Now that is what I call a summer vacation. Nearly two months of total shut-down, with virtually no productive activity whatsoever, no cross-country booze-drenched adventures, no broken legs in the mountains, not even a notable amount of anime sessions... Slacking, at its finest! But, alas, the time has come to get on with the show, and - for starters - see what new animes have been announced during July and August so far.

Well then, here's the list we ripped off cooked up from AnimeSuki's definitive topic, along with various updates on previously-known, but yet-to-be-aired series.

- Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka - begins this autumn (website).
- Akikan! - just a website showing another one of them juicy hypo-carbonated lolis.
- Asu no Yoichi! - based on the ongoing harem comedy manga of the same title (website).
- Black God (Kuro Kami) - based on an ongoing fantasy drama manga sporting some cool looking covers, at the very least. The first chapter of the manga can be viewed online on publisher Square's website. Studio Sunrise is producing the animation.
- Black Lagoon 3 - just what the title says, and nothing more; for now.
- Chaos;HEAd - based on this year's Chaos;HEAd visual novel game by 5pb. and Nitroplus. Begins in October 2008 (website).
- ef - a tale of melodies - announced as the second season of ef - a tale of memories, once again based on Minori's ef eroge franchise. We posted the first trailer right before going on vacation, but it's worth mentioning it again in case you missed it (website).
- Eve no Jikan (Time of Eve) - just a website for this new anime coming from the director of Mizu no Kotoba (2002) and Pale Cocoon (2005), two sublime short animations.
- Fullmetal Alchemist 2 - finally confirmed to be in the making, after the recent incident involving a leaked document from studio Bones.
- Guin Saga - based on a fantasy novel series spanning 122 volumes so far. Begins in spring 2009 (website).
- Gunslinger Girl OVA - announced as a two-episode OVA, to be released on a single DVD in October 2008 apparently, soon after the final DVD of Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino ships in Japan (website).
- Hetalia Axis Powers (Hetaria Axis Powers) - based on a single-volume comedy manga originally born online (website).
- Higanjima - a vaguely rumored / speculated anime adaptation based on the Higanjima horror manga series. To be confirmed.
- Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Rei - the third Higurashi anime (OVA) will be released from December 26, 2008 and all the way to August 2009. An excruciating wait, indeed...
- Hyakko - begins in October 2008 (website).
- Ichigo Mashimaro OVA 2 - hell yeah! I nearly had an explosive nose bleeding when I first read the announcement, and I'm still highly aroused at the thought of more IchiMashi lolis.
- Inuyasha short - a new 30-minute Inuyasha short anime film, screened at a Takahashi Rumiko exhibition in Tokyo from July 30 to August 11.
- Junjou Romantica 2nd Season - gay, yaoi, do not want. Begins in October 2008 (website).
- Kemeko Deluxe! - begins in October 2008 (website).
- Kiss x Sis - the anime adaptation based on that incest manga that got us all intrigued (to say the least) will actually be an OVA (website).
- Kodomo no Jikan OVA - looks like the "second season" of Kodomo no Jikan will be a rather short one. Ah well, a flat OVA is fine, too! (website).
- Konnichiwa Anne (Before Green Gables) - an anime adaptation of Budge Wilson's new children's novel "Before Green Gables", which in turn is a prequel to the classic 1908 novel "Anne of Green Gables", also adapted into a 50 episode anime in 1979. To be ignored.
- Kuro Shitsuji - based on a shounen manga about an overqualified, stressed-out butler serving a 12-year-old master. Begins in October 2008 (website).
- Kyou no Go no Ni (2008) - yet another hearty "hell yeah!", for what was announced as a full-fledged anime based on the Kyou no Go no Ni (Today in Class 5-2) manga. The exquisite blend of school humor, plain ridiculousness, and raging sexual innuendo found in the agonizingly short OVA will hopefully return undiminished. Begins in October 2008 (website).
- Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha The Movie 1st - a remake of the first Lyrical Nanoha season, in the shape and form of an animated film. Coming in 2009 (website).
- Maria Holic - Based on a seinen comedy manga about the love of two "girls", one of which is actually a sadistic boy in disguise. Begins in January 2009 (website).
- Mouryou no Hako - anoher novel-to-anime adaptation, this time based on a genuine Japanese detective / youkai story published in 1995, which already received a live-action movie and an ongoing manga. The anime is being produced by studio Madhouse.
- Noramimi 2 - begins in October 2008.
- One Outs - based on a seinen baseball manga. Begins in October 2008. To be ignored.
- Quartz - a new anime series co-produced by American comic book pioneer Stan Lee, and Japanese animation studio Gonzo.
- Queen's Blade - just a website, but still no release date from what I gather.
- Ranma 1/2 - a new anime short (the first one in 12 years) based on the Akumu! Shunminkou story from the manga, screened at the same Takahashi Rumiko exhibition mentioned earlier (scroll up to the new Inuyasha short).
- Seto no Hanayome OVA - just a release date for this previously announced OVA: November 28, 2008.
- Shikabane Hime Aka - just a website opened by StarChild, carrying quite an expressive (though sadly not explicit) image. Begins this autumn.
- Shikabane Hime Kuro - is the title of the second season of Shikabane Hime, which has already been announced by Gainax-feel (the first season is animated by Gainax, and this second one by feel). Begins in winter 2009.
- Shugo Chara! 2nd Season - 'nuff said.
- Switch - just a website for this two-episode OVA, whose first episode will be released on DVD in October, and the second one in December 2008.
- Taishou Yakyuu Musume (Taishou-Era Baseball Girls) - based on a light novel series which so far spawned 2 volumes packed full of baseballing schoolgirls.
- Tales of the Abyss - begins in October 2008 (website).
- Tentai Senshi Sunred - based on a seinen comedy manga about... some stuff I don't find particularly interesting right now. The anime will be made up of 26 half-length episodes. Begins in September 2008 (website).
- Tetsuwan Birdy Decode 2nd Season - begins in January 2009 (website).
- ToHeart2ad plus - announced as a new OVA series. Begins in 2009.
- Tonari no 801-chan - based on the 801-chan (Yaoi-chan) 4-koma comedy manga. To be animated by Kyoto Animation. Begins in 2009 (website).
- Umineko no Naku Koro ni (When Seagulls Cry) - the first in what may well become another excellent horror anime series, based on the doujin visual novels by 07th Expansion - if Higurashi no Naku Koro ni rings any bells... So far, this new "When They Cry" sub-series spawned two games in 2007, with a third one currently in the making (website).
- Vampire Knight Guilty - is the title of the Vampire Knight 2nd season announced a couple of months ago. Begins in October 2008.
- White Album - begins in January 2009 (website).
- Zettai Shougeki: Platonic Heart - looks like a five-episode OVA, to be released on DVD starting from October 29, 2008, all through February 2009 (website). You'll also find some pics with this harem-ish anime's characters in our local gallery, aside from the one below.

