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.
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!
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.
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]
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. >_<
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.
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.
Mai waifu!
Those of you who have been reading this site for a while know that I’m a huge fan of A Certain Scientific Railgun, as well as its leading lady Mikoto Misaka. I’ve been hoping for more Railgun ever since the first season ended, and now it looks like I’m getting my wish! Hooray!
The latest preview issue of the Railgun manga included an advertisement for a new OVA, which will be released on October 29th. More details about this OVA will be revealed in the upcoming August edition of Dengeki Daioh, which according to ANN ships on Saturday. This announcement is apparently unrelated to the “Certain Beach Video Extra” filler episode that’s bundled with the upcoming Railgun Official Visual Book, due for release this Thursday.
Hopefully this new OVA will adapt more of the manga’s storyline instead of giving us more of that pointless filler that plagued the first season. Ah, who am I kidding… I’ll just be happy to see my waifu Mikoto again.
How much would you pay for Endless Eight?
Bandai has just released detailed information about The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Season 2 DVD boxset.This release will contain 14 episodes, both dubbed and subbed. Also included are various special features such as “location scouting videos”, “Behind The Scenes of Aya Hirano’s Music Video”, “Endless Eight Prologue”, and a “special event video”, as well as CD tracks for “Super Driver” and “Tomare.” Oh, and don’t forget the exciting “interactive menus!” Oh boy!
And the best part: this all-frills boxset can be yours for the low, low price of $64.98!
Wait a minute… sixty-five dollars? Bandai wants to charge me sixty-five dollars for fourteen episodes of Haruhi? Worse, eight of those are the same friggin’ episode! GO TO HELL, BANDAI!
Sorry, I know I shouldn’t be so pissed. After all, the Japanese had to pay over five times as much for their Season 2 DVDs. Still, charging sixty-five bucks for less than six hours of anime seems a bit extreme, especially when the anime industry (not to mention the entire economy) is in a state of decline.
So, yeah… I think I’ll wait for the Anime Legends boxset. How about you, dear readers? Are you willing to dish out the big bucks for Haruhi S2? Let us know in the poll below, then discuss the issue further in our forums!
[poll id=”11″]
This quite possibly the most epic thing I have ever seen.
Hmm, this reminds me of a certain K-ON! multitrack…