2D vs 3D: The Battle Begins!

Posted on July 4, 2010 by Jon

Since the dawn of the internet, mankind has been plagued by one absolute question…. which is sexier, 2D or 3D? Well, we here at Project Haruhi have decided to answer that question once and for all by hosting a series of 2D vs 3D debates! Here’s how it works: I’ll post a set of 2D/3D comparison images, and you readers will chose via poll which one you think is best. LET THE DEBATE BEGIN!

Here are the contestants! On the left we have Rukia Kuchiki in all her gorgeous 2D glory, and on the right a voluptuous Asian beauty cosplaying her in 3D!

Cast your vote now!

[poll id=”12″]

The Melancholy of Aya Hirano

Posted on July 4, 2010 by Shamisen

Editorial Comment

Hysterical Barbie

Fame is a strange bedfellow: some handle it as if it were part of life, and for others it becomes a daunting pillar which they spend their entire life trying to stand upon. Aya Hirano burst on to the world stage a mere four years ago at the age of 18 when she voiced Haruhi. Since that time she’s moved on to a singing career, reprized her Haruhi role several times, was Konata’s voice in Lucky Star and has been searching for her real self in real life.

What is real life you ask? It is that life not on the stage, nor in the studio, those nights sitting in front of a mirror trying desperately to figure out what to do next. There are usually thoughts of “Who am I?” or “How did I manage to get into this dilemma?”

It is the opinion of this writer that Ms. Hirano is suffering a massive identity crisis. Her sudden unexplained illness, canceling of appearances, and hair loss all point to this. Furthermore, the rather garish appearance of her latest album (pictured above) in which she’s adopted yet another unnatural hair color after she promised she would return her hair to its natural color (black), seems to support this conclusion.

More after the jump.

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Review: K-ON!! 13

Posted on July 3, 2010 by Guest

Let me say this now: the one real reason I started watching K-ON! at all was because everyone kept talking about it on Twitter. So I thought, “Hey! I wanna look cool, too! I should watch it!” However, the second season has been a bit of a disappointment. It doesn’t feel like any major plot developments have come along in a while, and that’s reflected in this episode. K-ON!! 13 is doesn’t deviate much from the standard formula we’ve seen thus far. There are a few different elements shown, but ultimately it’s just eye candy for the fans. I enjoyed it somewhat, but that was mainly because of Azusa in her swimsuit. But let’s cut to the chase, shall we?

Figma Fever: Young Haruhi by Max Factory

Posted on July 3, 2010 by Chris

Have you always wanted that diorama of both young and older version of Haruhi kicking Kyon’s ass? Well, wait no more! Max Factory has added to their Figma lineup by releasing a younger version of Haruhi Suzumiya for your enjoyment. In case you didn’t already know, this loli-Haruhi is from the Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody arc, one of the more pivotal episodes in the the second season of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. More after the jump.

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Meet Konata

Posted on July 3, 2010 by Guest

Kagami, your nemesis has arrived.

All righty… I’m attempting to conjure up a witty intro, but alas. My name is Konata Izumi, but please just call me Kona-nyan since it sounds more moe. I’m planning on writing some reviews on Project Haruhi (mainly K-ON!! at the moment), as well as potentially some other projects. The staff greeted me with torches and pitchforks, ready to burn my house down! However, unlike my other colleagues who are in their 20s, I’m a mere 14 years old. Yes, you may now laugh.

I’m still hoping to adapt to everything on the site, as well as get to know the rest of the staff a bit more. Hopefully, I’ll get to know them well enough that they won’t want to burn my house down anymore. I’m a witty writer yet a bit shy with new people. My main interests are history and writing, and–of course–anime. While I’m still a bit of a newb at anime, I still do my best to try and fit in. I’m a bit cautious with new things, but once I get to know it, I’m lapse back into my ol’ sad attempts at trying to be funny. Like this post, for example.

I’ve never been asked to write for anything whatsoever, so I’ll try and do my best here. I hope I don’t screw this up!

My Twitter

Series Review: Angel Beats!

Posted on July 3, 2010 by Chris

First things first, I didn’t like Angel Beats!

This is totally crazy, I know. This is the show everyone in the interwebs is drooling over. Surely I must have caught some rogue virus that rots away the parts of the brain that enjoy moe anime. I mean, I don’t like K-ON!! either, so just what is wrong with me? You’d think since I enjoyed Clannad so much this new offering from the same writer would be just as good, or at least have the same amount of impact as its predescessor, right?

WRONG.

