June Anime News Round-up

Yoshaaa! Time to end this fail-trilogy and get up to date with the news, again. So that afterwards we can wander off slacking for another couple of months. Again.

- Asura Cryin' 2 - a second season was announced during Asura Cryin''s final episode last week. Begins in autumn 2009.

- Beck - a live-action movie based on the rock-and-roll manga Beck (which also spawned an anime series in 2004) is in the works, with Hiro Mizushima in the lead role. The actors are said to be undergoing "intensive training" in order to "perform with actual instruments", but what's the point, really? Ikemen acting sucks anyway. Premieres in autumn 2010.

- Chu-Bra!! - based on a "middle school girls x underwear = slightly H girls comedy" manga by Yumi Nakata. Teh ecchi - much like the spice - must flow!

- Darker than Black 2 - like Fullmetal Alchemist 2 before it, a new season of Darker than Black was eventually confirmed to be in the making at studio Bones, after both sequels were revealed via a leak last summer. Good stuff.

- Eden of the East movies - that theatrical adaptation revealed back in February is actually two-fold: the first anime film, subtitled The King of Eden, will premiere this November 28. And there will also be a second anime film, subtitled Paradise Lost, set for January 2010.

- Final Fantasy XIV - ok, so this one's got nothing to do with animu. But come on: it's Final Fantasy, for chocobo's sake! Aaand it will be a MMORPG, featuring - at the very least - some epic cinematics. Launches in 2010 for the PC and PS3 (website).

- Hajime no Ippo sequel - "of course, a sequel is also being planned", some seiyuu blogged. Of course, we couldn't care less. Boxing needs more desu.

- Hanamaru Kindergarten - based on a slice-of-life comedy manga by Yuto, to be animated by studio Gainax. Chibi lolis in a tree for the lulz.

- King of Thorn (Ibara no Ou) - the sci-fi action manga by Yuji Iwahara will apparently receive an anime film adaptation from Kadokawa Pictures. "The story follows Kasumi, a girl who was infected by a pandemic virus along with her twin sister Shizuku. Kasumi - but not Shizuku - was chosen to be among 159 other people who were placed into cryogenic suspension until a cure is found. The 160 wake up in the dark future populated by monsters, and Shizuku must survive while she searches for clues on what happened to the world and her sister." Twins? Say no more! Premieres in 2010.

- Kuroshitsuji 2 (Black Butler 2) - the second season's production was revealed during a recent event by one of the voice actors, and quickly confirmed by the series' official website.

- Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu: Purezza - the title of Nogizaka Haruka's second season is no longer a secret, neither is its TV debut timeframe: October 2009.

- Ontama! - revealed, covered-up, and then re-announced as an online anime adaptation of the Ontama! manga, featuring a fourth-grade girl named Ichigo (yum!) and her "parallel family". The manga so far has 2 volumes. The net-anime begins on Nico Nico this summer.

- Queen's Blade: Gyokuza no Tsugumono - a new TV anime was announced after the first season's final episode. The subtitle roughly means "Heir to the Throne", but this second season is also known as Queen's Blade and the Evil Eye. Begins in October 2009 - but first, an "Episode 0" kind of OVA should be released on DVD this summer, probably in August.

- Sengoku Basara 2 - the second season of Production I.G's TV anime otherwise known as Devil Kings was announced for 2010, along with what appears to be an OVA included with the first season's DVD volume 7. Not entirely sure about the OVA, though.

- Sgt. Frog Super Movie 5 (Keroro Gunsou Movie 5) - whatever. Premieres in 2010.

- Shakugan no Shana 3 - we've all felt it coming for some time now, and sure enough, it's coming! The first two seasons debuted in October 2005 and October 2007 respectively, so October 2009 seems like a safe (albeit unofficial) bet for this third season.

- Symphony in August - an upcoming anime film based on the autobiographical essay book of singer-songwriter Ai Kawashima. After doing free concerts in Tokyo's Shibuya district, she later sung the theme song of Beyond the Clouds (The Place Promised in Our Early Days), among others. Premieres in August 2009.

- Tatakau Shisho - based on a light novel series by Ishio Yamagata, about dead people turned into "books" stored in a library, which is overwatched by a beautiful woman, who is loved at first sight by some dude, whose memories were erased and his chest embedded with a bomb. Sounds mind-boggling enough. Begins in autumn 2009.

- Tibetan Dog (Tibet Inu Monogatari) - a new anime film announced by studio Madhouse, reuniting the director, art director, and character designer / chief animation director from the Monster anime. ANN outlines this coming-of-age story. Premieres in "2010 or later".

- Tonari no 801-chan R - although Kyoto Animation's initial 801-chan anime project has since been cancelled, another, much shorter one will take its place. This 90-second "opening anime" is being directed by Yutaka Yamamoto (formerly of KyoAni), and it will be bundled with the ongoing manga's 4th volume, out in Japan on September 10.

- xxxHOLiC OVA sequel - with the release of xxxHOLiC Shunmuki volume 2 last week, came word that the next manga volume (#16) will bundle yet another original anime DVD. Sounds like this will be a single episode, though, animated as usual by Production I.G.

- Yumeiro Patissiere - not another tea party! We've had three tea parties already!