By now, people all over the world must be making a fuss over KyoAni’s alleged cancellation of the supposedly upcoming anime adaptation of the FYG manga Tonari no 801-chan. KyoAni has not disclosed the true reasons behind this, and despite how the future of a Tonari no 801-chan anime seems bleak at the moment, they sure have succeeded in peaking people’s interest over this manga(s) / drama (apparently, the manga has been adapted to a DVD-only live-action movie (shall we call this ODV – Original Drama Video?) and I only knew about it today). Case in point would be yours truly, who just got herself to do a little research on the series, and is now itching to read the manga and/or watch the live-action adaptation. A pretty damn good marketing strategy I should say, KEIKAKU DOORI or not.

Now, after this interesting turn-of-events, more people (especially those who are updated in the anime scene and not so much in the manga scene) will be into the manga, and by the time it actually gets animated, its fanbase would’ve grown. Exponentially and internationally too.

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I was browsing MOONPHASE today, checking out updates regarding Skip Beat’s website, much to surprise that what I saw was this new anime among the list (with its homepage now up too!): Asaki Yumemishi. The first thing that came to my mind was the recently released PC game of the same name, but of course there’s no way that could happen. Just as I [later on] thought, it’s the adaptation of Waki Yamato’s epic Tale of Genji manga (based on the epic Tale of Genji novel, of course). Now, all the ones who watched Kure-nai and had no prior knowledge about this novel will be able to see the light! Or something.

There’s not much info on the staff and cast for the anime yet, but the epicness of this tale (albeit tragic, melodramatic and filled with political concubine conspiracy) and the fact that this will be taking up the Noitamina slot after Nodame Cantabile makes me excited over this series (though not quite for the right reasons… I’m somewhat imagining going ‘SRS BSNS romantic rant mode’ with this series ^^; ). I just wonder how much of the novel/manga they can cover in the span of 11 episodes, and how sensual this adaptation will turn out to be.

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People still had doubts over the unofficial announcement I posted about the Skip Beat seiyuu cast, and I was even thought to be a troll by other ones who don’t know me or this blog and thought that I was just spreading false news like the rest of the 2ch people. That actually bruised my ego. I mean, do I ever look like a troll and/or a liar?! I know I lied once for the April Fool’s joke, and I guess I’m reaping the consequences of it. But oh well, this is the internet for you. I didn’t have solid proof of the news anyways, so who am I get hurt for something I didn’t deserve to be trusted with, right? Better safe than sorry, as they say. Still, thanks to all the people who actually trusted the words of this unknown blogger, despite how unofficial that announcement was *hugs*

Lo and behold, the Skip Beat anime cast.

Finally, after daysss (or has it been weeks already), I finally got hold of the ultimate solid proof for anime thanks to the person who scanned and uploaded this Skip Beat chapter 127 I got. Marina Inoue and another Japanese blogger also posted partial scans of this one, showing the portion with Marina Inoue as Kyouko, and Miyano Mamoru as Shou, respectively. This time, you get the full-page view of it

Since this is already official, I guess I’ll say more of my thoughts on the selected seiyuus, especially Miyano Mamoru. I know many of you are dismayed that Miyano Mamoru got the role of Shou, but I’m pretty positive about it, especially after knowing that Mamo can sing!!

Now I wonder who will be playing Ren… *dun dun dun dun* I’m sure gonna be on the lookout for this announcement~

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Good news people (at least to those who found this new cast to be good), this news has been confirmed by several Japanese bloggers I’ve seen around the net in my lurk today. We can’t possibly go wrong with Japanese fans who have actual copies of Hana to Yume raving over this news now, right? I’m still on the lookout for more official news on this one, for those who still deem this to be unreliable.

Ok, so I don’t know who the heck gave ANN the heads up for the Skip Beat anime seiyuu lineup they have, or how they found out that Rina Satou and Koyasu Takehito will be playing as Kyoko and Ren, respectively. But one thing’s for sure: they’re booboos. Sorry to burst your bubble dear Skip Beat fans who already got excited with this false “rumor” about the Skip Beat seiyuu cast T__T I am sooo disappointed in you, ANN. Dear Wikipedia, please correct your anime seiyuu information too. – The Undersigned. –> I’m too lazy to edit the Wiki page atm.

The _REAL_ seiyuu cast for the anime (except for Ren, whose seiyuu remains a mystery at this point) has been announced in the latest Hana to Yume issue, and I am SOO happy with the seiyuus they chose It made me all giddy and excited, unlike the previously mis-announced seiyuu cast.

Kyoko will be played by the lovely and talented Inoue Marina, who voiced Iku of Toshokan Sensou. Shou will be played by Miyano Mamoru, which I deem to be fit for his role of being a mix of a dope and serious kind of guy. Yashiro will be played by Kawanago Masahito, who I don’t know much about. Kanae, aka, “Moko”, will be played by Risa Hayamizu, seiyuu of Kumiko Yamaguchi in the Gokusen anime.

