Animekon Spring Cleaning - Part 1

Enough is enough! Our self-indulged WoW abuse extended break has been going on for far too long, so it's time to do some spring cleaing around here, and get back to our usual lolicon program. Since our last update a couple of centuries ago, there's been enough anime news to stuff a life-size plush pedobear, so you'll have to pardon me if I miss a thing or two, as I'll be trying to catch up with all the new anime announcements, trailurz, and various other novelties of questionable importance (e.g. licenses). Right then, here goes nothing...

New animes

- Blade of the Immortal (Mugen no Juunin) - based on a manga about "a ronin swordsman condemned to immortality unless he kills a thousand evil men for all the good men he killed". Begins this summer (website).

- Bounen no Xamdou - confirmed to be the title of studio Bones' new anime series, from the animators of Fullmetal Alchemist and Eureka Seven. Looks totally "WTF", in a totally good way (website).

- Casshern - based on the Shinzo Ningen Casshan sci-fi robotronic classic, in the works at animation studio Madhouse. Begins this autumn.

- Clannad After Story - self-explanatory sequel. And a damn great news! Too bad the debut trailer is so brief...

- Hayate no Gotoku! 2nd season - self-explanatory.

- Hyakko - based on a slapstick school comedy manga.

- Kodomo no Jikan 2nd season - talk about great news! The Kojikan lolis will return in a "second term" series, and a promo video is expected to surface in July.

- Maimai Shinko to Sennen no Mahou (Maimai Shinko and the Millennium-Old Magic) - an animated film in the works at Madhouse, from the director of Black Lagoon and Princess Arete.

- Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO 2: Juuryoku Sensen (Gravity's Warfront) - a 3D CG mecha anime series, sequel to The Hidden One Year War film series (website, with a not-so-bad artwork).

- Negima OVAs - aye, more of them incoming, for a total of three episodes. Each one will be bundled and released with a volume of the ongoing Negima! manga: the first one on July 17, the second one on October 17, and the third one on January 17, 2009.

- Rainbow: Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin - based on a slice-of-life manga set in the 1950s, about 6 junior delinquents (or 7, ANN doesn't seem too sure, and I can't be arsed to look it up). Begins in spring 2009.

- Rosario + Vampire Capu2 - the second season of Rosario to Vampire, which pretty much says it all. Begins this October.

- Seto no Hanayome OVA - self-explanatory. And another great news, by the way.

- Someday's Dreamers sequel - this time focusing on "a character named Sora, a budding mage learning to use her powers in Tokyo". Begins this summer.

- Toradora! - based on a light novel series about the love-hate relationship between "a sweet, ordinary boy shunned by others because his face looks like a troublemaker's", and "a tiny but ferocious girl also shunned - even by her own family - as the Handheld Tiger".

- Ultraviolet: Code 044 - confirmed to be based on the 2006 movie starring Milla Jovovich. Begins on July 1, and here's the debut trailer.

- Yozakura Quartet - based on a supernatural action manga about a quartet of teenage heroes. Make that a trio, since the fourth member is a powerless loser-type dude.

Trailers

- Amatsuki trailer
- Blassreiter trailer #3
- Blassreiter trailer #4
- Clannad After Story trailer
- Kyouran Kazoku Nikki trailer - Win!
- Library War trailer
- Library War trailer #2
- Michiko to Hatchin trailer
- Mission-E trailer
- Monochrome Factor trailer #2
- Real Drive trailer #2
- To Love-Ru trailer #2
- True Tears preview #3
- Ultraviolet: Code 044 trailer
- Winter Sonata anime trailer

Stuff of questionable importance

- Bleach the Movie: Memories of Nobody - licensed by Viz Media in the Americas, Europe and Oceania.
- Kiba - licensed by ADV Films in North America.
- Rocket Girls - licensed by Bandai Entertainment in North America.
- Seirei no Moribito - licensed by Media Blasters in North America.

- Two 90-year-old anime films (from 1917 and 1918) were discovered in an antique shop in Osaka. Animes are so last century!