April Anime News Round-up #2

April news in late June? Is old news exciting or what!

- Buddha - one of Osamu Tezuka's numerous manga, originally serialized in the 1970s and '80s, will be made into an anime film by Tezuka Productions - the studio carrying over the name of the late "god of manga". Premieres in "2010 or later".

- Bungaku Shoujo - an upcoming "mysterious school comedy" anime film in the works at Production I.G, based on Mizuki Nomura's light novels of the same title. You can watch this pseudo-trailer that we yanked from the official website, and ANN has the story outline. This one's got my attention.

- Fullmetal Alchemist: Blind Alchemist - a side-story OVA based on the Moumoku no Renkinjutshi manga by Hiromu Arakawa, to be bundled with the first Blu-Ray & DVD volume of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, out in Japan this August 26.

- Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora - the superb buckets-of-tear-jerking story also known as Looking up at the Half-Moon, originally a light novel and later a short anime series (among other manga / TV drama adaptations), is being made into a live-action film.

- Hetalia: Axis Powers 2nd Season - another set of 26 episodes will invade the webs and cells after the current season ends this summer.

- Isshoni Training - ichi... ni... san... shi... It's been out since April 24, but that shouldn't stop you from counting and training with Hinako still, from the comfort of your chair. Alternatively, training with Mio is fine, too.

- Kawa no Hikari (River's Light) - based on a greenpeaceful novel about a family of rats. Aya Hirano voiced a puppy in this freshly-aired anime special.

- Lone Wolf and Cub - an anime adaptation of the age-old samurai manga Lone Wolf and Cub (Kozure Okami) has been re-confirmed to be "in the tentative planning stages", but the release timeframe is still not clear.

- Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn - announced as the next entry in the Gundam anime franchise, based on Harutoshi Fukui's mecha novels of the same title. The story is set in the series' original "Universal Century", in the year 0096. Simultaneous worldwide release set for winter 2009/2010, in a yet-to-be-announced format.

- Out of Galaxy Koshika - based on the latest space-saga manga by Leiji Matsumoto (Space Battleship Yamato, Space Pirate Captain Harlock, Galaxy Express 999), which was released in April via Nintendo's WiiWare service. The upcoming anime adaptation is part of Sunsoft's larger plans for this franchise, which they hope to expand to include games, music and what-not.

- Princess Knight - another one of Osamu Tezuka's numerous manga, originally serialized in the 1950s, will also be made into an anime film by Tezuka Productions. Premieres in "2010 or later", like Buddha above (pun not intended).

- Strike Witches 2 - the second season will be animated by Gonzo, after all, despite earlier rumors claiming otherwise. Begins in 2010, presumably.

- Today in Class 5-2 OVA (2009) - for the third time around, the school comedy ecchi manga Kyou no Go no Ni is getting animated. First there was the imba OVA from 2006-2007, and last autumn we had a TV series which was nowhere near as visually impressive. Sadly, the latter's team is the one doing this new OVA, so expect the same quality (or lack of). To be bundled with limited initial editions of Coharu Sakuraba's renewed manga, in autumn 2009.

- Valkyrie Complex - based on the recently released fantasy (not-so-ero-)game with loads of RPG elements. It was developed by Circus, and to mark their 10th anniversary, a bunch of other Valkyrie Complex derivative goodies are also in the making: manga, figures, itasha, the works. But for now, just a new game trailer.

- Weiß Survive - based on the card game manga more easily spelled as Weiss Survive. The TV anime shorts - featuring a pink haired loli - began airing earlier this month.

- Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei - as previously rumored, this will be the 3rd TV anime season of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (Goodbye Teacher Despair) - in case you lost count, or were left in despair by the series' baffling choice of titles. Begins on July 5, 2009.

May anime news round-up coming soon...