Ren’s seiyuu won’t be announced till the next issue of Hana to Yume, what a bummer. So much for keeping us at the edge of our seats!

And that’s about it. I hope the Skip Beat fans will now be enthralled with this officially announced seiyuu cast

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News of the Shugo Chara 2nd season seems to be all the buzz recently, to which I have mixed feelings about, same with other people. I have yet to grow tired of all the fillers eps because I skipped (or fast-forwarded through) most of ‘em, episodes 14-15, 34-37, but still.

By the end of the 1st season, the anime would’ve covered the Daiya arc (until chapter 26), and continue on with the much-awaited Ikuto arc, which is currently ongoing (by the time episode 52 airs, the manga would’ve reached chapter 33). As fellow Shugo Chara fans have said, there won’t be enough manga material for a second season. The only reason to anticipate this would be for the Amuto stuff or the good fillers, if such a thing exists. With the new season slated to run for yet another 52 eps, airing throughout the year, I’ll be looking forward to seeing the monthly manga chapters brought to life in the anime (which will have a ratio of ~1:4, given the weekly rate of the anime and the monthly rate of the manga).

I just hope the Ikuto arc would be complete before this second season ends, so we’ll get to see more Amuto raburabu scenes! The anime better cover those chapters, or else! >E So uhm, here’s to more manga-covered anime episodes watching, and filler episode skipping?

Just for the record, I managed to catch up with the latest Shugo Chara episode because of this filler-skipping, and given the hordes of animes I’m looking forward to in Fall, I might just do it again to watch the majority of animes I want.

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I just couldn’t afford to have this news as an ‘Aside’ post, this needs as much spotlight as it can.

So while I’m still writing my post with shoujo manga recommendations, in which I was going all “I worship Yoshiki Nakamura ^:)^”, this announcement just had to come at the best possible time, making me reach a state of fangurl nirvana. To those who are not familiar with Skip Beat, it’s a manga by the god Yoshiki Nakamura-sama I mentioned, whose previous work Tokyo Crazy Paradise will forever be in my GREATEST SHOUJO MANGAS Hall of Fame. I fail as a Nakamura fan however, coz I haven’t been catching up with the Awesome Skip Beat!! orz *spanks self*

I was just browsing through my feedreader this morning when I stumbled upon Gia’s news about this “rumor”, which she heard from AnimeSuki regular NeoSam. While Gia thinks it’s just a rumor, I’m telling you now that it’s not. This is even more true than that rumored Skip Beat Taiwan drama, which makes me a really happy fangurl. I checked out moonphase and saw that it’s really in the works. The studio who’ll be producing it will be Hal Film Maker (who’s also behind Aria, Princess Tutu, Pretear, and Boys Be) to be directed by Kiyoko Sayama (director of Pretear, Princess Tutu, and Vampire Knight). And it’s airing this Autumn!! Now is this awesome or what +___+

Autumn 2008 is gonna be GREAT, more so if Ga-Rei and Hakushaku to Yousei will air in this season as well!

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So it seems that some of the great anime blogging sempais are making their comeback, thanks to the almighty OS who woke them from their slumber. While those who have long been in the blogging scene and witnessed their legacy are going “Natsukashii~“, we n00bs could simply bow down in awe of them m(_ _)m. And the great(est) thing about this is that, 3 of these sempais are girls (Newt, and *ahem* Ate Ten and Ate Reika? :P). Hurray for more females in the blogosphere! ;___;

Also, with the recent rise of itsubun into this sausage-fest blogosphere comes this plan of female blog-o-domination! Ok, it’s not really as diabolical as it sounds. We’re basically planning to have an all-girls round-robin, where we vote or choose for a particular topic or issue we want to discuss, everyone in the gang (or the interested members, at least) writes a post on it, linkwhore each other, and the result is this EPIC girl-power-filled discussion. We have several potential topics in mind atm, but I’m not disclosing them here or it’ll ruin the surprise factor

And now for a word from itsubun (QFT!): (silly me for thinking Sasa wrote up the invitation email =.=; )

Please note that the issues we may choose to discuss do NOT have to be gender-related or gender-focused. Meaning that the topics up for discussion can be about pretty much anything as long as it is democratically decided upon by the other participants of the round-robin. I understand that for some of you, you do not believe that gender should be the focal or highlighting trait of your writing. And I agree. Because as bloggers, anime-lovers, and human beings, we are ultimately so much more than just our sex. I believe that as long as you girls write in your own voices and write honestly about how you really feel about whatever these topics may be, I know that you will have much to say and contribute to this round-robin. The point of this project is to meet other girls in the blogosphere, and be in touch with one another in order to cultivate community and support for one another’s ideas and writing.

