This seemed fitting, as we’re nearing the end of the year! The Japanese website Oricon has posted a list of the most popular anime themes songs released this year. * ~Asterisk~ - the first Bleach opening - by Orange Range is at number one, while four titles from Gundam SEED DESTINY appear elsewhere on the list, and two from Blackjack. Link by L’arc~en~Ciel, the theme from the Fullmetal Alchemist theatrical release was #4, somewhat unsurprising, since its second opening Ready Steady Go also topped the list 2004.
Source: Oricon
Tsukihime, Lunar Legend (Japanese: 真月譚 月姫 Shingetsutan Tsukihime, Tales of the True Moon, Moon Princess) was a 12-episode Japanese anime that was broadcast from October 9 to December 25, 2003. The show is licensed for American distribution by Geneon. Tsukihime, Lunar Legend was based on Tsukihime, a very popular H doujin video game in Japan created by TYPE-MOON. However, like many other H game to anime conversions, the anime contains no adult material itself. Many fans of the original game have criticized this anime, as several characters and much of the story were cut due to length.
Tsukihime, Lunar Legend is the story of Shiki Tohno. As a young boy, Shiki suffered a very life-threatening injury. As a result of the injury, he is now able to see “life lines” on objects and people which, when cut, will destroy them. Still a young boy, he is given a special pair of glasses by a mysterious woman that allows him not to see the lines.
Fast forward to Shiki’s high school days. After years away from the Tohno household (where he was sent after his injury), he moves back home following the death of the head of the Tohno family, Shiki’s father. Shiki’s sister, Akiha assumes responsibility of being the new head.
One day, Shiki is walking home from school when he meets a beautiful woman, Arcueid Brunestud. Shiki feels drawn to kill the woman, but he later thinks that her murder was all just a nightmare, until she reappears in front of him. Arcueid is a vampire princess. As a result of this, Arcueid recruits Shiki to help fight Roa, the antagonist vampire who has been on a killing spree of late.
Links:
Official Website
The Moonlit World
Celestial Moon
Source: Wikipedia
This is a really great bilingual (English/Japanese) article on how anime is produced. It covers compositing, dubbing, color setting (cel creation) and pretty much all of the steps to making an animated show or movie that you knew existed but never really knew how was went about. If you have any interest in the industry, give it a read!
Full Metal Panic! (Katakana: フルメタルパニック!, often abbreviated to FMP!) is the name of an anime series which originally aired in 2002. It is based on a light novel series by author Shouji Gatou and arts illustrated by Shiki Doji. The anime was produced by GONZO Digimation.
The series is set in a modern, parallel world where the Cold War has yet to end and the KGB and other secret governmental agencies are running rampant. It follows the events of Sousuke Sagara, an unduly disciplined member of Mithril (an anti-terrorism organization which often operates under the guise of the UN), and Kaname Chidori, the schoolgirl whom he was assigned to protect. Chidori is considered to be one of the “Whispered”; that is, she possesses an inherent understanding of advanced Black Technology.
While carrying out his mission in an environment previously foreign to him, Sagara assumes the identity of a high school student at Jindai High School. His inability to “blend in with the crowd”, however, is quickly made transparent by his peers (though ultimately to no consequence as they merely regard him as being a military obsessed otaku). Chidori had initially mistaken him to be a stalker of sorts as he was always “coincidentally” nearby. The fish-out-of-water Sagara continues to pester Chidori — albeit with good intentions — until she finally realizes his purposes in doing so.
In 2003, a side-story to FMP! was released. Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu, also known as FMP? Fumoffu, focuses (almost entirely) on the high school life of Sagara and Chidori. Although it does include more slapstick humor and randomness, it is not a complete spinoff of the series as its events develop the relationship between the two main characters.
The series continued in July 2005 with Full Metal Panic!: The Second Raid, which continues the events of the original. It is an adaptation of the two “Full Metal Panic! End of Day By Day” novels.
Links:
ADV’s Official Website
Merida Island
FullMetal*Panic
Source:
Wikipedia
Ooooh.
Bitway has announced a new music delivery service for cellular phone users in Japan specializing in animation, SFX, and the seiyuu. ANI*ROCO as it’s being called will be available to user of multiple phone companies, and their support sites will launch now through February. About 1700 tunes related to anime such as Gundam, My HiMe, Rozen Maiden, Ultra-man, Mask Rider, Dragonball, and Sergeant Keroro will be able to be accessed immediately with around 40 or more scheduled to be added every month.
Manga Entertainment will soon be putting out 3 new anime titles in UMD format, viewable on the Sony PSP. Set for a December 6th release date, the movies that will be released are Perfect Blue, Dead Leaves and X. Check out this link to read more about the content of the discs!
Source: Anime News Network
Oh my goodness! I’ve been so busy this week that I have a huge backlog of things I wanted to post about but never got the chance to. ^^; First up is an update on the Keroro Gunso movie; they’ve put up an official section for it on the site, complete with mini-profiles of the new Keronians that will be appearing in the movie. It seems like it will be a double-feature with Kaiketsu Zorori, a concept that seems to be getting more popular nowadays for anime movies (like the Rockman.EXE/Duel Masters feature earlier in the year). As far as we know so far, no crossovers for the story are planned, though I wouldn’t be surprised if they share a short intro.
Check out the movie website here!
Or, for more info, skip back to previous Keroro Gunso posts:
Keroro Gunso Review
Keroro Gunso Movie
More On Keroro
Martian Successor Nadesico (機動戦艦ナデシコ Kidō Senkan Nadeshiko, 1996) is a science fiction comedy anime TV series, and a subsequent manga series by Kia Asamiya. The series takes place in the year 2196. The manga, published in English by CPM Manga, is significantly different from the anime.
When Earth’s colonies on Mars are suddenly attacked by alien invaders referred to as the Jovian Lizards, civilian contractor Nergal decides to come to the Earth’s aid by constructing powerful space battleships, the first of which is known as the ND-001 Nadesico. A crew is selected from among the top civilian experts in each field, however, these individuals tend to have “some slight personality disorders”.
The main character, Akito Tenkawa, is a man with a mysterious past; once a resident of Mars’ Utopia colony, Tenkawa somehow escaped its destruction by the Jovian Lizards and arrived on Earth, with no memory of how he got there but a terrible fear of the invaders. He hates fighting and only wants to be a cook, however, he is constantly called on to act as a pilot of one of the Nadesico’s Aestevalis - humanoid combat robots. While on board the Nadesico, Akito has more problems to deal with than just the Jovians; pretty much all the female members of the crew seem to be head over heels in love with Akito, but all he wants to do is cook and watch his favorite anime, Gekigangar III (a play within a play).
Source: Wikipedia
Cosplayers have been asked to join in a Norman, Oklahoma Christmas parade. Sounds fun!
Read the full article here!
FUNimation is looking for cosplayers in the local Dallas/Ft. Worth area to participate in an upcoming ad program. We are looking for folks with costumes from any of our anime properties. If you are interested in participating, please send your name, email and phone number to cosplayproject@funimation.com. Please include a picture of your costume, or a description of the costume. We will be holding an open call to interview each participant and to get a look at the costume first hand before the actual shoot. The shoot will be happening the first week of December (Dec 1 – 2). If you can be in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area at that time, feel free to apply.
Source: Cosplay.com
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