The only other doujin (self-published) anime we wrote about recently - and, in fact, ever - was Kowarekake no Orgol, which is coming this winter from Moetan artist POP. Well, now we can add another promising project to this newly-instated list: one based on the popular doujin pew-pew games Touhou Project. Having worked on the Touhou Anime Project for well over a year, doujin circle Maikaze will be releasing the first DVD episode, titled "Musou Kakyou", this December 29 at the winter Comic Market convention (C75).



ANN relayed the contents of the limited initial edition deluxe box (anime DVD, soundtrack CD, full-color art collection, postcard(s), and other items), along with this impressive list of seiyuu (voice actresses) signed up for the anime: (...)

 Continue reading 'Touhou Doujin Anime At Comiket [Update]'...

Tone deaf lolis no good for you? Very well, then, here's some real music anime news for you melomaniac types. The increasingly plentiful franchise spawned by Tomoko Ninomiya's original Nodame Cantabile manga shows no signs of stopping its expansion anytime soon. Just this week, a new TV anime series plus 2 new live-action films were announced. So if the impending season finale of the ongoing Nodame Cantabile: Paris chapter was somewhat intimidating, rest assured, there's much more to come!



The 3rd anime season of Nodame Cantabile is currently planned to air in the same ol' late-night "Noitamina" timeslot on Fuji TV, starting from autumn 2009. And by all accounts, you can expect it to be a direct continuation of the Paris Chapter.

Over on the live-action front, the 2 newly announced Nodame Cantabile movies will premiere in January 2010 and spring 2010, repsectively. Their story will also be set in Paris, continuing the 2006 live-action TV drama series and this year's TV special, "Nodame Cantabile in Europe". And once again, the lead characters Chiaki and Nodame will be played by Hiroshi Tamaki and the oh-so-cute Juri Ueno.

Of all the recent anime announcements, none sounds as bad as K-ON! (Keion!). But relax. I don't mean... Naruto-bad, or [insert-most-hated-anime]-bad, just tone-deaf-bad. Because otherwise this looks like a highly lolicious anime, about 4 girls trying to save their school's music club; despite being total noobs at playing musical instruments or reading music.



Originally an amusing (and amusical) 4-koma manga by kakifly, K-ON! has been serialized in the Manga Time Kirara magazine since 2007, with one single volume compiled so far. By the way, the title K-ON stands for Kei (light) Ongaku (music) - thanks MyAnimeList.

No other details about the anime are available at this time, but you can bet I'll be keeping my eyes open. Aye, just my eyes, cause my ears are no good, either.

After this year's Chaos;HEAd game and anime combo, another (much older) game by Nitroplus - namely Phantom of Inferno originally from 2000 - is set to receive an anime adaptation. Or rather a re-adaptation, since we already had a Phantom OVA back in 2004. This time, however, the format of choice will be a TV anime series, and the title of choice Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom.



This new anime series is being developed by studio Bee Train, with Koichi Mashimo directing the thing - as he has done with several more girls-with-guns anime (Noir, Madlax, El Cazador), among others (.Hack franchise, Blade of the Immortal).

There's no release date attached to Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom yet, but ANN has some more staff details, and an official website has also just opened.

While we do usually welcome any new animation film from studio Madhouse, I can't say the same about their TV anime series - particularly those of late. So with excitement down to a minimum for this one, their recently announced new TV anime will adapt the ongoing manga series Kobato. that's been running in Kadokawa Shoten's Newtype magazine since 2006.



The Kobato. manga is created by the CLAMP female mangaka quartet, which is why this anime adaptation comes as little surprise, given their track record. The anime will be directed by Mitsuyuki Masuhara (Chi's Sweet Home, Chobits episode director), and as for the release date... well, ANN says it will begin in autumn 2009, while Otaku News Notes says spring 2009. We'll go with ANN on this one, but feel free to take your pick.

Now this is what I call a perfectly valid reason to get your hopes up. With a studio like Madhouse, and a team that reunites the director, screenwriter and character designer of Tokikake (Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo, or The Girl Who Leapt Through Time), the upcoming animation film Summer Wars looks dead set to become one of next year's top movies. Even though, quite frankly, we know next to nothing about it.



