Project Haruhi Has A Fancy New Comment System!

It's so beautiful...

Project Haruhi is now using Disqus as our comment system. This adds a ton of new functionality, such as the ability to edit your comments, post them to Twitter, subscribe to comment feeds via RSS or email, and rate other people’s comments. You can log into the system using your Twitter, Facebook or Yahoo ID, or use the old-fashioned method by simply providing a username and email like before. However, the best method is to create a Disqus profile with the same email address you use to comment here. After you’ve verified your email and logged in to Disqus, follow this link and claim your old comments.

As always, we’re open to feedback. If you have any comments or suggestions, tell us below or e-mail them to ryoko[at]projectharuhi.net!

Bakacast Episode 4 – This Is Absurd

Okay, we took about 3 weeks to release this episode, but it’s twice as long as the others. So it’s almost like we’re on time!

You can download the episode directly, subscribe to our RSS feed or get it from iTunes.

We kick off our news segment with Funimation’s decision to censor the Dance in the Vampire Bund DVD’s (which they quickly reconsidered), followed by short discussions of Media Blasters’ layoffs and whether the American anime industry should just die. Paul “Otaking” Johnson’s fansub documentary closes out the news and provides us with a topic Ryoko, Shamisen and I can agree on before we start arguing about The Wings of Honneamise and Cromartie High School.

Next time: Project A-Ko! Casshern Sins! And punctuality (maybe)!

Bakacast Episode 3 – Lucky Star Wars

You can download the episode directly or subscribe using our RSS feed or the iTunes store.

For this episode, we talk about the legality (or lack thereof) of the Chris Handley case that’s been going on for two years now, followed by our thoughts on whether Nippon Ichi Software America’s venture into anime licensing will succeed. Then, in the review section, we trip out on Interstella 5555 and bravely don our flame-shields to give our mixed opinions on Lucky Star.

Regarding Chris Handley:

Regarding NIS America:

Regarding Lucky Star

Regarding the spring season:

Bakacast Episode 2 – Beating Like a Disco

Click here for the direct download or subscribe to the RSS feed.

On this episode of Bakacast, we go from super-serious to super-goofy in the span of one LOST episode. First, we use this article on the Akihabara killer as a springboard to talk about…well…a lot of stuff. Then, we discuss Blu-Ray sales going up and what that might mean for our anime collections. Plus, the ASOS Brigade is back with a new voice actress for Haruhi. Finally, we wrap the show up with our finalized impressions on the Silent Mobius movies and a review of the Dirty Pair TV series. Be sure to watch the clean OP that Jon/Ryoko uploaded. It’s disco-riffic and perfectly encapsulates the style of the show.

Bakacast Episode 1 – Aliens Among Us

This is the first “real” episode of Bakacast (the chronologically first episode was a proof of concept), a podcast hosted by Shamisen, Ryoko and myself. For this episode, we talk about alien designs in both Japanese and Western media, a point-and-click adventure game called The White Chamber and first Silent Mobius movie. Shownotes for this episode are after the break.

Click the image to download the podcast directly, or subscribe to our RSS feed here.

Continue reading

Disappearance Sketches Appear…

Okay, so we do not yet have a trailer for the up and coming film, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. Instead we have a newly released poster with some character sketches of the main characters in and around the SOS Brigade. Located in the margins, some lucky sod scanned the whole thing in high enough resolution for our viewing pleasure. See the sketches after the jump.

Continue reading

Gundam Unicorn Will Get Simultaneous Dual-Audio Global Release

Bandai is really pulling out all the stops for Gundam Unicorn. They revealed today that the Blu-Ray version will receive a simultaneous international release, and will include both English and Japanese dub tracks, as well as subtitles in Japanese, English, French, Spanish and Chinese. Those of you without Blu-Ray players, however, will have to suffer through the English subtitles, as the regular DVD release contains only Japanese audio. Bummer, I know how much you otaku hate subtitles.

As a Gundam fan, I would love to provide you with a detailed analysis of Bandai’s international release strategy… but I’m too busy squealing like a fangirl. SQUEEEEE!!!

–Via ANN

4th Annual Seiyu Awards Voting is Open!

Voting has begun for the 4th annual Seiyu awards, which allows fans to pick their favorite Japanese voice actors and actresses. For the second year in a row, the Tokyo Anime Center is including an English-language Overseas Fan Choice Award category. Last year, that award went to prolific voice actor Jun Fukuyama, who played Lelouch Lamperouge in Code Geass and Luca Angeloni in Macross Frontier, among other roles.

Who will win this year? That’s up to you! Go to the Seiyu Awards website and nominate your favorite seiyu!

–Via ANN

Saboten-Con Promo Video Contest Winner

Saboten-Con, the upcoming Arizona anime convention, recently held a promo video contest on YouTube. The contestants were ranked based how many views their videos. This tounge-in-cheek short by hbi2k, which uses footage from The Vision of Escaflowne, chalked over 3000 views and won the contest.

A couple of us here at PH are planning on going to Saboten-Con. Anybody else thinking about attending?