Checkpoint: Lucky Star, xxxHOLiC, Trailers

Last update - Jan 8, 23:59 GMT (18:59 EST, 15:59 PST)

Phew, finally some breathing time after this week's downpour of announcements. Enough so, that I managed to catch up with some trailers and other goodies for the latest anime series that started today and yesterday. I'll get to them in a bit, but first...

The lulz anime Lucky Star will soon receive a proper release in Blu-ray format, as a limited edition "Complete Box" set that's coming out in Japan this May 27. The noteworthy thing about it is that it will include not only English subs, but even English dubs, along with the standard Japanese audio and subs. Both the 2007 TV series and the 2008 OVA will be there, as will various other bonuses that you can read about on ANN. The price, you ask? 39,900 yen, or about $475. I'm not even going to comment on that...




The xxxHOLiC Rou manga is coming to an end next month, with the release of Bessatsu Shonen Magazine's March issue on February 9, which will carry the final chapter in this CLAMP-stamped manga. The subsequent 19th compiled volume will follow on March 9, bringing with it the second OVA episode of xxxHOLiC Rou - titled "Adayume".


Now, about those new anime series that began airing this weekend - below is a brief list with each title and its relevant resources available locally.



The 3rd OVA episode of Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail also came out this January 7, by the way. And tomorrow brings another anime triplet; and an anime of triplets...


Heh, the "Tiger Mask" Santa Claus is still at it, over in Japan. What began as a random gift, this past Christmas, is slowly turning into a country-wide charitable movement - feeble as it may still be. The initial gift of 10 backpacks was left on the doorstep of a child guidance center in Maebashi (Gunma prefecture), by someone who signed as "Naoto Date" - "the alter ego of Tiger Mask, a manga/anime pro wrestler who fights for children in an orphanage", as ANN explains.

Since then, another 6 backpacks were left in a similar fashion at a child guidance center in Odawara (Kanagawa prefecture), on January 1, likewise under the name of "Naoto Date". And this Friday, three more such centers and orphanages were "targetted" - in Nagano, Shizuoka and Okinawa - for a total of 9 backpacks and 100,000 yen (those 100,000 yen are the equivalent of 3 backpacks, plus change).


Two more freshly added trailers - one for Hoshikaka, one for Oretsuba - both eroge-to-anime adaptations starting this April.


And three more trailers, for the three Votoms OVAs releasing in the next few months on Blu-ray and DVD: Armored Trooper Votoms Case;Irvine on February 25, Votoms Finder on March 25 and Armored Trooper Votoms: Alone Again on April 22. The latter, by the way, has just been previewed today in Japan, at an event dedicated to the franchise.


Over 30,000 suicides occured in Japan during 2010, for the 13th year in a row. Christ, and there I was thinking that us Romanians were desperate! (at least that one survived)