Think of this as the all-female counterpart of the ABC or the ones who plan to take over the ABC ohoho~, where we girls can interact with each other, share ideas, all in the hopes of encouraging more females to speak out, without having to worry about being intimidated by the horde of guys in the blogosphere and being demoralized because of their gender, or well, just to meet new friends and know that “THERE ARE NO GIRLS” on the internet, as itsubun puts it

Members so far include: itsubun, Sasa, me, CJ, Ashley, Hinano, j1m0ne and Marmot. Update: Ashley is IN! :3

Anyways, we’d be delighted to have more girls on board this round-robin crew (*hint hint*)! Interested parties (girls only plz) can contact us through email, or by leaving a comment on this post :3 and be sure to comment on itsubun’s post, she is after all the mastermind of this

Last but not the least, I’m proud to say that Shugo Chara won in the Best Children’s Manga category of this year’s Kodansha Manga Awards! ^___^ This calls for a celebration! w00t!

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My eyes shot wide open at the headline: “New School Rumble Anime This July!” I was letting out streaks of “OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG” as if I were chanting it to attain nirvana.

The 21st volume of the manga will be released on July 17, 2008 (on my birthday!), the first limited edition will come with a DVD. I would guess that the DVD will contain the “third semester”, which will just be an OVA or a couple special episodes, I’m still not sure. It doesn’t matter. As long as I have some SR goodness to look forward to, I’m a happy hamster!

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I love the tagline of this series, “People become stronger when they find someone they ought to protect”. rawr, so GAR

Not too long ago, I pointed out Kurenai as one of the animes I’m looking forward to in the Spring Lineup. Yes, I’m looking that far ahead. Although I don’t have the actual novel in my hands, I managed to find it *cough* somewhere else *cough* It took me weeks of perseverance, to keep me from buying the novels on impulse. I thought hard, wondering if it’ll be worth my time and money, considering the pile of unread mangas and novels (*cough* Saiunkoku *cough*) I have. I browsed through the novels again, supposedly for dispelling my excitement (the want-to-buy-it kind of excitement) for it, only to end up failing to resist it more orz.

These pictures in particular caught my attention, enough to make me exclaim “I AM SOLD!”. Without reading the text of the novel, I think these images already give enough hints that there’s more to this show than meets the eye (like duh, these images already show some plot-clues in the first two volumes of the novel xD). I think you’ll even be more interested once you see the recent manga adaptation. What worries me is how they’re going to conclude the anime for this yet-to-be-finished novel. Aside from that, it’s all good~

I get Aishiteruze Baby vibes from the loli & bodyguard relationship of Murasaki and Shinkurou, the two main characters of the show. I think the antics in Kurenai will be more fun, because we have a tsundere ojousama loli in Murasaki The possible love triangle angle with Shinkurou, Murasaki, and Shinkurou’s classmate Yuuno makes this all the more interesting. I’m in the loli-side for this one, though Yuuno is a cool kickass female herself, whose martial arts skills is even more superior than the GAR-in-disguise Shinkurou.

I decided to give this pimping my ALL (sort of), so here are some of the entertaining antics I was able to pick-up during my quick browsing:

Murasaki: Come Shinkurou! Let’s read this book together! Shinkurou: But I still have to take care of these documents… Murasaki: I’m reading it now! Shinkurou: Alright, alright. So, what book is it? Murasaki: It’s The Tale of Genji manga I borrowed from Tamaki! This story fits us to a tee, Shinkurou! Shinkurou: Orly…? o_O (Note: In the Tale of Genji, Genji becomes fascinated with this little girl named Murasaki, who turns out to be the niece of his stepmother, his first love. Enamored by the young 10-yr old, he “kidnaps” her, and brings her up to become his ideal lady. Murasaki is 8 years younger than Genji, and came to be known as his “most loved one”, among the MANY women in his life.)

before this, Shinkurou told Murasaki not to hesitate to ask him about anything that’s bother her, and soo… Murasaki: Hey, Shinkurou. Which do you think is cuter between these two [panties]? Shinkurou: Whichever is fine, so just go and wear it! Murasaki: I said, which?! Shinkurou: well then.. the white one. Murasaki: Hrmm, so this is what Shinkurou likes. I’ll take note of that. Shinkurou: Umm, you really don’t have to…

Below is the PV from the official site. Found the subbed version in youtube, but I don’t know who graciously subbed it ?_?

Murasaki is <3 8D

…but of course, April is still a long wait, so I’m going back to the present and finish the rest of my planned posts.

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Can’t wait to see more Sousuke and Chidori!

So I heard that Full Metal Panic is reairing in Japan. I first learned about this news from double of Furu Anime Panikku, but with a little prodding from jinya of the ab channel, I decided to join in the fun in announcing this interesting news, for more FMP <3

It might not seem anything special, but this clearly points out that something must be brewing behind the FMP scene. Not to mention the fact that FMP ranked 1st in the “Kono Light Novel wa Sugoi! 2008″ rankings. Drawing the fans’ attention to FMP again is a strong sign that an upcoming season is probably in the works. Even the official FMP site mentions that what’s left after this announcement, it to wait for an upcoming 4th season. \o/

2ch mentions about speculations that the anime might probably come out this coming fall, though it’s just a rumor at this point. Let’s all hope for the best~! =3

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