Having armed myself with a cumbersome grain of salt (I suggest you do the same), I am now prepared to head down Speculation Lane and relay this unsubstantiated rumor - or, rather, wishful thinking - that hints at a second Bamboo Blade anime season. It all starts (and ends) with a poll posted on the official website of the upcoming Bamboo Blade PSP game, asking fans if they want a 2nd anime season. Duh!



While a new Bamboo Blade anime remains pure speculation at this time, the PSP game is pretty firmly set for an April 2009 release in Japan, under the title Bamboo Blade: Sorekara no Chousen. The odd thing about it is (...)

 Continue reading 'Bamboo Blade PSP Poll Hints At 2nd Anime'...

If you've been keeping an eye on those anime release dates lately, you'd know that today was supposed to mark the online debut of the web-anime Suzumiya Haruhi-chan no Yuuutsu (and Nyoron Churuya-san, still assuming they're two separate things). Well... the bad news is that things didn't go out as planned, as there is no Haruhi-chan to be seen on Kadokawa's YouTube cannel yet.



The good news is that Kadokawa did retain enough sense of humor to present us with a "NICE BOAT!" kind of video, showing - well - nice boats. The only message included with the video was simply "Dekiagarimasen deshita", or in freeform Engrish: "We fail so hard, that we didn't manage to finish it".

Let's give them another day or so before going ape shit on them, eh?

Yes, I'm aware that a certain somebody already used the same picture for this story, but I couldn't help it: there's simply no better "ZOMG WTF OH NOES!" grimace to go with today's news that the Japanese animation studio Gonzo will fire about 77% of its current creative staff over the next five years. So from the current head count of 130, Gonzo will be left with a tiny ping-pong team of just 30.



The purpose of this corporate holocaust, as expressed by Gonzo's parent company GDH, is to bring the anime studio back to profitability. A perfectly valid reason, certainly, but the question is: just how far down is Gonzo sinking into "red-ink territory", if the projected staff cuts have exploded from that 20% at the end of 2008, to this suicide-inspiring 77%?

What's worse for us, anime devourers, is that Gonzo (...)

 Continue reading 'Gonzo Cutting Down Staff From 130 To 30'...

I'm sure that everyone and their little sister saw this one coming, so it comes as no surprise that last night Right Stuf and Nozomi announced a licensing deal for the 4th season of Maria-sama ga Miteru (Maria Watches Over Us). This completes their collection started with the previous three anime series (technically, two series and one OVA), and brings them up to date with the ongoing MariMite franchise.



They don't have a release date for the Maria Watches Over Us Season 4 DVD(s) at this time, but they did insist on sharing the Japanese trailer for the 4th season - the same one we posted a couple of months ago. And now we're also adding (...)

 Continue reading 'Maria Watches Over Us 4 Licensed'...

The much-delayed OVA Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei is just a couple of weeks away from its February 25 debut on DVD (March 25 on Blu-ray), and the psychotic desire to get a hold of it rises by the day. Yesterday we presented you with a new trailer that we put together from a soundless preview of the first OVA episode, and a silly tune from the first Higurashi. And today... well, let the image speak for itself... chotto.



Sure enough, that is Rena Ryuugu in her new role as hugging-pillow cover loli. AkibaBlog brings word that this dakimakura (hug pillow) cover is but one of the bonuses included with Higurashi no Nakukoro ni Rei Oyashiro Edition Vol.1, and it also links to several photos that we took the liberty of adding below. (...)

 Continue reading 'Higurashi Rei OVA Comes With Dakimakura'...

Seeing Hayao Miyazaki's name pop up in a manga news may be a bit unusual, but then again, when did we ever write about stuff that's normal?... No, seriously, don't bother searching. So then, Ghibli's hoary old man Hayao Miyazaki is taking some time off from his usual animation directing duties - and from bashing Japan's otaku prime minister - in order to bring us another manga called Kaze Tachinu (The Wind Rises).



Ghibli World picked up the news this week, revealing that the Kaze Tachinu manga will run in the two upcoming editions of Model Graphix magazine - releasing on February 25 and March 25. Given said magazine's focus on scale models, it's only fitting that Miyazaki will use his expertise on military machines and World War II, to tell the story of Zero fighter designer Horikoshi Jiro.

An English version of the manga is also possible to follow, (...)

 Continue reading 'Miyazaki Starts New Manga, Kaze Tachinu'...

And here we have the top contender for "the most useless news of the day". Bandai Visual's parent company Namco Bandai Holdings is announcing a large-scale reorganization of its internal structure, which - among others - will result in the division of Bandai Visual into six departments, making it a bit more fragmented than before.

As a clear indication of their most profitable money-milking brand, one of those six will be the "Gundam department", dedicating itself entirely to Bandai's mecha anime franchise. Satoshi Kubo will be its chief producer, and in case you're wondering about the heads leading the other five departments, you'll find them in ANN's report.

The departments themselves, by the way, are as follows: the high-end department, the character department, the anime department, the film department, the music department, and the aforementioned Gundam department.

Hungry? Surely, you wouldn't refuse a bowl of hot, steamy rice: not when the package of origin has a hot, steamy 2D chick printed on it! That's right, my dear chopstick-yielding friends, yet another edible otaku product is about to be served, with the introduction of a new Touhou "doujin rice". This isn't just your run-of-the-mill rice, mind you, but a grade 1 rice grown by an actual otaku farmer (if there ever was one). Each rice bag has a yummy picture of Onozuka Komachi from the doujin games Touhou Project on the front, and a manga strip on the back - good for killing time while boiling the rice.



Even if you don't feel like eating it, you could put it on display next to your swimsuit Nanoha figures - as one of Zepy's commenters suggests. And with this apocalyptic world crysis and everything, it might actually come in handy someday. That is, if you're willing to invest (...)

 Continue reading 'Touhou Doujin Rice, Yum-Yum!'...

This season's ongoing anime Sora o Kakeru Shoujo is already generating enough arousal, it seems, for it to receive the reverse anime-to-manga treatment. That is to say, fans of the pink-haired spaced-out girl Akiha will be able to enjoy her in manga form, as well. And in fact not just one, but two manga adaptations, in two different magazines were announced on the official website (via ANN).



The first spin-off manga - titled Sora o Kakeru Shoujo R (Sora Kake Girl R) - has already received an early start in the latest issue of Monthly Comic Rex magazine this week. It's authored by Kunihiko Okada, with art by Kabocha - see this preview image for a teasing taste.

The second spin-off manga - titled Sora o Kakeru Shoujo D (Sora Kake Girl D) (...)

 Continue reading 'Sora Kake Girl Anime Gets Manga x2'...

Looks like last year's marketing trick paid off: a second Negima! OAD anime is currently in the making, as announced today during a Negima! Ala Alba event in Tokyo. The new "season" will be released on 4 DVDs starting from summer 2009, bundled with limited editions of the upcoming manga volumes.



The only other details relayed by various websites about this second Negima! OAD are that its story will cover the Magic World (Mahou Sekai) arc, and that the production staff will remain the same: studio SHAFT, with director Akiyuki Shinbo and character designer Noboru Jitsuhara.

Much like last year, fans are once again being teased with a potential Negima! movie, (...)

 Continue reading 'Second Negima! OAD This Summer'...