutely no one, the upcoming issue of Manga Time Kirara will announce two new K-ON! spinoff manga, both of which will premiere next month. As far as we know, these two manga share the K-ON! title, but cover different subject matter . The first, which begins on April 9th in Manga Time Kirara, will focus on the continuing adventures of Ritsu, Mio, Yui and Mugi as they go to college. The second, which begins on April 28th in sister magazine Manga Time Kirara Carat, will follow the light music club at Sakuragaoka Girls’ High School, now manned by Azusa, Ui and Jun.

And thus, the inevitable slow decline of the K-ON! franchise begins. They won’t stop milking this cow until its dry, utterly dehydrated and comatose.

I’ve seen it happen dozens (if not hundreds) of times before. At first, K-ON! was a fun but vapid slice-of-life series, an enjoyable diversion that kept us amused with short skirts and pop music. Sadly, as the manga stretched on and the anime plowed through its second season, creative bankruptcy began to set in. The jokes got stale. The plots became repetitious. Even the much-vaunted music lost its luster. K-ON! was winding down, and everybody knew it.

More after the break.

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Second Season of Squid Girl Announced~de geso!

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Listen up, foolish humans! Did you think that the beach house was the only land I would conquer~de geso ka? Your naivety will be your undoing~de geso! While you have been watching other inferior anime, I’ve been plotting my second season~de geso. But now that I’ve allowed you all to become complacent, you’ll stand no chance against my superior planning~de geso! I will trample you all and see that you pay for your insolence with your – wait, Sanae, stop it! I’m giving a speech here! Get off of me!

Ahem. I thought I would at least  give you humans a fair warning~de geso. I will not reveal the air date of my second season just yet, but it is already far too late for you to stop me~de geso. Enjoy the time you have left, for soon you will bow to your new master, Ika Musume~de geso! If you don’t resist, I may go easy on you~de geso.

In the meantime, I will test your resolve~de geso! If you cannot survive the video below, your body is not ready for Squid Girl season 2~de geso!