Forgive me, Loli Jesus, for I have re-activated my World of Warcraft account... And so another week went by with no updates here on Animekon, in what is becoming a worrying end-of-month tradition. Ah, well, as you can see, we got some new stuff today, and the best is yet to come. But first, here are the new trailers we added today - decidedly dominated by a barrage of Strike Witches clips, but also a high-quality trailer for the newly announced anime sequel ef - a tale of melodies.

- 20th Century Boys trailer (live-action)
- ef - a tale of melodies trailer
- Rosario + Vampire Capu2 trailer
- Slayers Revolution trailer
- Strike Witches trailer
- Strike Witches trailer #2
- Strike Witches trailer #3
- Strike Witches trailer #4
- The Sky Crawlers trailer #3
- Zero no Tsukaima 3 trailer

- The 5th season of Major will start airing in Japan in January 2009 - as was announced during the last episode of this baseball anime series' 4th season, which ended this past weekend.

- A second Neko Rahmen anime project has been announced, after that live-action movie adaptation revealed not so long ago.

- A new Gundam 00 manga is being published in Japan, starting with the August issue of Kadokawa Shoten's Monthly Gundam Ace magazine. The manga, titled Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Aoi Kioku (Blue Memories), will deal with the lives of the Gundam Meister pilots.

- The ongoing sci-fi manga series Dosei Mansion (preview) will be getting a live-action film adaptation, retelling the futuristic story in which humanity has has migrated into a massive aerial ring system above the Earth, which is now one big natural reserve.

- Patlabor, the classic mecha anime series, is being adapted into... stamps. Bet you didn't see that one coming. Meanwhile, we're still waiting for some lolicon anime to be adapted into ichigo-flavoured stamps. We'd lick that!

In their vast wisdom - and a fitting marketing hunger - the animation production company Enoki Films USA issued a press release which pretty much reveals the entire story outline of the new anime series Slayers Revolution (premiering in Japan tomorrow night), seemingly hoping that this might somehow enlarge their e-peen and the chance to strike a deal with an American licensor for this 26-episode anime.

As our title implies, reading any further might not be such a good idea, if you're looking forward to Slayers Revolution, and you plan on holding your breath 100% hermetically until the very last moment. With that warning in mind, the spoilerific story outline follows after the image below.

Update: For less spoilers, check out the short Slayers Revolution trailer we've just added.

Update #2: As one commenter points out below, the first episode doesn't really fit in with this so-called story. Like, at all. I wonder what show Enoki Films was talking about, cause it sure as hell doesn't sound like Slayers Revolution so far.

 (...)

 Continue reading 'Slayers Revolution Story Spoiler'...

First revealed at Anime Expo 2003, and confirmed earlier this year, the sci-fi anime series Titania has finally received a broadcast start date - October 2008 - as announced on the newly opened official website. For some reason, though, the project's title seems to have gone through a slight change, and is now known as Tytania.