Looking back at previous Key series, it turns out I didn’t like Air or Kanon very much, so it should hardly seem surprising that Angel Beats! ended up on the disappointing end of the scale with the rest of them. Why is that? The tried and tested formulas were there: mysterious afterlife world, highschool setting, girls with guns, a bit of fun thrown in the mix with emotional reefs to run aground on, etc etc etc. Oh, and a lead female protagonist who looks like Haruhi. Yup, all the key ingredients were there to satisfy my brain, and by all accounts Angel Beats! should have been win… yet it wasn’t.

Find out why after the jump.

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K-ON! is licensed by Bandai

Posted on July 1, 2010 by Jon

Are they laughing with Bandai… or at them?

I’m still in shock.

Despite their financial woes, Bandai Entertainment has just announced at Anime Expo that they’ve acquired the rights to K-ON!‘s first season. There’s no word yet if it will be dubbed or released on Blu-ray. Bandai also announced a series of live-action K-ON! marketing videos similar to the ASOS Brigade series for Haruhi. For these, they’ve cast Christina Vee as Mio, Karri Shirou as Yui, “Kix” as Tsumugi and “Briana” as Ritsu.

Hang on a second… Christina Vee as MIO? She’s got a great singing voice, but their personalities couldn’t be more different. This is going to be most interesting…

I think it’s likely that Bandai will give K-ON! a dub, probably recycling many of the cast members from the Haruhi and Lucky Star dubs. However, in my opinion, their English version of “God Knows” was ear-splittingly painful, especially when compared to the original Japanese song. Given how music-oriented K-ON! is, I’m hoping they can track down some voice actors who can actually sing. Of course, I’d also be perfectly happy with a sub-only release.

Oh, and Bandai? If you try to pull the same “no Japanese audio track” crap that you did with Kurokami, I’m not buying it. Period.

[Via ANN]

Trailer for K-ON! PSP game revealed

Posted on June 26, 2010 by Jon

The rumors are true! Sega, the makers of the wildy popular PSP rhythm game Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA, are turning their musical talents towards making a K-ON! game. Check out the trailer below!

Like its Vocaloid-themed predecessor, K-ON! After School Live!! is basically a rhythm game set to the music of the hit anime. You can play as any of the five Houkago Tea Time band members, either solo or with up to four other friends. (Dibs on Ritsu!) The game is slated for a September 30th release in Japan, and priced at ¥6090 or approximately $68 USD. Sadly, there’s little chance of it being licensed in the English-speaking world, so us stateside K-ON! fans will have to import it.

This news is certainly exciting, but I’m still holding out hope for a DS K-ON! game. In my opinion, Nintendo’s handheld system is more suited to rhythm-based musical gameplay. Plus, just think of the possibilities with the touchscreen…

Ew, not like that. Perverts. >_<

New Manga Series from Gunsmith Cats Creator

Posted on June 26, 2010 by Dustin

According to Anime Vice, Kenichi Sonoda is creating a new manga series called Bullet the Wizard, which makes me very excited.

Why?

Because he also created Gunsmith Cats—one of my favorite manga series of all time. It had fun, fast-paced plots that often felt like episodes from a crime drama, great art, an impressive showcase of firearms and a charming team dynamic between Rally Vincent and Minnie May. Of course, it certainly helped that Rally appeals to my particular taste in women: a smart, athletic adult who spent her time beating up bad guys and enjoyed the sound and recoil of a gunshot. Now that’s sexy.

Like Jason Bourne, but with breasts.

The “bullet” part of the title of his new series implies that he’ll be going back to the gunslinging storylines that Gunsmith Cats did so well. As for the “wizard” part, maybe he’ll be taking inspiration from Outlaw Star‘s caster shells. Or, at least, that’s what I hope he’ll do.

Bakacast 6 – Robots in Hell

Posted on June 24, 2010 by Dustin

That’s right, it’s the episode everyone I have been waiting for… we finally review Casshern Sins. But because even we can’t fill up an hour with Casshern discussion, we also review Venus Wars and tackle some important issues with the help of special guest Chris (aka Kagami on Project Haruhi): manga aggregation, absurd Haruhi DVD prices, the “loli bill”, Japan’s search for new creative talent and—of course—beards.

Truly, we are the pinnacle of moe- and beard-related content. And if my script for a new slice-of-life show about lumberjacks gets green-lit, we may finally get to combine our passions!

As always, you can download the episode directly, follow our RSS feed or subscribe to us through iTunes. Head on over to our forums to discuss this episode in detail!

The music at the end is “ROBOTS” by Dan Mangan and is available for digital download on Amazon.