What little we know comes by way of ANN, who are reminding us that Madhouse had previously revealed working on the next film by Tokikake director, Mamoru Hosoda, as early as March 2008. Having now been confirmed to direct Summer Wars, he will be joined by screenwriter Satoko Okudera (Tokikake, Miyori no Mori), character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (Tokikake, Evangelion, FLCL) and art director Youji Takeshige (Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle).

According to the film's official website, Summer Wars is fittingly set for a summer 2009 premiere in Japan, while ANN simply describes it as an "action entertainment" story about "a modern-day family that embarks on a midsummer adventure together at the behest of a 90-year-old woman". Not the most exciting plot I've ever laid eyes on, I'll give you that. But I got a good feeling about it (either that, or I browsed too much loli porn this morning).

Well, we slacked waited and waited for some new developments on this topic, but it seems the whole thing is really stuck for the time being. So like the title says, the formerly-ongoing Kannagi manga was put on hold, indefinitely. The official explanation given - and reiterated - by the editors of Comic REX (the magazine where the manga was being serialized) is that Kannagi creator Eri Takenashi is no longer able to continue writing the manga due to her poor health. Shikashi...



However some crazed otaku are not happy with this explanation, just as they were not happy with the recent revelation made by the author, involving Nagi's virginity - or lack of thereof. Still, trying to link this to Takenashi's alleged health problems is of poor taste, to say the least (even if some link did indeed exist). And it's even more despicable to demand more personal details about her health, as some are asking in order to ease their horny mind.

Had Comic REX given some other silly reason - like the author moving on to become a crazy shrine maiden or something - then sure, we'd be all for silly speculation. But when her health is at stake, we'd rather refrain from acid comments. That said, they'd better not be shitting their fans. Pissing off Kannagi manga / anime fans seems a bit like pissing off Fallout gaming fans: you don't want to go there!

As one of this year's most ecchi anime series, To Love-Ru didn't stand much of a chance against the usual cvasi-ero OVA treatment. And so, a single- three-episode To Love-Ru OVA is being announced in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. Similar to other cases, the DVD will be bundled the 13th volume of Saki Hasemi and Kentaro Yabuki's sci-fi romantic comedy manga To Love-Ru: Trouble, around or precisely on April 3, 2009.



Unrestrained hawtness is sure to abound in this upcoming OVA. But there's also a somewhat bad news: the manga / DVD bundle is said to be limited to pre-order reservations only. And torrents, might I add.

Update: So hawtly abundant will be the To Love-Ru OVA that, in fact, it will have a total of 3 volumes, not just a single one as initially reported. After the first DVD's release on April 3, the others will follow a couple of months apart - on June 4 and August 4, 2009 respectively.

I don't get it. And I bet many of you don't get it, either: why hasn't there been any Yotsuba anime? And why aren't there even vague plans for one? Sure, there were rumors about it since three years ago, but nothing solid ever came into being; and now the manga's creator Kiyohiko Azuma (of Azumanga Daioh fame) explains just why that is. Or, rather, isn't.



Azuma's recent explanation comes in response to a new wave of rumors in Japan, claiming that the lack of a Yotsuba anime is due to his "friction" with the Azumanga anime staff (namely with director Hiroshi Nishikiori and with voice actress Tomoko Kaneda - Chiyo's seiyuu). Though amused by them, Azuma clearly denies these rumors, and gives a much more simple reason instead: (...)

 Continue reading 'Why No Yotsuba Anime?'...

Another rumor that quickly turned out to be true involves a new La Corda D'Oro anime, which according to the series' website will be titled La Corda D'oro: Second Passo (Kiniro no Corda ~secondo passo~). Scheduled for broadcasting in spring 2009, this second La Corda D'oro anime will be a TV special featuring at least one new male character named Etou, voiced by Satoshi Hino.



Much like the first anime series from 2006, Secondo Passo will also be based on one of Koei's girly romance games La Corda D'Oro, originally about some "academy where a girl receives a magical violin to compete in the school's elite music program". The TV special will be preceded in February 2009 by a new portable game Kin-iro no Corda 2f (from the "f" word "forte"), set for release on the PSP in February 2009, and also featuring that Etou dude.

Pedobear is not amused.