I bet you didn't see this one coming. Yep, despite all the fresh lolis popping their cherry in more recent animes, I thought that a leap through time would be even more refreshing. For some odd reason, Chiyo-chan's cute cooking song "Tsukurimashou" started playing in my mind (and has been replaying ever since), so there you have it - she's our proud new loli of the month. And the Azumanga Daioh OST is now cheerfully pimping my playlist.


One thing led to another, and I started thinking how cool it would be if there was an Azumanga Daioh 2 sequel... and, why not, some other anime sequels. Like for Elfen Lied. Or Lain. Or... Or just check the new poll: "What sequel would you wish for the most?". There are a couple more random titles there, see if you find any of them worthy of a continuation. And if you don't, feel free to speak your mind in the comments.

Our matching new top of the month also includes Azumanga Daioh alongside other titles, in an attempt to designate the best of the best, in the "school anime" genre. Or maybe not "the of the best", since there were plenty more worthy school animes that had to be left out. Choices, choices...

Appleseed? Hell yeah! Ex Machina? Mmmm... maybe. Just maybe. I haven't had the chance to bask in awe at Warner Brothers' latest creation (though Warner + Japanese animation may sound weird to some), but I sure will, when it will be licked leaked to the beautiful world of illegal torrents. I mean, when it comes up for sale in Romania.

This is probably not news to some, but an Appleseed television series was announced back in 2005, with a release date set for 2006, but people went silent since then, with their mouths probably full of other bullshit waiting to be spread.

The real news just came in, thanks to the girls at ANN, it seems that on March, 30, at the Tokyo International Fair, we will witness a stage event called "Appleseed Genesis", where companies involved in the Appleseed production will share with us some spicy details regarding a future television series. Well, what can I say, good news, it will (finally) come true.

So far, we know that the show will be directed by Romanov Higa, the guy behind stuff like Catblue "Hawt" Dynamite, and various other animations. So far so good. The said event will also be an endless rant about the story involved, character designs and, obviously, voice casting. Good enough for me.

ANN scoop.

What? No Chi-Chi this year? Aw, bummer... I obviously couldn't care less that the Dragon movie itself is being delayed from this August 15, all the way to April 3, 2009 - according to this ComingSoon story. But Jamie Chung's loli character might have been a nice distraction from the hardships of our oh-so-stressful lives. *sigh*... Now I'll have to decide which anime to re-watch instead. Whatever shall I do!

P.S. On second thought, I shouldn't worry. My comrade will probably make me watch one of his stupid Rocky movies or some boring Jet Li pew-pew. Nem fáj!

This Death Note "extravaganza" is starting to piss me off. There are two options here, either some people are extremely retarded, either they have been subjected to some government experiments regarding media manipulation. I mean, who in their right mind would walk around, carrying a "Death Note" with him, also thinking that the bullshit inside is real?

Well, it seems some people do. A student from a certain Hartsville Middle School was instantly removed from school, after a certain manuscript, bearing a "certain" title, was found in his possession. The school principal was so alarmed that he actually stated something in the lines of "We treat situations like this the same as if a student called in a bomb threat or brought a weapon to school". Sure thing, the said student was probably drunk like hell when he, with such a pure genius, decided to write a Death Note, but I doubt that, even for a moment, the idea of actually killing the seven other students whose names where in the book, has actually crossed his mind.

But then again... Students do like to mindlessly kill each other in high schools, using guns and various other stuff they have probably seen when playing GTA San Andreas at the age of 10. Oh well, let's blame it on Manga and video games. I'm sure Jack Thompson would be thrilled.

Teh scoop.

Well, Gurren Lagann certainly proved to be an... interesting anime. At least, for some episodes. It looked good, I'll give him that, it had a nice cast of characters, one loli, one big breasted chick that usually goes on a rampage with her sniper rifle, plus one male character that was insane enough to be funny. Too bad this one dies pretty fast, leaving us with a main "hero" that is gruesomely copy-pasted from Eureka 7. Which is a bad thing, since the kid was such a crybaby, that I couldn't stand him beginning with episode one.

Not to go into details regarding Gurren Lagann's (ridiculously boring) plot and the fact that each episode looks exactly like the previous one story-wise, I'll just let you know that the April issue of Kadokawa Shoten's Newtype Magazine will reveal the development of a Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann motion picture. Well, that's a good thing: the shorter, the better; I don't really want to spend 27 more episodes just to find out the obvious.

AnimeNation scoop.

Update: ANN's report also gives a release timeframe for the Gurren Lagann movie - autumn 2008 - as announced on its official website.

Watching Vexille last week may have satiated my thirst for CG hotness and pew-pew, for now (great film, by the way), but I'm still looking forward to the release of Appleseed: Ex Machina this March 11. Aside from the usual DVD, Blu-ray and supposedly HD-DVD versions (wasn't the HD-DVD format dead by now?), it's being reported on ANN that Ex Machina will also be available on Xbox Live, on the same day.

The story lists two more animes releasing online soon: Afro Samurai (in high-definition) on Xbox Live next month, and the first episode of the pokemon'ish anime Bakugan on Apple's iTunes store next week.

And while we're at it, we might as well tell you about the U.S. debut of the Blue Dragon anime, based on Mistwalker's RPG for the Xbox 360. As announced by Viz Media, the anime will start airing on Cartoon Network this spring - "only" one year later than in Japan. But no harm done, it's just a Narutarded anime anyway.

An eroge with a Hanyuu-like devilish loli? Don't mind if I do! Thanks to a tiny update on HD, I ended up spending some top-quality time today, with the demo version of an upcoming eroge going by the name of Gyakushuu 3 (in my divine ignorance, I have no idea what happened to the first two parts; nor do I care). As I soon found out, this trial version has a LOT of content packed in, with very nicely voiced dialogues, and equally nice graphics, as well. So I highly recommend it you give it a try, before the final version comes out on March 28 - if I understood it right from the demo's ending screens.

Naturally, the whole thing is in Japanese, but you should be able to understand a thing or two, between all the moaning and screaming. Plus, for me at least, it was a great reading excercise (while I wasn't too focused on the pictures, anyway). Think about it: what better way to practice your Japanese, than with the help of a squeaky-voiced character overcum overcome by tentacles invading the privacy of her every orifice?

On the "tech" side, if you'll want to save your progress during the game, you can do so via the left-most button at the top; and use the second button for loading. There's also an Options panel with all sorts of settings, but there's no point in fiddling with them. Just... plug and play. And get yourself some napkins while downloading: that little devil will blow you and your mind away!


Screenshots following... (...)

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