Other than that, the anime will still be based on Yoshiki Tanaka's series of "space opera" novels, about a soldier who flees the spacefaring Titania Tytania empire and seeks refuge with a rebellion force. Tanaka previously authored other novels that went on to receive anime adaptations, such as Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Sohryuden: Legend of the Dragon Kings, The Heroic Legend of Arslan, and Ryoko's Case File.

Some details about the anime's cast can be found on ANN, but suffice to say that the series will be animated by the veteran studios Artland, while the CG effects will be done by Sanzigen - the company behind Gurren Lagann's 3D computer graphics.

Lolicon eroge maker Rune is slowly but surely heading for a total shutdown, after being around for nearly a decade - since 1999, when they made their debut with the game Fifth. From what Zepy reported last night, the company has been losing lots of people since early May, including, most recently, their two best known artists ever since the early days: Nonohara Miki and Akamaru. At least the latters' reason for quitting seems to have been money; or, rather, the lack of it from their supposed paychecks.

Rune's releases over the past couple of years were Fifth: Eternal Collection Box, Konya no Okazu wa Range de Marine and Yukinochi Fururu! in 2006, followed in 2007 by Purely, 8665^2 and Musume Shimai - for which we've just added some pictures in our gallery.


In light of all this, their upcoming eroge 8665^3, which luckily is mostly finished, could well be their last one. You can browse through Rune's entire catalogue on their website (or on Getchu), and they also have (had?) an imouto-brand called Cage, whose catalogue is filled with equally lolicious games; bar Pure My Imouto Milk Pudding, in which the fake lolis are actually boys. Eew.

I've left the best for last today: Kiss x Sis, a new anime announced over the weekend, based on a manga about sisterly love. And not just any kind of sisterly love, but a double step-sisterly love! That might sound a bit like Onegai Twins, but judging by the manga alone, the Kiss x Sis anime should be a lot more ecchi. Hopefully, anyway.

The original "romantic incest comedy" manga series, authored by Bow Ditama (Mahoromatic), is still ongoing, and so far it's been compiled into 2 volumes. As Zepy puts it, Kiss x Sis is "one of those manga that lies in the border between eromanga and normal manga". And you can certainly see why, if you take a look over the first chapter, available for online viewing. In short, the story (via ANN) goes like this.

"The story centers on Keita, a third-year middle school boy studying for his high school entrance exams. His two twin stepsisters Ako and Riko Suminoe - with no blood relation to him - help him prepare for the exams, but life gets too cozy between Keita and the girls."

We're still waiting for any kind of details about the Kiss x Sis anime. But I can say straight away that our incest seal of approval is as good as won.

Discontinuing today's feeble string of sequel announcements, Soul Eater is one of the ongoing animes which is not ending this month, nor is it getting a second season anytime soon (hell, there are still almost 40 episodes left!). What it is getting, however, is a Wii game called Soul Eater: Monotone Princess.

According to the official website opened by publisher Square Enix, the Soul Eater game will be released in Japan on September 25, and San'plex writes that it will be an action-adventure of sorts, featuring an original story and anime cinematics produced by studio Bones. You can see the first low-res screenshots scattered around the official website, plus a wallpaper which we took the liberty of adding locally.


Also newly announced is Macross Ace Frontier - a multiplayer 3D action game for the PSP handheld console, which will be released  (...)

 Continue reading 'Soul Eater Wii, Macross PSP Games'...

Another series ending right about now is The Tower of Druaga, and it, too, will be getting a second season. The story will thus continue with The Tower of Druaga: The Sword of Uruk, as Gonzo calls it, but impatient fans might be disappointed to hear that the second season will start no sooner than 2009 - maybe even July 2009. And, quite frankly, we don't know yet if it will be another 12-episode series, or just a short OVA. For what it's worth, though, I'm betting on a full-fledged sequel. They should have plenty of time to make one.

Stay tuned for some artworks / fanarts of Coopa, the cutest (and only) loli from the first season of Druaga; and some with Fatina, too.

Update: There we go: Coopa and Fatina pics are now up in our gallery.

Vampire Knight, one of the anime series ending around this time of the year (on July 1), will be getting a second season, along with some sort of web-radio show hosted by fictional Cross Academy students. The announcement was made on the official website of the Vampire Knight manga and, via ANN's report, we learn that the second season will start airing in Japan during October.

As for the web-radio show, since we couldn't care less about it, we'll just quote ANN to the letter and move on to more interesting news.

"A Vampire Knight: Cross Academy Broadcasting Club web radio show will also premiere on July 7. On the radio show, Mamoru Miyano, Daisuke Kishio, Susumu Chiba, Junichi Suwabe, and Sōichiro Hoshi will play their fictional counterparts Zero Kiryū, Kaname Clan, Takuma Ichijō, Akatsuki Kain, and Senri Shiki, respectively."